Rams Beat Vikings 38-31 For Fourth Straight Win

Los Angeles Rams quarterback Jared Goff threw a perfect game as he led his team in a 38-31 victory over the Minnesota Vikings on Thursday Night Football.

Vikings vs. Rams Recap

The Los Angeles Rams and the Minnesota Vikings put on one of the best game of the 2018 season so far, as both teams went back and forth trading scores every few plays for a combined 1,002 yards and 69 points.

It was also a well-played game, with just six punts and six penalties combined between the two teams. Both teams pushed each other to their limits yet, in the end, the Rams offense was just too much for the Vikings to handle.

The Rams are 4-0 for the first time since the Kurt Warner–Marshall Faulk glory days of 2001. They felt little resistance against Vikings defense as they marched up and down the field with ease, averaging 10.1 yards per play.

A month into the season and Goff is starting to look like the league’s MVP.  So far he’s thrown for 1,406 yards with 11 scoring strikes and two picks in four games. After completing 26 of 33 for 465 yards,  five touchdowns, and no interceptions Goff left Thursday’s game with a perfect passer rating of 158.3.

He is the third quarterback in the Super Bowl era with a perfect passer rating on at least 30 attempts, joining fellow Ram Warner in 2000 and Ken O’Brien in 1986. Goff’s five passing touchdowns tied for the most in Rams history and are the most by a Rams quarterback since Warner in 1999.

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Goff was able to connect with each of his top three receivers Cooper Kupp (162 yards, 2 TD), Brandon Cooks (116 yards, 1 TD), and Robert Woods (101 yards, 1 TD). He was also able to connect with Todd Gurley on both a 57-yard screen pass and a touchdown.

“I thought we protected really well all night,” Goff said after the game. “They did a really good job in keeping me upright. Whenever that happens, we have a really good chance with the guys we have outside.”

Despite the loss, Kirk Cousins made some fantastic passes as he completed 36 of 50 passes for 422 yards and three touchdowns, good for a 117.3 passer rating. Cousins was pressured on 46.4 percent of his dropbacks, sacked four times and was stripped of the ball for the third time in two games as John Franklin-Myers hit his arm on the Vikings’ final offensive play Thursday night.

“I always go back and look at the plays I can control,” Cousins said. “Those are the ones I agonize over if I feel like I can control a better result. Sometimes the fumbles, sometimes the sacks, sometimes the incompletions are not so much something I can control as much as just unfortunate. So I think it’s a balance.”

Cousins was able to hit Adam Thielen and Stefon Diggs for a combined nine catches for 145 yards and a touchdown.

Cousins connection to Aldrick Robinson was perhaps the strongest of the night as the duo connected on nine passes and two touchdowns for 157 yards. Robinson had 70 career catches and nine touchdowns coming into the game and now he’s got 72 catches and 11 scores.

The Vikings will hit the road to play the Philadelphia Eagles, and the Rams will head to Washington to face off against the Seattle Seahawks. Both games will air on FOX this Sunday at 4:25 EST.