Jared Goff

Goff will no longer have running back Todd Gurley and receiver Brandin Cooks at his disposal after Gurley was released on March 19 and Cooks was traded to the Houston Texans on Friday.

''It's always super tough to lose friends or team-mates,'' Goff said during a conference call on Wednesday.

"I understand there's a business in this game and those two guys understand that as well, and that was a decision made. Whatever the decision is, we move forward."

Despite no longer having a three-time Pro Bowler in Gurley and a four-time 1,000-yard receiver in Cooks, Goff does not see a reason to panic.

''We'll be just fine,'' he said. ''Nothing to worry about. I mean, we've got a lot of work to do, [but] it's only April right now, and we're going to work through this offseason and let's see what comes of it due to the coronavirus, but it's how the game goes. Teams make changes all the time, and we're going to find other contributors.''

Running back Darrell Henderson Jr. is expected to fill the void in the backfield while Josh Reynolds will step in to a starting receiver role. Henderson carried the ball 39 times for 147 yards and a 3.8 average last season and Reynolds caught 21 passes for 326 yards and one score. 

"I would expect some of the stuff that was tailored to Brandin and Todd to be not there anymore. That's the easiest way to say it," Goff said. "There was a lot of runs that Todd really liked and a lot of stuff that we did to get Todd the ball in certain ways."

Gurley had 21 offensive touchdowns in 2018 as the Rams ranked second in the NFL in scoring at 32.9 points per game – the franchise's highest mark since the 2000 team averaged 33.8 points. Los Angeles' scoring dipped to 11th in the league last season at 24.6 points per game, and Goff says regardless of who is lining up around him, it is all up to him for the offense to be successful.

''It's always been on me,'' he said. ''It's always been on the quarterback, and that's never changed. Since I've come into the league, it's always been up to me to make things happen.''

Not since 2001 had the Rams trumped the Patriots, suffering Super Bowl defeats in 2002 and 2019, with a minus-92 point differential and minus-eight turnover margin during that run.

But the in-form Rams (9-4) finally celebrated a victory over the Patriots in Los Angeles on Thursday.

The result snapped New England's NFL record streak of 17 consecutive seasons with double-digit wins – the Patriots fell to 6-7 with three games remaining.

Jared Goff was 16-of-25 passing for 137 yards, one touchdown and an interception, while the Rams quarterback rushed for another TD on four carries and 11 yards.

Patriots counterpart Cam Newton finished nine of 16 for 119 yards, no touchdowns and interception – a pick six – to go with seven carries and 16 yards as New England had their two-game winning run halted.

Newton was eventually withdrawn as Jarrett Stidham was introduced under center and completed five of seven passes for 27 yards.

The Rams raced out to a 10-0 lead at the end of the opening quarter and never looked back – Goff's one-yard run and a 35-yard field goal from Matt Gay setting the tone at home to the Patriots.

A 79-yard interception return via Kenny Young extended the Rams' lead early in the second period before Nick Folk converted a 29-yard field goal to ensure the Patriots entered half-time with some points on the board.

It was bleak for the Patriots as the Rams continued their dominance in the third quarter – Goff's pass to Cooper Kupp putting the game beyond reach with less than two minutes remaining in the third, the final score of the contest.

The third quarter also saw Rams defensive tackle Aaron Donald sack Newton to surpass Von Miller (83.5) for the fourth-most sacks in a player's first seven seasons since individual sacks were tracked in 1982.

Meanwhile, Rams team-mate Cam Akers became the fourth youngest player in NFL history to rush for 170-plus yards in a game, per Stats Perform.

Wolford was in a neck brace when he was taken away from Lumen Field in an ambulance having been struck on the head by the shoulder of Seahawks safety Jamal Adams in the first quarter.

Asked for an update on the 25-year-old, Rams head coach Sean McVay told the media he had been released from hospital.

"He must be good because he was in the locker room smiling, looking good," said McVay.

"I think it was just a stinger, but he definitely seemed good. We wanted to be as cautious as we could with something like that. It looks like it's trending in a positive direction."

Wolford was selected to start the Wild Card game after completing 22 of 38 throws for 231 yards passing as the Rams clinched their playoff spot by defeating the Arizona Cardinals in Week 17.

