NFL: After Rams-Chiefs, defence is dead – long live the deep ball

Young coaches like Sean McVay and realistic, adaptable minds like Andy Reid have exemplified just how the game is likely to trend...

On Monday night in Los Angeles, defence died.

The NFL is changing and young coaches like Sean McVay and realistic, adaptable minds like Andy Reid have exemplified just how the game is likely to trend in the coming seasons. You won’t hear too many complaining, either.

Here are five ridiculous statistics from what many will dub the best game played in the NFL in their lifetimes:

  • The Kansas City Chiefs put up 546 yards of total offence and lost.
  • Despite there being a collective 105 points scored in total, neither side have a 100-yard rushing total.
  • The Kansas City Chiefs became the first-ever team to lose in the NFL after scoring 50 points.
  • The Kansas City Chiefs gave up 13 penalties and were still a minute away from winning the game.
  • The 14 collective touchdowns scored were as many as the Buffalo Bills had managed all season

Not everyone will like that. Sometimes, a good defensive play is as appealing as a touchdown or a perfectly-executed screen pass.

But in order to attract more viewers and garner more interest in international markets like they’ve been targeting, expect to see the NFL encourage offensiveness even more following the PR wave they’re currently on thanks to these two teams.

This game will alter so many things about the National Football League.

Firstly, draft pick stock will be placed even more on offensive weapons. Defensive players usually make up the bulk of day one picks, but that is probably set to change as the race to being most attractive as well as the winners, intensifies.

Typically, conservative head coaches will come under fire. Front offices everywhere are seeing the sentiment the Rams and Chiefs are getting and the patience they would typically have for coaching personnel won’t stick as well as it would have in the previous era of defence-first football.

It’s important to note the quarterbacks, too. Both are under 25. They both came from very college-based offences.

What I mean by that, is that the play spread formations, they don’t often take snaps from under centre and the passing plays are usually explosive. It’s long been a widely-held view that college football is an easier sell to people because it’s considerably more entertaining to digest.

People like big plays – imagine.

Patrick Mahomes was a hot commodity because he could probably throw the ball from end zone to end zone. His Texas Tech offensive coordinator was always keen to stretch play and make defensive backs play on their back feet.

Goff was systematic at UCLA, but his head coach understood what traits to magnify in a national scale for him to be a success in the NFL.

Both have culminated in teams that not only NFL fans want to watch, but the everyday passing interest viewership. The NFL is run in cycles. For the ten years this level of aggression will last, a defensive resurgence will follow as the game continues to evolve.

But for now, it’s important to note a turning of the tide. Defence is dead – long live the deep ball.

Find the latest NFL odds over at paddypower.com

What do you think?