The Rams shouldn't be a sellout with Cooper Kupp back

Justin Jefferson showed heightened attention in two different ways in a short span that began with him making a jaw-dropping catch and ended with him tossing his helmet on the sideline.

The Minnesota Vikings' star wide receiver didn't have much time to celebrate his Catch of the Year candidate, which required utmost concentration to keep his right foot inbounds because Jefferson knew every point in The high-scoring affair took place on Thursday evening between the Vikings and the Los Angeles Rams.

With the return of wide receivers Cooper Kupp and Puka Nacua, the Rams were fit again. They also got a lot of highlight grabs, which is why Jefferson expressed his frustration when the Vikings settled for field goals. And he threw his helmet harder after quarterback Sam Darnold was sacked for a safety to seal the Rams' 30-20 upset win at SoFi Stadium.

Maybe more Rams opponents should throw away their helmets because of how much scoring they did on Thursday might have pushed Kupp off the trade market. Rams GM Les Snead has to answer “whatever.” all the texts he probably got about Kupp during Thursday's impressive performance that put Los Angeles back in the NFC West race. The Rams are now 3-4, tied with the San Francisco 49ers and Arizona Cardinals for second place and just one game behind the Seattle Seahawks (4-3), who host Los Angeles next week.

Sure, the counterargument is that Snead might now get a second-round pick for the 31-year-old Kupp, who kept the Vikings at bay with a sensational 28-yard grab on third-and-9 in the final four minutes of regulation. But stay with me for a moment. What if Kupp was never actually on the market? As my colleague Albert Breer mentionedThe Rams only said they were receiving calls about Kupp, not that they were acquiring him. So why not let the Vikings believe that the Rams might be ready to exit this season after a 2-4 start?

The mind games were in full swing for the Rams surprisingly activated Nacua 90 minutes before kickoff and then began to put a lot of pressure on him after many assumed Los Angeles wouldn't play the second-year receiver without a full week of practice. Nacua missed the last five games with a knee injury and his 21-day window to return from injured reserve didn't open until Tuesday. So, yes, the Vikings (5-2) were probably surprised by the way Nacua played — he had a team-high seven catches for 106 yards. Kupp finished the game with five catches for 51 yards and a touchdown.

“There is a lot of information. Here's what I'm going to tell you. Teams have been in touch,” Rams coach Sean McVay said of the Kupp trade rumors after the win. “Some of the things I've seen out there just aren't true… teams have been calling about him and we've really let him know what the dialogue was. And then there's a lot of stuff out there where there's not a lot of accountability to the reports, and that's unfortunate.

“I’m really happy to have Cooper Kupp back with us and I expect it to stay that way.”

Snead probably doesn't need convincing to keep Kupp, one of the most important Rams players of the Sean McVay era. He may no longer be LA's No. 1 wide receiver, but he still offers a lot on the field with his versatility boosting the running and passing games. And that's not an overreaction to a single game, because Thursday's offense was similar to that of the Rams, who won seven of the final eight regular-season games in 2023.

Kyren Williams rushed for 97 yards and Demarcus Robinson contributed two catches for 35 yards and two touchdowns. With Kupp, another quarterback was Matthew Stafford, who threw for 249 yards, four touchdowns and one interception. This wasn't the same offense that had put together a sluggish performance five days earlier in a 20-15 win over the Las Vegas Raiders.

On Sunday, many Rams fans had enough of McVay's play calling, and on Thursday McVay went head-to-head with Vikings coach Kevin O'Connell and his explosive offense with Jefferson and Jordan Addison.

McVay and O'Connell opened their offensive chess match by unleashing an avalanche of pre-snap eye candy that kept the defense constantly guessing where the ball was going in this battle of quick throws between Stafford and Darnold.

Both teams scored touchdowns on their first two possessions, the first time in a game this season. The Vikings had 140 total yards on 18 plays and the Rams had 128 total yards on 19 plays, leading to a 14-14 tie before a punter finally emerged with nine minutes left in the first half.

The Rams may have entered the day hoping to improve Kupp's trade value in order to potentially acquire a coveted second-round pick from a desperate receiver-needy team. But after what the Rams' offense did Thursday night, Snead will have to stick it out even if a team offers the second-round pick.

Kupp doesn't appear to be a player afraid to move before the November 5th trade deadline.

“You still have two weeks to ask these questions,” Kupp told the media about trade speculation. “I have no idea what will happen. I’ll come in tomorrow, get some treatment, and get ready to get ready for Seattle.”

Then again, perhaps Kupp was never available. Mind games or not, healthy wide receivers kept the Rams' season alive Thursday night.