The Browns, like the lot of us, watched the highly anticipated Chiefs-Rams offensive shootout Monday night.
Some in horror (Gregg Williams), some in fascination (Baker Mayfield). The Rams and Chiefs are two of the best teams in the league. If the season ended today, the four best records would be owned by the four top scoring teams. Three of the top four defenses in points allowed per game are just .500. The rest of the top 10 have winning records, but the point remains: The NFL has been an offensive league in 2018.
Monday's game, which saw the Chiefs and Rams combine for 105 points – third-most in NFL history -- felt like an extreme illustration of that narrative, but what if it wasn't? Will games like that become more commonplace as we move forward?
"It is starting to go that way," Mayfield said. "When you get offenses that scheme like that — spread you out — that is the result you see. It is hard to defend. When you have that many weapons that those teams do, it is obviously a little bit different. At the same time, people are realizing that you do not have to just set up and run the football. But there are times, especially in our division, when you need to do that. You need to be able to run the ball when they know that you are going to. It is different. I think that it depends on the scenario."
Williams dreaded Monday's scenario, agreeing with ESPN's Ryan Clark who said Rams-Chiefs "set back defense 100 years," a catchphrase Williams thinks Clark may have borrowed from him. Williams admitted the game was exciting for the league but he's glad he wasn't the defensive coordinator for either team.
As for whether 54-51 will become the new norm, Williams still believes in his side of the ball.
"There have been styles to play like that in other years," Williams said. "Go back to the Rams' years when they were doing a great job with Coach (Dick) Vermeil and everyone back then. People catch up, people move around and then (you adjust to) the athletic awareness of what you have to have on your individual team to be able to play in space. Then, can you as a team restrict some of those space issues? Both (the Chiefs and Rams) defensively did not restrict enough space."