The fact starting quarterback Jared Goff underwent thumb surgery less than two weeks ago played a part in McVay's decision.

However, Goff came off the bench to replace Wolford and passed for 155 yards - the most by any player off the bench since Jay Fielder's 172 for the Jacksonville Jaguars in the 1999 Divisional Round.

He connected on a 15-yard touchdown pass to Robert Woods, while Cam Akers had 176 scrimmage yards - the second-most by a rookie in his playoff debut - and Darious Williams scored a 42-yard interception return.

"For [Goff] to be able to throw the football is pretty impressive," McVay said.

"There were a couple limitations which led to the decision to go with John. I was real pleased with Jared, and I think it was a real credit to him to be able to handle this week the right way and have himself mentally ready to go."

Asked for his opinion on McVay's decision, Goff said: "It was tough. It was some long conversations we had, but ultimately, I respect his decision.

"He's the coach. He had to make a decision that he needed to make early in the week to get out in front of some stuff, and I get it, but as a competitor of course I wanted to play."

Goff suggested there was added motivation for the Rams after seeing the Seahawks celebrate clinching the NFC West division title by beating them 20-9 in Week 16.

"Two weeks ago, you saw them smoking cigars and getting all excited about beating us and winning the division, and we're able to come up here and beat them in their own place. It feels good," he said.

Russell Wilson's phenomenal displays have helped the Seahawks go 6-2 to top their division, but Jared Goff has strung together some impressive performances and is coming off a bye week ahead of a mouth-watering clash at SoFi Stadium.

The Buffalo Bills have made their best start to a season since they made the Super Bowl after the 1993 season, but their defense will need to be strong to keep DeAndre Hopkins of the Arizona Cardinals at bay.

The Pittsburgh Steelers will be hoping to improve to 9-0 against the Cincinnati Bengals this weekend but could be forced into doing something that has not occurred in 22 years.

We use Stats Perform data to preview the standout matchups in Week 10.
 

FEATURED GAME

Seattle Seahawks at Los Angeles Rams - Sunday, 4.25pm (all times Eastern)

- The Seahawks average 34.3 points per game and allow 30.4; their games produce an NFL-high average of 64.7 total points. Rams games, meanwhile, see an average 43.1 points scored – 24.1 by Los Angeles and 19.1 by their opponents – which is the fourth lowest in the league.

- Wilson needs two touchdown passes to reach 30 for the fourth consecutive season and fifth time in his career. Dave Krieg is the only other Seahawk to have hit that mark, having thrown for 32 touchdowns in 1984.

- Goff has thrown TD passes in seven straight games, setting a personal high for consecutive games with a touchdown pass in a single season. The last such single-season streak of eight or more games by a Rams QB occurred in 2005 by Marc Bulger (eight games).

OTHER KEY GAMES

Los Angeles Chargers at Miami Dolphins – Sunday, 4.05pm

Tua Tagovailoa has won each of his first two starts, throwing three touchdowns and no interceptions. Only one Dolphins quarterback has started his NFL career 3-0 before, Damon Huard in 1999.

Buffalo Bills at Arizona Cardinals – Sunday, 4.05pm

- The Bills' 7-2 start is their best through nine games since 1993 (7-2), when they made their fourth straight Super Bowl appearance. However, wideout Hopkins has 60 receptions this season, the most by a player in his first eight games with a team in NFL history, and is eight receptions away from becoming the first player with 700 receptions before turning 29.

Cincinnati Bengals at Pittsburgh Steelers – Sunday, 4.25pm

- Ben Roethlisberger was this week added to the Steelers' reserve/COVID-19 list and if he is unable to start Pittsburgh would be the first team since the 1998 Denver Broncos to change starting QBs with an unbeaten record and eight or more wins. His absence would deny an entertaining matchup with Bengals signal caller Joe Burrow, who has passed 330 times, has five 300-yard games and 284.0 yards per contest with a record of 2-5-1 after eight starts in his rookie campaign. At the same point in his debut season in 2004, Roethlisberger attempted 172 passes, had no 300-yard games, averaged 176.5 yards per game – and went 8-0.

