The Chiefs and the Rams are not the favorites to win the Super Bowl, but they are consolidating in the NFL

Next November 19, the Kansas City Chiefs and Los Angeles Rams will meet for the 10th match of the season. At the time of writing this article, they had the best record of the season: 7-0 (Rams) and 6-1 (Chiefs). The match will be held on the traditional Monday Night of the National Football League (NFL) in Mexico City.

Leer en español: ¡Un gran inicio! Los Chiefs y los Rams sin duda nos sorprendieron a todos

What a coincidence that the aforementioned game scheduled since the beginning of this year will be faced by the two best teams in the league so far. There was no way to predict except with a magic ball, that just these two franchises selected to take the NFL to other territories would be the best start that the campaign would have.

Especially because they were not favorites when compared to other teams, such as Philadelphia Eagles, New England Patriots, New Orleans Saints or Jacksonville Jaguars.

But let's get IGNORE INTO the subject to speak precisely about this curious fact of invincibility after seven matches. Reviewing other great beginnings in recent years, they do not invite us to be very optimistic. This is because none of those teams ended up lifting the Super Bowl trophy at the end of the campaign. To put it simply, for Rams and Chiefs fans it is better to be cautious.

Negative precedents

Only one team has broken the trend to start a season very well and then endorse it with the title. It was the Indianapolis Colts in 2000 who started that season with a 9-0 record, before its first loss. But after that, the seven teams that were the last to be defeated in a season and that reached the decisive match could not be titled.

We have a recent example with the Carolina Panthers in the 14-15 edition. After weaving a victorious chain in their first 14 presentations, they culminated with the best league record (15-1) and were named in the National Conference. However, they lost against the Denver Broncos in the Super Bowl.

It is also necessary to mention other great teams, such as the New England Patriots, who completed an unbeaten regular round of 16-0 in 2000. Or the Colts themselves, a year later. In both cases, they reached the final game as favorites and lost it.

It may interest you: Everything you need to know about the NFL and favorites to win the Super Bowl

Great possibility to classify

There is something positive, maybe not in relation to the Super Bowl but in relation to the postseason. Since 2000, only three of the last teams that lost their unbeaten record did not even play the elimination games in January. Those were the San Diego Chargers (2002), the Philadelphia Eagles (2014) and the Minnesota Vikings (2016).

I believe, especially because they are not favorites and do not have the necessary material to aspire to the title, that both teams should have as a maximum goal to qualify for the postseason. Everything that is achieved beyond that will be gain.

Worst case of the Chiefs

If in the recent history of the NFL there is a team with good starts that then do not get anything important in that same season, those are the Kansas City Chiefs. This happened to them in 2017 (eliminated in the wild-card round), 2013, 2010, and 2003, which adds four times. Absolutely worrying.

If we are guided by the cabals, finishing with a 10-6 mark would not bode well for the central team. This is because it has always been eliminated when the initial phase with that mark ends. 

Conclusions

Caution should be the main shield of the Chiefs and the Rams, because they are not the big favorites and because they are consolidating projects. Maybe the Rams can or should feel more pressure in that sense. The team had an extraordinary preseason and they reinforced themselves very well this year with Ndamukong Suh, Todd Gurley, Aaron Donald, and Jared Goff.

The Chiefs are more of a surprise and their so far star and revelation of the League, Patrick Mahomes, is also a surprise. The evolution shown by Kareem Hunt and Travis Kelce is also a good reason to dream about the postseason and no more. Neither team will win the Super Bowl. I even dare to say that neither team will play it, but they have material to grow and achieve it in the medium term.

LatinAmerican Post | Onofre Zambrano 

Translated from "¡Un gran inicio! Los Chiefs y los Rams sin duda nos sorprendieron a todos"

* The opinion of the editor does not represent the average

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