LOS ANGELES -- With pressure coming, Jared Goff didn’t flinch as he navigated the pocket.
Instead, the Los Angeles Rams quarterback stepped up and delivered a strike to Cooper Kupp for another touchdown.
On Sunday, in a 35-23 victory over the Los Angeles Chargers at the L.A. Memorial Coliseum, Goff delivered arguably the best game of his burgeoning career.
“He’s money,” said receiver Robert Woods, who was Goff's go-to receiver Sunday, with 10 catches for 104 yards and two scores. “He stands tall in the pocket, delivering in the spot where only we can catch it.”
Against a touted Chargers defense, though without star defensive end Joey Bosa, Goff completed 29 of 36 passes for 354 yards and three touchdowns, with an interception, as the Rams improved to 3-0 ahead of a Thursday night game against the Minnesota Vikings (1-1-1).
And for a second consecutive week, Goff finished one yard shy of tying his career-high of 355 passing yards, which he managed last November in a lopsided victory over the Houston Texans.
“He’s making plays that great players make,” Rams coach Sean McVay said, adding, “You just see the ownership, the comfort level as he’s accumulating these reps against certain defensive structures or systems.”
Goff, the top overall pick in 2016, demonstrated Sunday an improved poise in the pocket, and a confidence to throw into tight windows -- something he seldom did last season, even as he grew more confident in McVay’s system.
“I think I’m getting more comfortable with anticipating stuff and anticipating windows,” Goff said. “That just happens as you grow and get better.”
In the first quarter, Goff threw a dart over the middle to Brandin Cooks for a 17-yard completion, before Todd Gurley rushed 1 yard for a touchdown to give the Rams’ a 7-0 lead.
Goff followed in the next series with a 21-yard pass to Cooks up the sideline, and a 3-yard pass to Robert Woods for a touchdown to give the Rams a 14-6 lead. Cooks finished with 7 catches for 90 yards.
Goff was 13 of 14 for 141 yards and a touchdown in the first quarter alone.
In the second quarter, Goff suffered his only miscue when he attempted a pass to tight end Gerald Everertt in the corner of the end zone that was intercepted by Derwin James. It was the second interception Goff has thrown this season.
“It was not a smart play,” Goff said. “I think you just kind of force it in there, but I think if I throw a better ball it might be a different outcome. But you’ve got to know we have points down there already and for me to turn it over like that is not what we want to do.”
Goff rebounded in the third quarter. He danced in the pocket, before stepping up to complete a 53-yard pass to Kupp, who shed a tackle and sprinted 20 yards to the end zone, to put the Rams up 28-13.
Goff appeared calm throughout the play, but said he errored before the throw.
“I was kind of trying to avoid the rush for a second and brought my eyes down to the rush,” Goff said. “That’s never really what you want to do, but I kind of had to move around for a second and then he was able to beat – he was underneath the guy and kind of wheeled around him up the sideline.”
Kupp credited Goff for the off-schedule play, another sign of Goff’s ability to improvise on the go.
“Didn’t get the look we really wanted and Jared did a great job keeping the play alive,” said Kupp, who caught four passes for 71 yards and a touchdown. “Hung in there, trusted the o-line, trusted that someone was going to get open and then just made a great throw with people in his face.”
And then later in the third, Goff put the game out of reach when he completed a 6-yard touchdown pass to Woods to give the Rams a 35-20 lead.
“We find holes, find gaps and credit to Jared,” Woods said. “He keeps his eyes open, moving from guy to guy to find an open guy.”
Goff completed passes to six players, including tight ends Tyler Higbee and Everett, and even kept one for himself when he spied an opening for a 16-yard gain.
“I like it,” Woods said about Goff’s keeper, laughing. “It’s another threat for this offense, dual-threat quarterback, picking up yards on the ground, another threat for the defense to watch.”
With matchups against the Vikings next week and the high-scoring Kansas City Chiefs and New Orleans Saints later in the season, there’s no doubt that the Rams’ offense, averaging 34 points per game, has a playmaker at every position.
And now, with Goff posting 941 passing yards through three games (The third-most through three games by a Rams quarterback since Kurt Warner in 2000 and 2001), the third-year quarterback has left no doubt that he’s a threat, too.