Rams deliver statement win over Raiders with season hanging in the balance
LAS VEGAS – The Rams saw a door crack open with the 49ers’ first loss of the season on Sunday and refused to let it slam shut.Sensing the crossroads they stood at, they thrashed the Raiders 35-21 with the urgency of a team unwilling to let an opportunity to climb back into the division race, and nudge their season back on track. At least momentarily.Rams played with desperationThe Rams arrived in Las Vegas wounded, desperate and running out of room for another disappointment.Then they played like it.With an energy and edge that reflected the urgency of their circumstances, the Rams took the Raiders to school in a first-half masterclass, building a 28-6 lead that felt every bit as decisive as it looked.The Raiders showed some life in the second half, closing the lead to 28-18 in the fourth quarter, but the Rams responded with a 12-play, 70-yard touchdown drive to restore order and push the lead back to 35-18.It all started with the dominant first half.There was nothing complicated about the message. One team understood how much was at stake and went about doing something about it.
The other spent the half absorbing the lesson.Matthew Stafford was the head instructor.Turning back the clock, the veteran quarterback completed 17 of 19 passes for 148 yards and three touchdowns, taking command of the game with the precision and confidence of someone who had no intention of letting another opportunity slip away.Two incompletions.Three touchdown passes.That pretty much told the story.Stafford finished 23 of 29 for 195 yards and 3 touchdowns.The Raiders needed to make Stafford uncomfortable.
Instead, they gave him a stage.And the longer the half went, the more it became clear that the Rams’ problems entering the afternoon were doing nothing to diminish their ability to create them for somebody else.For all the attention paid to what was wrong with the Rajms, there was still a dangerous football team underneath the bruises.The Raiders found that out the hard way.Ta...