LOS ANGELES (AP) — Jared Goff turned a phenomenal first half into the biggest game of his career, and it was still just barely enough to beat Kirk Cousins.

Goff passed for career highs of 465 yards and five touchdowns, winning a scintillating duel with his Minnesota counterpart and leading the unbeaten Los Angeles Rams to a 38-31 victory over the Vikings on Thursday night.

Goff hit Cooper Kupp with two of his four TD throws during a 251-yard first half in which the third-year quarterback flawlessly executed coach Sean McVay’s offense.

“It was just great command by him,” McVay said about Goff. “I think he’s having fun. No moment is too big for him, and it gives you confidence when you see him playing like this.”

Todd Gurley then finished with 83 yards rushing and 73 yards receiving while the Rams (4-0) held off the Vikings (1-2-1) and Cousins, who passed for 422 yards and three touchdowns.

The Vikings got the ball back with 2:20 left, but Los Angeles rookie John Franklin-Myers stripped Cousins of the ball near midfield. The Rams recovered and ran out the clock on their first win in the franchise’s last six meetings with Minnesota.

“It feels really good,” Goff said. “You work for that. It’s what you strive for. We got into that zone in the first half, and we’re really clicking right now.”

McVay was Cousins’ offensive coordinator in Washington before he became Goff’s head coach on the West Coast last season. McVay’s current and former prize pupils put on a show at the Coliseum, but Goff finished 26 of 33 with a perfect 158.3 quarterback rating.

“It’s fun for us, personally,” Goff said of his duel with Cousins. “I don’t know if it’s fun for the whole team, but it’s cool. Kirk is a guy that we watched on film forever last year. … To go against him and kind of duke it out, I told him after the game that I appreciated it. I’ve got a lot of respect for him and the way he plays.”

Goff picked apart the Vikings’ secondary in the first half with one pinpoint throw after another. The former No. 1 pick has three consecutive 300-yard games during the Rams’ perfect start.

“I am very glad Jared is on my side of the ball,” said Rams defensive tackle Ndamukong Suh, who had a key second-half sack. “I wouldn’t want to go against him.”

Gurley and Brandin Cooks had first-half TD catches for the Rams, but the Vikings trimmed LA’s lead to 31-28 late in the third quarter with Adam Thielen’s 45-yard TD catch and a 2-point conversion.

Goff promptly surpassed his previous career highs for yards passing during a swift drive ending in Robert Woods’ 31-yard TD catch, and the Rams’ defense hung on while the offense went scoreless in the fourth quarter.

“We did not play well defensively,” Vikings coach Mike Zimmer said. “Offensively we moved the ball well, but we had too many missed tackles, and too many people were left wide open. I’ve not ever had a team that’s been this poor in pass coverage. We are going to have to look at everything.”