Los Angeles Rams: Why Jared Goff will win the 2018 MVP award

The Los Angeles Rams are off to a strong 4-0 start to the season. Quarterback Jared Goff has been a major part of that. He needs to be in the MVP talks.

If the NFL season ended right now, there would be a clear unanimous MVP. Anyone that doesn’t vote for Patrick Mahomes shouldn’t be allowed to vote ever again. He’s thrown 14 touchdown passes compared to zero interceptions and has led the Kansas City Chiefs to a perfect 4-0 record. Of course, Jared Goff and the Los Angeles Rams are the other members of that 4-0 club.

There are three problems with Mahomes’ candidacy, though. Not only is Mahomes not alone in his phenomenal individual success, but Goff’s identical 4-0 record means there’s accompanied team success for him as well. Furthermore, there is still three-quarters of the season left to go.

As for Goff, he has led an relentless offense, throwing 11 touchdown passes along the way through the first four weeks. He’s also thrown for 1,426 yards and completed a ridiculous 72.4 percent of his passes. Despite throwing three less touchdown passes and two more interceptions, there are a few things going for Goff. Those include more yards and a higher completion percentage.

He’s also on a more well-rounded team. The Rams are set up to continue their success and shouldn’t run into any major bumps on the road. However, the Chiefs could suffer a hiccup or two along the way. They’re still working with a quarterback in his first year when it comes to starting, and not much of a defense.

Should Mahomes hit a brief rough patch, can the Chiefs carry him for a little bit?

A defense that’s allowing 28.8 points per game (25th in the NFL) won’t do it. That’s with Mahomes playing turnover free football as well. Once some turnovers start to seep in (and law of averages would tell us they will come) that could get even worse.

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On offense, Kareem Hunt is a monster and Travis Kelce and Tyreek Hill are a dangerous pass-catching duo. After those three though, the Chiefs don’t have much going for them. Sammy Watkins is a decent number two but is inconsistent and injury prone.

The Rams meanwhile, are now in Goff’s third year as a starter. He has the best running back in football (Todd Gurley) and a receivers he’s built a great rapport with. The Rams also boast one of the most intimidating defenses in the NFL. They’re currently allowing 16.8 points per game (fifth best in the NFL).

At the moment, Patrick Mahomes is the clear cut MVP. There should be questions as to whether he can keep it up all year though. While you could argue Jared Goff is on a difficult pace to continue as well, he has more of a supporting cast to help.

A hiccup in Mahomes season wouldn’t surprise anyone. His defense has done him no favors and one crack in his three-headed monster for a weapon and things could go south quickly.

Goff and the Rams look built to last though. Due to that, the MVP award will have Jared Goff’s name on it this year.