What a game, especially for a Thursday night. The Rams offense is in a class with The Greatest Show on Turf, and the Bill Walsh/Joe Montana 49ers. We knew Sean McVay was an innovative offensive coach, and that Todd Gurley was one of the best backs in the league. But we're finding out that Brandin Cooks might be an elite receiver and, most troubling for opposing defenses, Jared Goff - drafted at 1.1 three years ago - might be really good in his own right.
• Goff threw for 465 yards against what was the best defense in the league last year. He did so on only 33 attempts (14.1 YPA.) He threw five TDs, wasn't close to throwing a pick and took only one sack. When he was in trouble, he threw the ball away. It's one thing to play mistake free when you're a game manager, quite another when you're taking shots down the field. He's a top-three QB right now, the other two being Drew Brees and Pat Mahomes.
• The tree in Los Angeles is narrow - it's simply three receivers, all of whom went for 100 yards and a TD, and Gurley. Massive production, irrespective of game flow, and a narrow tree are fantasy gold.
• This week Cooper Kupp went crazy - 11-9-162-2, while Robert Woods went 5-5-101-1 and Cooks 8-7-116-1. You easily could have drafted Gurley in Rd 1, Cooks in Rd 4, Woods, Kupp and Goff later and run out a monster team of all Rams plus Travis Kelce at TE and a Rd 2 back.
• Gurley is such a monster because he's racking up fantasy points without being overtaxed a la 2017 Le'Veon Bell. Gurley had only 17 carries for 83 yards and caught four of six targets for 73 more an a score. The Rams make it so easy for him, as many of his yards - both as a rusher and a receiver - seem to accumulate in wide open space.
• The Rams (4-0 ATS) are a spread-covering machine. If you want to understand why, consider how they ran their offense up three in the fourth quarter. They'll hand the ball off on first down and do play-action on the next play and attack down the field. No going into a shell and simply running clock, they're aiming to salt the game away by scoring another TD. The point-spread models are built on teams trading margin of victory for time off the clock. The Rams, like the Patriots the last 18 years, don't behave like the rest of the league.
• Kirk Cousins played a great game too - 422 yards, 8.4 YPA, three TDs no picks. He did take four sacks and fumbled at the end of the game, but he faced a nasty front seven, made some nice escapes and ran for 28 yards. He's living up to his contract and is a borderline top-five fantasy QB, given the running game's struggles and slippage of the defense.
• Dalvin Cook played, but it might have been better had he sat. He had 10 carries for 20 yards and no catches. He simply had nowhere to run, and his backups weren't any better.
• Adam Thielen is like DeAndre Hopkins - he's not huge, doesn't have game-breaking speed, but he's big, fast and athletic enough to get it done every single week. This week he went 12-8-135-1 despite missing a few plays while being checked for a concussion. Stefon Diggs went 15-11-123 and broke a few tackles too. Aldrick Robinson spoiled the fun, though, by catching two of the TDs. He could supplant Laquan Treadwell, who went 7-4-47 with a drop, as the No. 3 receiver soon. Kyle Rudolph was involved to the tune of 6-5-57 and remains one of the few playable TEs every week.
• Sam Ficken missed another short FG and has to be on the ropes.
• The Rams missed cornerback Aqib Talib, who's out until at least Week 11 on IR. Even though the front seven eventually got to Cousins, he was able to do work for most of the game.
• I'm still shocked at what a great game that was. Only one turnover, relatively few flags, no coach's challenges, no major injuries, offenses that executed and moved the ball all game. Granted I watched the edited version, but for one game it was the NFL of my idealized memory rather than the genetically-modified, nutrient-poor modern-day version.