Rams outlast Chiefs in thriller

Jared Goff threw a 40yard touchdown pass to Gerald Everett for the go-ahead score with 1:49 to play, and the Los Angeles Rams outlasted the Kansas City Chiefs for a 54-51 victory on Monday night in a high-octane NFL offensive showdown that somehow surpassed the hype.

Patrick Mahomes threw six touchdown passes in his latest jawdropping performance for the Chiefs (9-2), but he also threw two interceptions in the final 1:18 as the Rams (10-1) hung on to win the highestscoring Monday night game ever played and the first NFL game with two 50-point performances.

Goff passed for 413 yards and four touchdowns, while Marcus Peters and Lamarcus Joyner came up with late interceptions as the Rams held on.

The highest-scoring game in the league this season was an offensive fantasia featuring 1,001 combined yards and ingenious scheming from mastermind coaches Andy Reid and Sean McVay.

RAMS HONOR FIRST RESPONDERS >> The Los Angeles Rams honored those impacted the past two weeks by the shooting at a Thousand Oaks bar and wildfires in Los Angeles and Ventura counties before Monday night’s game against the Kansas City Chiefs.

The California Lutheran University Choir, who had a former member as one of the 12 killed in the Nov, 7 shooting at a country music bar, sang the National Anthem. Firefighters who have battled the Southern California wildfires the past two weeks received tickets to the game.

The fire erupted Nov. 8 and powerful Santa Ana winds pushed it through suburbs and wilderness parkland in Los Angeles and Ventura counties, forcing thousands of people to flee.

Karen and Jordan Helus, the wife of fallen Ventura County Sheriff Sergeant Ron Hellus, lit the LA Coliseum torch prior to kickoff.

MLB

YANKEES LAND PAXTON FROM MARINERS>> Lefthander James Paxton was acquired by the Yankees from the Seattle Mariners for a trio of prospects Monday, bolstering the thin starting rotation that contributed to New York’s loss to Boston in the AL Division Series.

New York sent lefthander Justus Sheffield to the Mariners along with right-hander Erik Swanson and outfielder Dom Thompson-Williams.

Paxton turned 30 on Nov. 6 and went 11-6 with a 3.76 ERA in 28 starts last season, including a no-hitter at Toronto on May 8. Paxton, a proud Canadian, is also known for keeping his composure as a bald eagle mistakenly landed on his shoulder prior to a start at Minnesota in April.

He joins a rotation projected to include right-handers Luis Severino and Masahiro Tanaka and left-hander CC Sabathia.

Paxton made $4.9 million last season and is eligible for salary arbitration. He can become a free agent after the 2020 season.

Sheffield is rated among the top minor league prospects, made his big league debut in September and pitched in three games for the Yankees. He had a 2.48 ERA in 25 minor league appearances at DoubleA and Triple-A this year, striking out 123 in 116 innings and allowing just four home runs.

Sheffield won’t turn 23 until May and could become a future anchor to Seattle’s rotation.