Goff’s heroics lift Rams over Vikings
Quarterback passes for 465 yards, 5 touchdowns to beat Minnesota
LOS ANGELES — Jared Goff turned a phenomenal first half into the biggest game of his career, and it was still just barely enough to beat Kirk Cousins.
Goff passed for career highs of 465 yards and five touchdowns, winning a scintillating duel with his Minnesota counterpart and leading the unbeaten Los Angeles Rams to a 38-31 victory over the Vikings on Thursday night.
Goff hit Cooper Kupp with two of his four TD throws during a 251-yard first half in which the third-year quarterback flawlessly executed coach Sean McVay’s offence.
“It was just great command by him,” McVay said about Goff.
Todd Gurley then finished with 83 yards rushing and 73 yards receiving, while the Rams (4-0) held off the Vikings (1-2-1) and Cousins, who passed for 422 yards and three touchdowns.
The Vikings got the ball back with 2:20 left, but Los Angeles rookie John Franklin-Myers stripped Cousins of the ball near midfield. The Rams recovered and ran out the clock on their first win in the franchise’s last six meetings with Minnesota.
McVay was Cousins’ offensive co-ordinator in Washington before he became Goff’s head coach on the West Coast last season.
McVay’s current and former prize pupils put on a show at the Coliseum, but Goff finished 26-of-33 with a perfect 158.3 quarterback rating.
Goff picked apart the Vikings’ secondary in the first half with one pinpoint throw after another. The former No. 1 pick has three consecutive 300-yard games during the Rams’ perfect start.