Who won the highest-scoring NFL game in the last 20 years?
The stars of Hollywood didn't shine as bright as the Week 11 NFL showdown between the Los Angeles Rams and Kansas City Chiefs of 2018. The bright lights of the LA Memorial Colliseum played host to one of the highest-scoring games in NFL history, as the top two offenses in pro football went toe-to-toe in an otherworldly showing of fireworks.
It was kid-genius Sean McVay, in his second season as an NFL coach, squaring off with Chiefs veteran Andy Reid and his new-found super quarterback Patrick Mahomes. With 77,000 people looking on, defensive coordinators Wade Phillips and Bob Sutton's game plans went out the window as the game quickly turned into a wildfire of a shootout.
Patrick Mahomes and Jared Goff give the NFL a show that was long overdue
It was long balls to Chiefs speedster Tyreek Hill, Rams burner Robert Woods, and more, as Patrick Mahomes and Jared Goff put up an instant classic of an NFL show. LA's 3-4 defense was no match for Kansas City's West Coast offense, similar to how the Chiefs' D couldn't hold pace with the Rams' attack.
Tied 23 apiece at the half, it all came down to who could keep up with the unreal pace of the scoreboard in the second half. With LA running back Todd Gurley and Kansas City back Kareem Hunt neither booking over 70 yards on the ground, it was a firefight between the arms of Goff and Mahomes.
With an unprecedented three 100-yard receivers in the game, a spectacular total of 10 touchdown catches were made that night. Mahomes bagged six while Goff made four.
Fittingly, the primetime extravaganza went down to the wire under the bright lights of LA. Patrick Mahomes found wideout Chris Conley for a go-ahead 10-yard touchdown with 02:47 left in the game. Subsequently, with about 02:30 left, the game was Jared Goff's to lose.
Nonetheless, with Goff riding high on three touchdown passes and no picks at that point, he took Andy Reid's defense to task one last time.
The moment that hangs high in the hearts of Rams fans
Finding Tyler Higbee for a short 10-yard pass play, Jared Goff and that steaming hot LA offense set up shop on the Chiefs' 40. The very next play, Sean McVay orchestrated the mismatch that wound up breaking the game.
Pairing tigh end Gerald Everett with underfiring Kansas City DB Daniel Sorensen, McVay had his man perfectly setup, and Goff hit him down the rail. It was 40 yards to 54-51 glory as fans in the Colliseum brought an earthquake on Los Angeles.
To this day, the game stands as the second-highest-scoring NFL showdown of the 21st century; falling but a single point short of the Bengals-Browns 58-48 shootout of '04. Overall, the game stands third in NFL history, also behind the 72-41 Redskins-Giants clash of 1966.