Raiders can deliver another painful blow to Rams fading season
The Rams probably did not circle their trip to Allegiant Stadium as a potential turning point when the schedule came out.The Raiders were rebuilding.The Rams were chasing a Super Bowl.
If anything, this looked like an opportunity for Los Angeles to bank a victory before moving on to more demanding business.That assumption has aged poorly.The Rams arrive at 2-4, desperately searching for traction in a season that keeps slipping away.Waiting for them is a 3-3 Raiders team that has been far more competitive than expected, even as three consecutive losses have exposed the distance between making progress and finishing games.Just ask the Chiefs and Bills how comfortable they felt at Allegiant Stadium.
Both escaped with three-point victories, leaving the Raiders frustrated but offering further evidence that overlooking them is a dangerous proposition.For the Rams, this has become a difficult assignment at a particularly inconvenient time.Their challenge begins with establishing some consistency.A team carrying championship expectations cannot keep spending stretches of games working against itself, then counting on its talent to rescue the afternoon.
The Rams need to sustain drives, protect the football and force the Raiders to chase the game.Otherwise, they risk giving a hungry opponent exactly what it needs: confidence that another contender is there for the taking.The Raiders have their own problems to solve.Their running game has yet to provide dependable support, leaving too much of the offensive burden on Kirk Cousins and the passing attack.
When drives require a succession of precise throws and third-down conversions, the opportunities for something to go wrong multiply.Finding even modest consistency on the ground would help.So would turning scoring chances into touchdowns, an area in which the Raiders cannot afford to keep leaving points behind.Brock Bowers and Michael Mayer give Cousins ways to attack the middle of the field, while Tre Tucker’s speed can ...