Monday's contest between the Kansas City Chiefs and Los Angeles Rams lived up to every little bit of the hype - with Jared Goff narrowly out-dueling Patrick Mahomes in a 54-51 thriller.

Both quarterbacks tossed for over 400 passing yards and combined for 10 passing touchdowns (Mahomes had six). The 54-51 contest turned out to be the highest-scoring Monday nighter ever. Only two games in NFL history featured more scoring than this epic contest, too.

Goff barely got the better of Mahomes in a battle between two of the game's elite young quarterbacks. Even though this is only Mahomes' first NFL season as a starter, Goff already believes that the Kansas City signal-caller is above every other player in one area.

"He's incredible," Goff said, via Michael Silver of NFL.com. "He's the toughest guy in the NFL to defend right now, including Drew (Brees).

So far, the stats clearly support Goff's claim. Mahomes leads all quarterbacks in passing yards (3,628), passing touchdowns (37), and is fifth in completions (264). The MVP race is widely considered to be between Brees and Mahomes.

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Credit: Robert Hanashiro-USA TODAY Sports

But perhaps the latter's five ill-advised turnovers on Monday night - coupled with the Chiefs' second lost of the season - probably makes Brees the frontrunner for the award right now.

Both Goff and Mahomes are enjoying MVP-like seasons, and the Chiefs and Rams are in prime contention to earn the first seeds in their respective conferences. Because of this, many fans and analysts believe Monday night was a Super Bowl 53 preview.

What This Means

Goff was displaying is usual professional self by claiming Mahomes as the toughest player to defend against, but it's a wide open debate. Brees, Goff himself and Aaron Rodgers have all displayed strong cases for being the "toughest" guy to defend in the NFL.

If Mahomes continues to play like he has through the first 10 games, he could very well wind up with the MVP Award. But obviously, a Super Bowl championship matters more to the superstar quarterback.

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