Where were you when the future arrived?
It was but four years ago when the Jared Goff-Sean McVay Rams helped turn football on its oblong-shaped head with an explosive offense that made mockery of defenses across the league. That same year, the Chiefs and Patrick Mahomes, who in his first season as starting quarterback with Andy Reid, did were doing the same thing.
The result? An all-time classic "Monday Night Football" game which truly signified the beginning of the NFL's offensive explosion.
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The Chiefs and Rams finished the 2018 season as the No. 1 and 2 scoring offenses, respectively, and punched their tickets to the playoffs later in the season. But a Monday-night meeting between the two 9-1 squads was something of a preview of what the NFL would be getting from offense for years to come.
Here's how it went down:
Chiefs vs. Rams 2018 score, stats
Very few times has the NFL pumped up regular season games that lived up to the hype, but the Rams-Chiefs matchup in 2018 did just that. The last time the two teams met, it resulted in a 54-51 Rams win, with some absolutely eye-popping stats:
| Chiefs | Stat | Rams |
|---|---|---|
| 51 | Score | 54 |
| 98 | Rushing yards | 76 |
| 478 | Passing yards | 413 |
| 546 | Total yards | 455 |
| 27 | First downs | 29 |
| 5 (3 INT, 2 FL) | Turnovers | 2 (2 FL) |
| 6 | Total touchdowns | 4 |
The game featured 1,001 yards of total offense, which is one of the highest marks in league history.
There were some other records set, as well:
- Highest-scoring game in "Monday Night Football" history (105 points);
- First and only game in NFL history in which both teams scored 50-plus points;
- Third-highest scoring game in league history;
- Most points scored in a loss (Chiefs, 51);
- Most passing TDs in a "MNF" game (Mahomes, six).
The game also had four lead changes in the fourth quarter (on four touchdowns) and six lead changes overall.
Unfortunately, while the game was a preview of offenses to come, both the Chiefs and the Rams had their seasons ended by Bill Belichick and the Patriots: The Chiefs lost the AFC championship game to New England, while the Rams would make it to Super Bowl 53, scoring just three points and losing to the Pats 13-3.
Chiefs vs. Rams 2018 rosters
Here are the starters on both squads for that 2018 matchup. Italics indicate that the player is no longer with the squad:
Offense
| Rams | Position | Chiefs |
|---|---|---|
| Jared Goff | QB | Patrick Mahomes |
| Tyler Higbee | TE | Demetrius Harris |
| Andrew Whitworth | LT | Eric Fisher |
| Rodger Saffold | LG | Cameron Erving |
| John Sullivan | C | Austin Reiter |
| Austin Blythe | RG | Andrew Wylie |
| Rob Havenstein | RT | Mitchell Schwartz |
| Josh Reynolds | WR | Tyreek Hill |
| Brandin Cooks | WR/TE | Travis Kelce |
| Robert Woods | WR | Sammy Watkins |
| Todd Gurley | RB | Kareem Hunt |
Defense
| Rams | Position | Chiefs |
|---|---|---|
| Michael Brockers | DL | Allen Bailey |
| Ndamukong Suh | DL | Chris Jones |
| Marcus Peters | DB | Orlando Scandrick |
| Troy Hill | DB | Steven Nelson |
| Aaron Donald | DL | Dee Ford |
| Dante Fowler | LB | Anthony Hitchens |
| Corey Littleton | LB | Dorian O'Daniel |
| Mark Barron | LB | Justin Houston |
| Sam Shields | DB | Kendall Fuller |
| John Johnson | S | Eric Murray |
| Lamarcus Joyner | S | Ron Parker |
So, of the 44 offensive and defensive starters who took the field, only nine players remain with their current squads for both the Chiefs and Rams.
Rams: OL Rob Havenstein, DB Troy Hill, DL Aaron Donald.
Chiefs: QB Patrick Mahomes, OL Austin Reiter, OL Andrew Wylie, TE Travis Kelce, DL Chris Jones.
