LOS ANGELES _ Even with as much as the Vikings had working against them Thursday night, what happened to them against the Los Angeles Rams defied convention, for a defense that's been fashioned into one of the NFL's best under Mike Zimmer's watchful gaze.
A year ago, the Vikings had shut down the Rams' high-flying offense, delivering one of its signature performances in a 24-7 victory that gave the Vikings the inside track on a first-round bye. On Thursday night in the L.A. Memorial Coliseum, it was the Rams who landed the haymakers in a 38-31 victory.
Since 2006, teams traveling two or more time zones west were 13-30 in night games in the Pacific Time zone, posting a 0-6 record on Thursday nights. The Vikings traveled to Los Angeles to face the NFC's only undefeated team without defensive end Everson Griffen.
Nothing about their task was enviable. Still, the way the Rams carved up the Vikings' defense _ the league's top-ranked unit from a year ago _ was startling to watch.
Jared Goff had thrown five touchdown passes by the end of the third quarter, becoming the first quarterback to post that many against the Vikings since Drew Brees did it on Dec. 18, 2011. He had a perfect 158.3 passer rating through three quarters, and had eclipsed 400 yards by his first throw of the fourth quarter.
It forced the Vikings into the kind of shootout they might be better prepared to handle with Kirk Cousins as their quarterback, but still probably aren't designed to win very often.
By halftime, Cousins had attempted 32 passes, completing 25 of them for 255 yards and a pair of scores. Goff was 13-for-17 for 251 yards and four scores. He completed four passes of 20 yards or more in the first half against a defense that had given up only 41 plays of 20-plus yards in 2017 but had already surrendered three in its first three games.
The Rams averaged 12.2 yards per play in the first half; according to ESPN Stats and Information, no team had averaged more than 10 yards per play in a game so far this season.
Goff hit Cooper Kupp for a 70-yard touchdown on the "leak" concept Rams coach Sean McVay developed with 49ers coach Kyle Shanahan when both were in Washington. After faking a block, Kupp ran a crossing route past Mackensie Alexander and Eric Kendricks, forcing Anthony Barr to turn and run with him. Barr gave chase as Goff lofted a pass over his head, and Andrew Sendejo made a late attempt to tackle the receiver.
The Vikings answered with a three-play, 75-yard scoring drive, but after the teams had traded punts, Goff drove the Rams 71 yards in four plays, hitting Kupp for a 20-yard score.
On the Rams' next drive, Xavier Rhodes was called for a holding penalty to start the drive, and drew a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for kicking an official's flag while arguing the call. Coach Mike Zimmer pulled Rhodes _ who had been shadowing Brandin Cooks _ from the game, and on the next play, Goff found Cooks for a 47-yard touchdown pass over Trae Waynes.
The Rams ran their count of big plays to six as they built a 31-20 lead in the third quarter. McVay caught the Vikings' defense in a blitz, and Goff flipped a screen pass to Gurley for 56 yards (as Zimmer screamed for a block-in-the-back flag).
The Vikings would catch perhaps their biggest break of the night on the next drive, though, when a Cousins pass bounced off Sam Shields' hands and went right to Stefon Diggs for a 24-yard gain. Cousins hit Thielen for a 45-yard score on a post route, and the Vikings converted a two-point conversion to pull within three at 31-28.
McVay had more in store for them on the next drive, though. With the Rams driving to the Vikings' 31, he called for a late shift to put Robert Woods on Barr, and Goff drilled Woods on a seam route beyond the linebacker for his fifth touchdown pass of the night.
