Justin Jefferson showed heightened awareness in two different ways during a brief period that started with making a stunning catch and ended with him throwing his helmet on the sideline.

There wasn’t much time for the Minnesota Vikings’ star wide receiver to celebrate his catch of the year candidate, which required elite concentration to keep his right foot in as Jefferson knew every point counted in the high-scoring affair that took place on Thursday evening between the Vikings and the Los Angeles Rams.

The Rams were whole again with the returns of wide receivers Cooper Kupp and Puka Nacua. They also scored a lot of highlights, which is why Jefferson expressed 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 victory at SoFi Stadium.

Maybe more Rams opponents should throw helmets because of the scoring surge they had on Thursday would have removed Kupp from the trade market. Rams GM Les Snead has to respond to it with “never mind.” 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 are just one game behind the Seattle Seahawks (4-3), who host next week are from Los Angeles.

Of course, the counterargument is that Snead might now get a second-round pick for the 31-year-old Kupp, who had a sensational 28-yard grab on third-and-9 to put the Vikings aside in the final four minutes. of regulations. But stay with me here for a moment. What if Kupp was never actually on the market? As my colleague Albert Breerthe Rams simply shared that they were receiving calls about Kupp, not that they were shopping him. So why not let the Vikings think the Rams may or may not be ready to close out this season after a 2-4 start?

The mind games were on full display when the Rams surprisingly activated Nacua 90 minutes before kickoff and then gave him a heavy workload after many assumed Los Angeles wouldn’t play the second-year receiver without a full week of practice. Nacua missed the previous five games due to a knee injury and his 21-day return from injured reserve did not begin until Tuesday. So yeah, the Vikings (5-2) were probably blown away by the way Nacua played: He had a team-high seven catches for 106 yards. Kupp finished with five catches for 51 yards and one touchdown.

“There’s a lot of information out there. Here’s what I’ll tell you. Teams have been reaching out,” Rams coach Sean McVay said of the Kupp trade rumors after the win. “Some of the things I saw there are just not true. Teams have been calling about him and we really let him know what the dialogue was there. And then there are a lot of other things out there. where there is not much accountability for the reports, and that is a shame.

“I’m very happy to have Cooper Kupp back with us and I expect it will remain that way.”

Snead probably doesn’t need any convincing to keep Kupp, one of the most instrumental Rams players of the Sean McVay era. He may no longer be LA’s No. 1 wide receiver, but he still offers so much on the field with his versatility boosting the run and passing games. And this isn’t a one-game overreaction, as Thursday’s offense resembled the Rams winning seven of the last 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, Matthew Stafford was another quarterback, throwing for 249 yards, four touchdowns and one interception. This wasn’t the same offense that performed sluggishly in the 20-15 win against the Las Vegas Raiders five days earlier.

On Sunday, many Rams fans were fed up with McVay’s play calls, and on Thursday McVay took on Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell and his explosive offense with Jefferson and Jordan Addison.

McVay and O’Connell opened their offensive chess battle by unleashing an avalanche of presnap eye candy that left the defense perpetually clueless as to 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 that has happened in a game this season. The Vikings totaled 140 yards on 18 plays and the Rams had 128 yards on 19 plays, leading to a 14–14 tie before a punter finally showed up with nine minutes left in the first half.

The Rams are said to have entered the day hoping to improve Kupp’s trade value and possibly land the coveted second-round pick from a desperate team in need of receivers. But after what the Rams’ offense did Thursday night, Snead needs to keep this going, even if a team offers a second-round pick.

Kupp doesn’t sound like a player who’s worried about moving before the Nov. 5 trade deadline.

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

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