The Kansas City Chiefs are the AFC’s lone remaining undefeated team.

Patrick Mahomes and company will face their toughest test so far this season when they visit the New England Patriots on Sunday Night Football.

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Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes Has Won 7 Straight Starts To Open His NFL Career

Kansas City is the seventh team in the last 11 years to average 35 points per game or more through their first five games. Each of the last six teams to accomplish the feat went on to reach their conference championship game. Four of them played in the Super Bowl. The Chiefs can take another step towards locking up the AFC’s top seed with a win on Sunday.

Kansas City has already beaten the Los Angeles Chargers, Pittsburgh Steelers and Jacksonville Jaguars – teams that were all ranked ahead of them at the start of the season according to ESPN’s Football Power Index.

The Chiefs have won their last two meetings with the Patriots dating back to 2014. No team has ever won three regular-season meetings in a row against New England in the Tom Brady/Bill Belichick era. If they become the first, Kansas City will improve to 6-0 and pull further away from New England atop the AFC.

The key to the Chiefs success is an offence that leads the AFC with an average of 35.0 points per game. Mahomes has completed 63.6 per cent of his pass attempts while throwing for 1,513 yards and 14 touchdowns with just two interceptions this season.

Mahomes turned 23 in September. The fact that he has been able to put up the numbers he has while winning his first seven career starts is a testament to his talent and maturity. It’s also a testament to the coaching staff and the talent around him.

That combination is evident in the success Mahomes has had getting the football out of his hands quickly. According to NFL Next Gen Stats, Mahomes has averaged a league-best 9.5 yards per completion when getting the ball out of his hands within 2.5 seconds of the snap. He’s completed a ridiculous 79.3 per cent of his completions in those situations with 10 touchdowns compared to zero interceptions.

Three things in particular have to happen for Mahomes to put up those kinds of numbers. First, the coaching staff needs to have an offensive playbook in place that allows Mahomes to get the ball out of his hands quickly. Second, the playmakers around the young passer need to be able to create separation and get open. Third, Mahomes needs to make quick decisions and get the ball out his hands accurately. When all three of those things happen, it translates in to the kind of numbers that Mahomes is putting up.

Chiefs head coach Andy Reid is one of the most brilliant offensive minds in the NFL. It helps to have plenty of talented playmakers to work with including wide receivers Tyreek Hill and Sammy Watkins, tight end Travis Kelce and running back Kareem Hunt. Of course, the fact that Mahomes has so much support doesn’t take away from how impressive it is that he has put up numbers that rival the stats Tom Brady put up through the first five games of his two MVP seasons.

Kansas City owns one of the most explosive offence’s in the NFL. The Chiefs offence must continue to produce if they are going to beat the Patriots.

Meanwhile, New England’s offence is still coming together following an inconsistent start to the season.

Brady has thrown six interceptions in five games. The only time he ever threw more interceptions through the first five weeks was all the way back in 2003 when he threw seven.

The Patriots rank ninth in the NFL with 26.6 points per game but just 22nd in the league with 357.4 yards per game. That said, New England’s offence showed signs of life in last week’s 38-24 win over the Indianapolis Colts.

Julian Edelman had seven catches for 57 yards in his season debut. The recently acquired Josh Gordon had two catches for 50 yards and a touchdown. Brady threw for a season-high 341 yards and three touchdowns. According to NFL Next Gen Stats, 76 per cent of Brady’s pass attempts were to receivers that had established at least three yards of separation.

The additions of Edelman and Gordon provide a lot more than just the individual numbers that they are capable of putting up. It also opens up more space for tight end Rob Gronkowski, wide receivers Chris Hogan and Phillip Dorsett, and even running back James White to make plays in the passing game out of the backfield.

The Patriots provided a glimpse of what they are capable of in last week’s win over Indianapolis. It will take an even better effort this week if they are going to take down Kansas City.

There are a number of historical precedents that indicate New England could pull out the win on Sunday night. The Patriots have won 11 straight games against opponents that entered their matchup with a better record. In fact, New England hasn’t lost a regular-season game to a team with a better record than them since 2009. The Patriots are also 32-5 in home October games since 2001.

There is no doubt that the Chiefs have been the better team through the first five weeks of the NFL season. That won’t matter when they take the field against New England in a key AFC showdown on Sunday Night Football.