Baltimore Ravens at New England Patriots – Sunday, 8.20pm

- Cam Newton has six more rushing touchdowns (eight) than passing touchdowns (two) this season. The last player with that big of a difference was Chicago's Johnny Lujack in 1950, who finished with 11 rush TDs to just four pass TDs (minimum 100 pass attempts in season).

ELSEWHERE…

Houston Texans at Cleveland Browns – Sunday, 1pm

- Nick Chubb has been designated to return from injured reserve this week after missing the Browns' previous four games. Cleveland have averaged 204.5 rushing yards per game in four games with Chubb in the lineup this season and 95.5 yards per game without him.

San Francisco 49ers at New Orleans Saints – Sunday, 4.25pm

- The 49ers are averaging 53.5 rush yards per game and 2.74 yards per rush over its past two games compared to 137.7 per game and 4.77 per rush over their first seven.

Despite the offense struggling, Pittsburgh forced four turnovers against a Titans side who continue to lead the AFC South but slip to 9-5 with this setback.

Linebacker T.J. Watt had 1.5 sacks to reach 17.5 for the season, establishing a new Steelers record as the home team improved to 7-6-1, getting the better of a side that blanked the Jaguars 20-0 last week.

Steelers coach Mike Tomlin hailed the effort from his team to overcome their shortcomings and capitalise on their strengths, with Chris Boswell kicking four field goals and Ben Roethlisberger snatching a rare touchdown.

Roethlisberger (16-of-25 for 148 yards) also went fifth on the all-time NFL passing yards list in this game, jumping ahead of Philip Rivers with a three-yard pass to Najee Harris and boosting his career total to 63,562 yards by the end.

Tomlin said: "It's an exciting victory for us, a very necessary one. They won the battle of field position, their special teams were better than ours, but in spite of all those things I thought the guys continued to fight.

"The turnovers levelled the playing field in the second half. That was the catalyst for us to go ahead and secure victory. I like the way the guys collectively smiled in the face of adversity.

"We'll be thankful for this win. That's a really good football team we played and were able to beat today. Hopefully there's some growth associated with conquering challenges like that, and we are going to need that as we go on the road next week."

The Steelers tackle the AFC West-leading Kansas City Chiefs on December 26, while the Titans are back in action against the San Francisco 49ers on Thursday night.

Lions chew up Cardinals

Jared Goff threw three touchdown passes and kept the Arizona Cardinals waiting to nail down a playoff place as the Detroit Lions sprang a huge shock with their 30-12 win.

With just one win, Detroit headed into the game against the Cardinals, who were 10-3 for the season, as heavy underdogs, despite Arizona losing last week to the Los Angeles Rams.

Goff found Amon-Ra St Brown and Josh Reynolds for touchdowns in the first half as the Lions surge to a 17-0 lead at halfway – at that point their biggest advantage at any stage of any game all season and the Cardinals' biggest half-time deficit for three years.

The lead was even wider come the end of the game, with Goff finding Jason Cabinda for another touchdown, meaning Arizona's once-firm grip on first place in the NFC West is now far from that, as the Rams (9-4) lurk.

The NFL said the result marked only the third time since 1970 that a team with the worst record in the NFL had beaten a team with the best or joint-best record, taking into account only games when the sides had already played at least eight times in the season.

It was also the third-largest win all-time by a team with nine-plus fewer wins than an opponent, per Stats Perform.

Cowboys almost there

The Dallas Cowboys moved to the brink of a first playoff appearance since 2018 thanks to a 21-6 win over the New York Giants, improving to 10-4 as they continue to lead the NFC East.

Behind the arm of Dak Prescott (28-of-37 for 217 yards and one touchdown), the Cowboys had just enough to avoid any undue worries, with the scoring all wrapped up by the end of the third quarter.

While Prescott was far from perfect, he was streets ahead of Giants starting QB Mike Glennon (13-of-24 for 99 yards) who was picked off three times by the Cowboys. Trevon Diggs had the third of those interceptions to reach 10 for the season. Glennon was eventually benched to allow Jake Fromm (6-of-12 for 82 yards) a chance to impress.

Prescott lost both of his starts against the Giants as a rookie in 2016 but has now gone 9-0 in subsequent starts against New York.