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Jared Goff leads Rams over Cardinals in Coliseum send-off

By Alex Butler
The Los Angeles Rams will move to SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Calif., in 2020 after playing their games at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum (pictured) this season in Los Angeles. Photo by Jon SooHoo/UPI
1 of 4 | The Los Angeles Rams will move to SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Calif., in 2020 after playing their games at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum (pictured) this season in Los Angeles. Photo by Jon SooHoo/UPI | License Photo

Dec. 30 (UPI) -- Jared Goff threw three touchdown passes to lead the Los Angeles Rams to a win against the Arizona Cardinals in the final game at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum before the team moves to a new stadium next season.

Goff also passed for 319 yards in the 31-24 triumph Sunday in Los Angeles. The Rams (9-7) held off a late Cardinals (5-10-1) rally to secure the season-ending victory. The Rams -- last year's Super Bowl runner-up -- were eliminated from playoff contention in Week 16.

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"It's definitely better than losing," Goff told reporters. "It's a good feeling and it means we had a winning season. But, at the end of the day it's still a disappointing season.

"We want to win the division, we want to make the playoffs and we did neither of those this year. It still hurts that it's over at this point, but finishing the way we did in the Coliseum, there are some good things to take away."

The Cardinals had five turnovers in the loss.

"I always say, if I didn't turn the ball over, I feel like we would've won the game just because we were moving the ball and those were kind of crucial turnovers," Cardinals quarterback Kyler Murray said. "I've just got to learn from it, move on and we'll get better from it."

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Greg Zuerlein hit a 47-yard field goal on the game's opening drive, giving the Rams an early edge. Murray answered with a 23-yard touchdown pass to Dan Arnold for a 7-3 lead with four minutes remaining in the first quarter.

Running back Malcolm Brown gave the lead back to the Rams with a three-yard rushing score four minutes into the second quarter. Goff pushed the Rams' lead to 17-7 with a six-yard touchdown toss to Cooper Kupp 3:55 before halftime. Zane Gonzalez made a 31-yard field goal for the Cardinals just before the break.

The Cardinals tied the game at 17-17 when Murray connected with Damiere Byrd for a three-yard touchdown with 4:47 remaining in the third frame. The Rams answered with a 12-play, 70-yard scoring drive, grabbing the lead back for good. Goff connected with tight end Tyler Higbee for a four-yard touchdown to cap off the 6:09 drive.

The Rams pushed their lead to 31-17 with an eight-play, 81-yard scoring drive. Goff connected with Robert Woods for an 11-yard score to end that fourth-quarter drive. The Cardinals answered with a Kenyan Drake touchdown on the next possession, but could not close the gap down the stretch.

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Murray completed 26 of 42 passes for 325 yards, two scores and two interceptions in the loss. Kupp had seven catches for 99 yards and a score for the Rams.

Los Angeles is now 6-0 against Arizona during Sean McVay's tenure as coach. The Rams begin play at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Calif., in 2020.

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