Houston, now you have a problem.
Jared Goff threw three touchdowns and the Los Angeles Rams avenged the Dodgers World Series loss to the Astros, by defeating the Houston Texans, 33-7, on Sunday afternoon at the LA Memorial Coliseum.
After a defensive battle in the first half, the Rams (7-2) blew the game open in the second half as Goff threw touchdown passes on three possessions in the third quarter.
The former No. 1 pick in the 2016 NFL Draft, finished the game 25-for-37 with a career-high 355 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions.
Goff, joined Kansas City’s Alex Smith and New England’s Tom Brady as the only three quarterbacks in the NFL this season with multiple games passing for at least 300 yards, three passing touchdowns and zero interceptions.
Goff also became the only quarterback in Rams franchise history to accomplish that feat in back-to-back games.
All Pro lineman Aaron Donald set the tone early for the Mob Squad as he sacked Texans' starter Tom Savage on the team's opening drive, forcing a fumble that was recovered by Matt Longacre on the Houston 20-yard line.
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"I just got a one-on-one, I won my one-on-one, and I got to the quarterback," Donald said of his strip sack to start the game. "That's my college quarterback. It's important to give the ball back to the offense and let them keep rolling."
Greg Zuerlein put the Rams on the board with a field goal, and then converted two more in the second quarter to put the Rams up 9-7 at halftime.
Houston's only score in the game came on a 26-yard pitch-and-catch as Savage found Bruce Ellington over the middle and the Texans' receiver scampered 26-yards into the end zone for the score.
"Bruce ran a good route on that," said Savage of the play. "He's been running good routes all season, I wanted to give him a shot. But we lost. So, our performance today was bad."
One week after finding Sammy Watkins open for a deep 67-yard catch in New York, Goff delivered a dime to Robert Woods to start the third quarter as the Rams scored their longest touchdown of the season, and third longest in franchise history, on a 94-yard bomb.
"I heard the play call, I looked up and checked the coverage and saw a one-on-one matchup," Woods said of the big play. "I ran my route, I felt like I beat the guy, and Jared put the ball on the money. I was able to catch it and run, I saw the end zone and just raced to the end zone."
Following back-to-back three and outs by the Rams defense, Goff found Sammy Watkins on a quick screen, and the former Clemson receiver did the rest, as he ran down the sideline for a 17-yard touchdown.
On the ensuing Texans possession, Savage once again fumbled and the Rams recovered deep in Houston territory.
Faster than you can say "Holy Veteran's Day, Batman!" Goff found Woods again on a dump off out of the backfield, as the former USC Trojan ran 12 yards for his second touchdown of the game.
"When they come they come in bunches," joked Woods of his back-to-back games with two touchdowns. "Back-to-back two touchdown games. Credit to my teammates. We've just been clicking so far."
Woods led all the L.A. receivers for the second straight week, finishing with eight catches for 171 yards and two touchdowns in the win.
Todd Gurley did not find the end zone on Sunday, but he did finish with 68 yards on the ground along with six catches for 68 yards.
"We made some adjustments at halftime," Gurley said of the offense in the second half. "We were a little sluggish, but we found some energy in the second half. Everybody was doing their job and that's what it's all about."
Savage finished 18-for-36 for 221 yards, a touchdown, and two interceptions in his third start of the season for the Texans.
"Sure," Texans head coach Bill O'Brien said when asked if he felt his quarterback played well. "I haven't done a good job coaching this team this year and that was my message to the team. I have to figure out how to coach this team better and try to get them to play better."
The Rams defense shut out the Texans in the second half, sealing the deal with a late fourth quarter interception by Blake Countess, as L.A. won their fourth consecutive game and first at home since Week 1.
Kick It Into Gear:
The NFL's leading scorer, Greg Zuerlein finished with four field goals, and set a new career high with 28 field goals on the season and there's still seven weeks to go. Zuerlein has only missed one field goal all year.
Up Next:
The Rams will travel to Minneapolis next week where they will meet old friend Case Keenum and the Minnesota Vikings in a showdown of NFC powerhouses. Kickoff is at 10:00AM PST.
