Rams quarterback Jared Goff celebrated after scoring in the second half. Kelvin Kuo/Associated Press
LOS ANGELES — When the N.F.L. decided in the off-season to more strictly enforce helmet-to-helmet hits and roughing the passer penalties, league officials made a point of saying it was to enhance player safety.
“Our focus is taking the head out of the game, to make sure we’re using the helmet as protection and not as a weapon,” Commissioner Roger Goodell said in March after the rules changes were adopted.
What Goodell did not mention were the unintended consequence of those changes, which were on full display Monday night in Los Angeles in a record-setting football slugfest between the Rams and Kansas City Chiefs: an explosion of scoring that has rewarded fast, pass-heavy offenses and shredded even the strongest defenses.