It's about time the Rams made this piece.
The Greatest Show on Surf has torn through the first four weeks of the season in Sean McVay's second season at the controls, with its best performance coming under the bright lights of Thursday night.
In a shootout for the ages (with a wonderful uniform matchup to boot), McVay's Rams resumed their high-flying feats of football prowess, taking deep chances and succeeding at most everything in between. It's about time we give some love to the guy who learned the hard way about which direction in which the sun rises and sets, and has grown exponentially since then.
Yep, we're talking about the California golden arm of hope, Jared Goff.
Unstoppable Performer
Jared Goff, Los Angeles Rams
We got a good, close-up look at Goff, the rookie, during the 2016 season's Hard Knocks and it was evident he had a ways to go before validating Los Angeles' No. 1 overall pick spent on him. That was fine, but fast forward two years, and it's night and day different.
Goff was an arm talent coming out of California, but it's hard to beleive anyone imagined this. Through four games, Goff has racked up nearly 1,500 yards and has an 11-2 TD-to-INT ratio. His games have been a 60-minute display of how a young quarterback and coach can work together effortlessly, completing strikes to all areas of the field.
For example, there was this gutsy throw in a tiny window that was initially difficult to believe actually happened:
And then, there was this rocket down the seam to Brandin Cooks, who was running against single coverage:
Goff's final line: 26-of-33 passing, 465 yards, five touchdowns and a perfect passer rating. It left scores with their jaws on the ground across America, lifted the Rams to 4-0 and had Todd Gurley telling NFL Network the Rams can't be stopped by anyone.
I see no reason to disagree.
Also considered ...
Mitchell Trubisky, Chicago Bears
He had how many touchdowns?
Trubisky flirted with history on Sunday in a 48-10 destruction of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, tossing six touchdown passes and coming close to tying Peyton Manning's single-game mark of seven before Matt Nagy called off the dogs. Sure, one of the passes was a shovel pass on the goal line to Taylor Gabriel, but it still counts the same on the scoreboard -- and it counted a whole lot in the rout.
It's a bit of a departure from Trubuisky's play in the first three weeks, which has been good and also not so good at times (see: Arizona until the final quarter). The ability to move the offense displayed by Trubisky and the Bears' offense in Week 1 before Green Bay's comeback is still there, though, and it roared out of the gate Sunday against a Tampa Bay team that has had its defensive weaknesses exposed in the last eight days.
Nagy and Trubisky took full advantage, connecting on short, intermediate and deep passes. Chicago's offense looked like a juggernaut for an afternoon, largely because its receivers were rather open, or Tarik Cohen was taking advantage of mismatches out of the backfield. Trubisky and Co. did so well (let's not overlook his three rushes for 53 yards), Buccaneers coach Dirk Koetter was dramatically calling for a housecleaning after the game.
Trubisky played a coach into offering to sacrifice his own job, even if it was just to make a point in the moment. I'd say that's a pretty good day.
Corey Davis, Tennessee Titans
Corey Davis' rookie year was mostly a wash, due to injuries and a lack of usage. His second season is proving otherwise.
Consider this: In 11 games last season, Davis caught 34 passes for 375 yards and was shutout of the end zone. He didn't record his first touchdown until Tennessee's playoff loss to the New England Patriots. Fast forward to 2018: Through four games, Davis has 22 receptions for 312 yards and a touchdown.
Oh, and about that touchdown. It wasn't anything important, just a game-winning walkoff score in an overtime victory over the defending Super Bowl champions.
No biggie.
With Eric Decker off to retirement and Rishard Matthews voluntarily moving on from the Titans, the gates of opportunity have swung wide open for Davis, who's making the most of his chances. He and Marcus Mariota have developed a rapport rather rapidly, hooking up 13 times combined between Mariota's in-and-out Week 1 and Sunday's win.
Nine of those grabs came Sunday for 161 yards and the aforementioned score. If things continue like this, Davis will finish among the league's top receivers.