Jared Goff passed for 269 yards and two touchdowns as the visiting Los Angeles Rams shook off a slow first half to earn a 20-13 victory over the Cleveland Browns on Sunday night to remain undefeated.
The Browns had a chance to tie the game after a Juston Burris interception of Goff with 2:54 remaining, but a potential 57-yard drive fell 4 yards short when Baker Mayfield's pass on fourth down was intercepted in the end zone by Rams safety John Johnson with 27 seconds remaining.
The Rams (3-0) had just three first-half points and went into halftime trailing for the first time this season, but they opened the second half with a 75-yard touchdown drive to get the offense back on track.
Goff hit Cooper Kupp on an 11-yard touchdown pass early in the third quarter for a 10-6 lead, but the Browns answered right back to cap a 65-yard drive with Mayfield's 2-yard TD pass to Demetrius Harris for a 13-10 advantage.
The Rams took the lead for good at 17-13 with 12:51 remaining when Goff hit Kupp on a 6-yard TD pass to cap a 72-yard drive. Greg Zuerlein added a 37-yard field goal with 6:40 remaining for a 20-13 advantage.
Mayfield was 18 of 36 for 195 yards and one touchdown as the Browns (1-2) have lost both of their home games this season. The Browns went toe-to-toe with the Rams for much of the game despite missing their entire starting secondary because of injuries.
Using a similar run-stopping defense to what the New England Patriots used when holding the Rams down in last season's Super Bowl, Cleveland kept Los Angeles to a single Zuerlein field goal in the first half. They got two first-half field goals of their own from rookie kicker Austin Seibert for a 6-3 halftime lead.
Kupp picked up his first two touchdown passes of the season in his return from ACL surgery last year.
A week after compiling 161 receiving yards and a TD in a victory over the New York Jets, Browns wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr. had six catches for 56 yards.
In a matchup of opposing Georgia running backs, the Rams' Todd Gurley had 43 yards on 14 carries and the Browns' Nick Chubb had 96 yards on 23 carries.
--Field Level Media
L.A. Rams | Cleveland | |
Todd Gurley II | Player | Nick Chubb |
14 | Attempts | 23 |
43 | Yards | 96 |
3.1 | Avg Yards | 4.2 |
0 | Touchdowns | 0 |
9 | Long | 13 |
L.A. Rams | Cleveland | |
Brandin Cooks | Player | Jarvis Landry |
8 | Receptions | 3 |
112 | Yards | 62 |
14.0 | Avg Yards | 20.7 |
0 | Touchdowns | 0 |
23 | Long | 27 |
Yards | Scoring | Defense | ||||||
Team | Tot | Rus | Pas | TD | FG | INT | Sck | FF |
L.A. Rams | 344 | 90 | 254 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 3.0 | 1 |
Cleveland | 270 | 95 | 175 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2.0 | 1 |