LOS ANGELES — Here was a glimpse into the future. Two young quarterbacks, top draft picks, at the helm of the NFL’s top offenses, showcased on a stage bigger than any the league had seen all season.

Here was Jared Goff, the No. 1 pick, the resurgent face of a resurgent Rams franchise, lacing it across the field through a pocket under siege.

He started slow, unable to find his rhythm early. At the half, he was just 8 of 17. The opportunities were minimal; the Rams ran just 45 plays — 40 fewer than the Eagles — but by the third quarter, his ever-present cool had turned the Rams offense red hot, regardless. In 10 third-quarter plays, he’d hit 6-of-6 targets for 70 yards and a touchdown.

All afternoon, as they fell behind, he’d done just enough to keep the Rams clawing back. Until, that is, an Eagles defender came surging around the corner, sight and unseen, and Goff finally lost his grip.

Here, too, was Carson Wentz, the No. 2 pick, a magician in the pocket, dodging defensive linemen and conjuring spell-binding plays out of thin air. All season long, he’d been a master of third down. Sunday was no different. He spun out of sacks and threw on the run, dropping dimes down the field that few quarterbacks in history could be trusted to deliver. When plays fell apart, he made them, anyway. He threaded one score 20 yards through a pair of sprinting defenders and another low, through an impossibly thick herd of Rams, somehow finding Alshon Jeffery on the other side.

Wentz threw for four touchdowns in three quarters, looking every bit the league MVP he might’ve been, if only he hadn’t dove for the end zone, if only, at the end of that third-quarter scoring drive, his knee hadn’t buckled.

We were promised fireworks, and boy, did these two young quarterbacks deliver. For three-plus hours, electricity in the Coliseum was at a fever pitch, the tension thicker than it’d been in decades. But as bright as the lights were in a battle of the NFL’s future top quarterbacks, the darkness came fast and furious. In the first meeting of Goff and Wentz, Wentz emerged victorious, 43-35, but he wouldn’t be on the field to see the final result.

Wentz left the field with a towel over his head. More than likely, his first game against Goff will also be his last of the season. Early reports prompted fears that his ACL was torn diving for a third-quarter touchdown that eventually was called back. He stayed on the field for four more plays after that, before exiting, giving way to Nick Foles, the former Ram, to finish of the Eagles’ league-leading 11th victory.

“It’s terrible,” Goff said of Wentz’s injury. “I hope that’s not the case. I’m praying for the best. But if there’s anyone that can bounce back, it’s him.”

For Goff, this entire season has been one extended bounce-back, one long exorcism from his disastrous seven-game start as a rookie, and through Sunday, those ghosts continued to follow him. While Wentz’s ascendance was widely accepted, Goff’s had been wrapped in caution tape.

Here was a chance for a statement, but that opportunity dissolved in the dry, Los Angeles night. Eight minutes remained in the fourth quarter, and Chris Long turned the corner past the Rams backup right tackle Darrell Williams. His eyes downfield, Goff couldn’t see his arm ripping downward.

Rams coach Sean McVay later blamed the play call, but Goff shook off that notion. He’d held on too long trying to push it downfield. “It’s my job to execute,” he said. Before he knew it, the ball tumbled to the turf.

As the Eagles rush consistently bludgeoned a hobbled Rams front, Goff never got comfortable. He was sacked just twice, but under constant pressure. For just the second time this season, he threw for fewer than 200 yards. The offense was just 2 of 7 on third down.

“When you play a good team like that, they’re going to make plays, and you try to respond,” Goff said. “It was a battle of a top offense and a top defense. Ultimately, they came out on top.”

The Eagles won, but without Wentz, their Super Bowl hopes are almost certainly lost. The Rams missed a crucial opportunity to prove they belong in that conversation, but having seen their quarterback hang against the NFL’s best — Philadelphia, Minnesota, Seatle and New Orleans — they still see someone capable of keeping their own hopes alive.

“The stage is not too big (for Goff),” said Rams center John Sullivan.

But on Sunday, as two young quarterbacks dueled, the stage — as grand and dramatic as ever — was the only true winner.