The Kansas City Chiefs are the NFL’s only remaining unbeaten team at 9-0, but Bill Belichick still believes the MVP award is a one-horse race in favor of the Baltimore Ravens’ Lamar Jackson.

The Kansas City Chiefs and their star quarterback Patrick Mahomes boast an impressive 9-0 unbeaten streak as they stampede through the 2024 NFL season.

But despite their roaring success, ex-head coach and NFL legend Bill Belichick believes that Baltimore Ravens’ Lamar Jackson steals the show as the MVP. The two powerhouse teams, who collided in the previous AFC Championship game, look set to joust once again in the looming playoffs.

An opening day clash saw the Chiefs clinch a nail-biting 27-20 victory over the Ravens following a contentious out-of-bounds call on what could have been a game-tying touchdown by Ravens tight end Isaiah Likely. Undeterred, Likely threw down the gauntlet to the Chiefs, saying post-defeat: “If this is the best that they’ve got, good luck in the postseason.”

Belichick shed light on his bold MVP stance and the formidable Ravens during a recent appearance on ‘The Pat McAfee Show,’ asserting after the Ravens’ success against the Cincinnati Bengals Thursday night pushed them to 7-3, “I think the Ravens are really good. I don’t think they’ve lost a game this year.

“The games they’ve lost, I think they can kind of gave them away,” Belichick continued. “They lost them more than somebody else won. I think the biggest opponent for the Ravens is the Ravens.”

Belichick then backed Jackson to win his third MVP award. “They’re very tough to stop and Lamar is playing great,” he said. “He is the first half of the season MVP.”

Jackson completed 25 of his 33 passes for 290 yards and four touchdowns in the win over the Bengals. He is the slight betting favourite for league MVP ahead of Mahomes and Bills quarterback Josh Allen.

On the season, Jackson has completed a career-best 69.1 percent of his passes for 2,689 yards to go along with a sparking 24-2 touchdown-interception ratio. He’s added a further 538 yards on the ground.

The Ravens have mostly been held back by a poor secondary. The unit allowed Bengals receiver Ja’Marr Chase to gash them for 264 yards and three touchdowns on Thursday.

Mahomes has been far from his best this season – the former MVP is on pace for career lows in both passing yards and touchdowns. Still, he has his Chiefs team undefeated.

Likely was bemused how his potential game-tying touchdown against Mahomes’s squad on opening day was ruled out. “The ref looked at me, I look at the ref, and when he signaled touchdown, I thought it was what it was,” he said.

“Then, obviously, we were going to win the game.”

“At this point, you just have to live with the call… I’d say this is probably the worst game we’re going to play all year, so if this is the best that they’ve got, good luck in the postseason,”.