Raiders cannot complete mad dash as Rams push losing streak to four
Derek Hegna
Host · Writer
LAS VEGAS—The Las Vegas Raiders gave themselves a puncher’s chance, but ultimately fell behind too far in the scorecards for it to matter.
On Sunday, the Raiders dropped their fourth straight contest, falling to the Los Angeles Rams 35-21 at Allegiant Stadium.
The main culprit was ultimately a slow start to the game, putting the Raiders as far back as 25 points before the second quarter was up.
For much of the first half, the Raiders were struggling in virtually every aspect of play. The offensive line was being beaten practically every other snap as Kirk Cousins and the rest of the offense found it next to impossible to establish any sort of rhythm. It was the same case on defense, as the lack of sack production outside of Tonka Hemingway’s on the first Rams drive of the game allowed passing options to get open, while skill players were able to add yards after contact due to the struggles bringing ballcarriers down.
“We have to go watch the film,” said Raiders head coach Klint Kubiak.
“I think, at this point, we’re thinking about everything. How to fix our problems, how to fix our issues in the red zone, in the third quarter and personnel scheme. We got to talk about all of it.”
The day was exemplified with the final scoring drive of the game, when the Raiders gave up three straight third-down conversions to set up a Blake Corum touchdown run that sealed their fate.
There is a level of concern for the defense now, which is a shame given how improved it appeared to look over the first three games of the season. On top of giving up over 30 points for the fourth consecutive game, the Rams ran for 199 yards on the afternoon, only falling below 200 when Matthew Stafford took three knees in victory formation. Kyren Williams and Corum got a 50-50 split on the carries, rushing for 99 and 93 yards, respectively.
Adding in Stafford’s three passing touchdowns in the first half to become the all-time Rams franchise leader in touchdowns, and that created a recipe for a day the Raiders would love to forget soon.
“They’re moving the ball on us way too well. I got to go look at the tape,” said Kubiak on the Raiders run defense.
The early lead forced the Raiders into a one-dimensional offensive script, abandoning a running game that once again struggled (Ashton Jeanty recorded only 15 rushing yards on eight carries).
Cousins was forced to throw the football 44 times on the day, completing 26 of them for 295 yards and two touchdowns. The Raiders needing to air the ball out aided the final statlines of Jeanty (team-high eight receptions for 61 yards and a touchdown), Brock Bowers (six catches for 73 yards) and Tre Tucker (five catches for a game-high 103 yards and a touchdown), but the team made it abundantly clear that they would prefer not to have to resort to one plan of attack.
“You can’t win in this league having to throw it as much as we’re throwing it,” said Kubiak on the lack of offensive balance. “We’ve got to be more competitive in the game early so that you can be balanced. But there’s no balance in playing from behind.”
The Raiders did get opportunities due to two turnovers and a strong special teams performance from Dylan Laube, but other situations fell lacking.
In five red zone trips, the Raiders were only able to convert on one of them. They also went a combined 5-for-19 on third and fourth downs, oftentimes having to convert from deep due to struggling in early-down scenarios.
“I think it was a kind of combination of factors,” said Cousins on the team’s struggles in converting on third and fourth down. “The one I really want back is the fourth down to Jalen [Nailor] down in the red zone where he dove for it. Wasn’t able to come away with it…felt like that ball should have been thrown better to him.”
Now with the season starting to show signs of concern, the Raiders will look to head out on the road in search of a get-right game against the New York Jets.
