LOS ANGELES (AP) — Jared Goff turned a phenomenal first half into

the biggest game of his career http://www.thevikingslockerroom.com/authentic-latavius-murray-jersey , 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 offense.“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 coordinator 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.Gurley and Brandin Cooks had first-half TD catches.The Vikings trimmed LA’s lead to 31-28 late in the third quarter with Adam Thielen’s 45-yard TD catch and a 2-point conversion, but Goff promptly surpassed his previous career highs for yards passing during a swift drive ending in Robert Woods’ 31-yard TD catch.Both offenses came out firing at the Coliseum in front of a lively Coliseum crowd that included a healthy throng of purple-clad fans enjoying the Vikings’ first game in Los Angeles since 1993.One week after giving up 27 points in the first half and getting blown out as 16 1/2-point favorites in Buffalo, the Vikings gave up 28 before halftime against LA. They still hung in with one of the NFL’s best offenses thanks to a dynamic game from Cousins, who hit Aldrick Robinson for two first-half scores.Goff found Kupp with two beautiful TD throws in the first half, the first hitting Kupp in stride on a 70-yard sprint , and the second eluding two Vikings and dropping into Kupp’s hands deep in the end zone.“Jared put it in about a 6-inch box that only he could fit it into,” McVay said. “He had great command and poise all night.”Less than 2 1/2 minutes later, Goff hit Cooks down the middle for a 47-yard score.Both of those throws beat Minnesota cornerback Trae Waynes, who missed the second half with a concussion.Goff’s four TD passes were the most in a first half by a Rams quarterback since Kurt Warner did it in 1999.Sam Ficken, the replacement for injured Rams All-Pro kicker Greg Zuerlein, kept it close by missing a 28-yard field goal with 8:21 to play.Minnesota’s Dan Bailey hit a 40-yard field goal with 3:46 left for the only points of the fourth quarter.GRIFFEN OUTMinnesota defensive end Everson Griffen posted a message on Instagram expressing his gratitude for support from his team and family. Griffen has been away from the Vikings while undergoing a mental health evaluation Womens Trae Waynes Jersey , and he didn’t get to return to the Coliseum, where he starred for USC. Griffen said he doesn’t know exactly when he’ll be back in uniform, but he plans to “return as a much-improved person and player.”INJURY REPORTVikings: RB Dalvin Cook had 20 yards on 10 carries after missing last week’s game with a hamstring injury. … Thielen appeared to be angry when officials sent him off the field to be checked for a concussion early in the second half. He returned later in the third quarter.Rams: TE Tyler Higbee injured his knee early on. He returned later in the first half. … CB Marcus Peters played after injuring his calf last week.UP NEXTVikings: At the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday, Oct. 7.Rams: At the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday, Oct. 7.The Vikings’ quarterback decision looks pretty good so far Going into the offseason, the Minnesota Vikings had three quarterbacks on their roster that many considered to be, at the very least, solid options. They had Case Keenum, who was coming off of the best season of his career in leading the Vikings to the 2017 NFC Championship Game. They had Sam Bradford, who looked amazing in the 2017 opener before getting injured and giving way to Keenum. And they had Teddy Bridgewater, who fought back from a gruesome knee injury to get back on the field and had endeared himself to many of the Vikings’ faithful despite not putting up huge statistical numbers.Yet, when the time came to give out a big quarterback contract in March of 2018, Vikings’ GM Rick Spielman, head coach Mike Zimmer, and offensive coordinator John DeFilippo decided that the answer to that question was “none of the above.” Instead, they wined Danielle Hunter Jersey , dined, and eventually gave the first fully-guaranteed contract in the NFL’s free agency era to Kirk Cousins. Cousins had bided his time in Washington, playing under the franchise tag for two consecutive years, but was never really embraced by the coaching staff in the nation’s capital. . .or the majority of the fan base, for that matter.It’s still early in the season, but to this point it appears that the people that run the Vikings might kind of sort of have an idea about what they’re doing.We’ll skip Bridgewater, who hasn’t seen the field in 2018 because he’s backing up Drew Brees in New Orleans.In Arizona, Bradford started the first three games of the season for the Cardinals (who the Vikings will see this coming Sunday). In those three games, he threw for a total of 400 yards, including a 90-yard performance in a shutout loss against the Rams. He was pulled late in the team’s Week 3 loss to Chicago in favor of rookie Josh Rosen. In each of the last two games, not only has Bradford not played, he hasn’t even been active. That means that not only was he behind Rosen on the depth chart, he’s now behind Mike Glennon.Yes, Mike Glennon. But at least he’s getting about $20 million this year to not dress on game day.In Denver, things haven’t been much better for Keenum. He got off to a decent enough start, throwing three touchdown passes (and three interceptions) in a season-opening victory over Seattle. Then http://www.thevikingslockerroom.com/authentic-trevor-siemian-jersey , he had no touchdown passes in Week 2.Or Week 3.Or Week 4.He finally got back on track against the Jets on Sunday with two more scoring throws, but the Broncos are now riding a three-game losing streak after winning their first two games.Cousins, on the other hand, has been pretty good.With Brees yet to play in Week 5 action, Cousins is currently second in the NFL in passing yardage (behind Jared Goff), and is currently completing over 71% of his passes, despite being one of the most pressured quarterbacks in the National Football League so far this season. He’s thrown 11 touchdown passes through the team’s first five games, and has thrown only two interceptions, both of which came on passes that really should have been caught by their intended receiver. He’s on pace to shatter just about every Vikings’ single-season passing record.I understand that Cousins gets the benefit of an incredibly talented supporting case, with Adam Thielen and Stefon Diggs comprising the best receiving duo in the NFL and Kyle Rudolph continuing to do his thing as well. Keenum and Bradford undoubtedly benefited from having those players to work with as well. However, Cousins was good before he got the opportunity to work with this group of skill position players. The Vikings knew that Cousins’ skills would be even more enhanced by getting to work with those guys. Keenum and Bradford, on the other hand, got the benefit of playing with those players as well but couldn’t get the Vikings to the promised land.I can’t imagine that there are a lot of holdouts left in the pro-Keenum or pro-Bradford or pro-Bridgewater camps after the first five weeks of this season. However, at this early juncture, it sure does look like the Vikings have made the right decision.