WEEK 14
• Who: Raiders (5-7) at Rams (3-9)
• When:5:15 p.m.
• Where: SoFi Stadium
• TV: Amazon Prime Video
• Radio: Raider Nation Radio 920 AM, KOMP 92.3
• Betting line: Raiders -6, over/under 44.5
The Raiders outplayed the Rams for three and a half quarters Thursday night at SoFi Stadium. It wasn’t enough.
Los Angeles came back in the fourth quarter to shock Las Vegas 17-16 and all but eliminate the Raiders from postseason contention. Baker Mayfield, whom the Rams claimed off waivers only two days ago, threw a game-winning 23-yard touchdown pass with 10 seconds remaining.
Los Angeles scored their first touchdown three minutes earlier with Cam Akers scored on a 1-yard touchdown run to cap a 17-play, 75-yard drive. The Raiders heavily assisted both drives with penalties.
The Rams started the final possession at the 2-yard line and appeared to still be stuck deep in their own territory after the second split sack of the night by Maxx Crosby and Chandler Jones. But Jerry Tillery knocked the ball out of Mayfield’s hands after the play to pick up a 15-yard unsportsmanlike conduct flag for the delay of game.
Mayfield looked possessed after that, completing a series of passes to bring his line on the night to 235 passing yards while completing 22 of 35 attempts despite struggling for most of the game.
Las Vegas led by multiple scores for most of the game after Josh Jacobs culminated its opening drive with a 1-yard touchdown run. The NFL’s rushing leader gained 99 yards on 27 rushing attempts overall, as well as hauling in two catches for 15 yards.
But the Raiders couldn’t find the end zone again the rest of the night after Jacobs’ score, settling for three field goals from Daniel Carlson — from 52, 31 and 36 yards. Another red zone trip shortly before halftime ended in a Derek Carr interception in the end zone.
Carr also threw a pick out of desperation to safety Taylor Rapp to end the game. Las Vegas’ veteran quarterback was thoroughly outplayed by Mayfield on the night and finished with 137 passing yards while completing 11 of 20 attempts.
Las Vegas falls to 5-8 with a Week 14 game hosting New England next Sunday at Allegiant Stadium next on tap.
This is a developing story. Check back to lasvegassun.com later for more updates and read below for live coverage from throughout the game.
Daniel Carlson just broke a near two-quarter scoreless drought on Thursday Night Football at SoFi Stadium.
The Raiders’ kicker knocked a 36-yarder through the uprights a couple minutes into the fourth quarter, his third successful field goal of the night to put Las Vegas up 16-3 on the Los Angeles Rams. It’s been a defensive struggle, though the Raiders have moved the ball smoother with a 293-138 yardage advantage.
Josh Jacobs briefly left the game with an injured hand but returned and has 90 rushing yards on 20 carries to go with 15 receiving yards on two receptions.
Raiders lead at halftime
A pair of field goals from Daniel Carlson has the Raiders ahead of the Rams 13-3 at halftime at SoFi Stadium.
Carlson has knocked down kicks of 31 and 52 yards to add to an opening-drive touchdown from running back Josh Jacobs. Davante Adams has a pair of spectacular catches, and three receptions overall for 71 yards, but Las Vegas has let Jacobs pace them.
The fourth-year running back has 18 carries for 58 yards and a touchdown. Las Vegas drove to the 10-yard line before heading to the locker room but quarterback Derek Carr, who has 126 passing yards on the day, threw an interception in the end zone.
Debuting Rams quarterback Baker Mayfield has 65 yards passing yards while completing three of six attempts, but the home team opted to run out the clock with less than a minute remaining before halftime.
Raiders lead Rams by 10
The Rams and Raiders have traded field goals on their latest drives. The visitors now lead 10-3.
Daniel Carlson knocked through a 52-yarder for the Raiders, while Matt Gay hit a 55-yarder for the Rams. Los Angeles has split quarterback duties so far with John Wolford playing the first possession and Baker Mayfield the second.
Mayfield, despite having only come to the team via waivers two days ago, led the more successful drive while completing one of two passes for 21 yards and scrambling for another six. Raiders quarterback Derek Carr has 61 yards on 4-for-6 passing at the end of the first quarter.
Josh Jacobs scores first
Josh Jacobs and Davante Adams are at it again.
The Raiders’ dynamic duo led the team to an opening-drive touchdown and put them ahead of the Rams 7-0 less than six minutes into the teams’ Thursday Night Football showdown. Jacobs had seven carries for 21 yards on the drive including a 1-yard touchdown on second-and-goal.
Adams’ had the biggest play, however, with a 32-yard one-handed reception over Jalen Ramsey where he also drew a flag for pass interference.
Inactives announced
As expected, the NFL’s leading rusher will be on the field for Thursday Night Football.
Raiders running back Josh Jacobs was not a part of the team’s just-released inactive lists despite being labeled as questionable for the third straight week. Jacobs was dealing with a calf injury the last two weeks, but apparently also came out of Sunday’s win over the Chargers with a quad issue in addition.
Jacobs didn’t speak to media during this short week where the Raiders held no full practices, only walkthroughs, so his injury information comes directly from the team’s reports. Las Vegas may have gotten positive news on Jacobs, but it still won’t be at full strength against the Rams tonight at SoFi Stadium.
Two defensive starters are out — cornerback Rock Ya-Sin (knee) and linebacker Jayon Brown (hand) — after sustaining injuries against the Chargers. Defensive tackle Andrew Billings (leg) will miss his second straight game after getting carted off the field two weeks ago in Seattle.
The Raiders’ other inactives are center Hroniss Grasu, tight end Jesper Horsted and defensive end Tashawn Bower. The Rams’ inactives include three-time Defensive Player of the Year Aaron Donald as expected but notably didn’t feature any quarterbacks.
That means there’s no clarity on who will start between John Wolford and recently-acquired Baker Mayfield. The latter has taken a lot of pregame snaps on the field, but he just joined the Rams two days ago and has yet to go through a full practice.
That would typically preclude Mayfield from starting in the game, but it’s starting to look more and more like a distinct possibility.
PREGAME
Coming into the season, this trip to take on the defending Super Bowl champion Rams on a short week looked like arguably the toughest game on the Las Vegas Raiders’ schedule. It hasn’t worked out that way. Los Angeles hardly resembles the team that knocked off Cincinnati to win the Lombardi Trophy in its own building 10 months ago. Injuries are the biggest reason why, with reigning Offensive Player of the Year Cooper Kupp and three-time Defensive Player of the Year Aaron Donald among the long list of players who won’t be in the lineup against the Raiders. The Rams are also down to their third-string quarterback, Bryce Perkins, and sought outside help this week. They claimed off waivers former No. 1 overall pick Baker Mayfield, who was released by the Carolina Panthers, but he’s unlikely to start without a full practice yet in Los Angeles. The Raiders, meanwhile, are surging coming off a third straight win, a 27-20 victory against the Los Angeles Chargers at Allegiant Stadium, where running back Josh Jacobs and wide receiver Davante Adams combined for 321 yards and three touchdowns.
Favorable matchup: Raiders defensive line vs. Rams’ offensive line
Las Vegas came into the season expecting its pass rush to rank among the top of the league, but it’s been highly disappointing — until last week. Fans finally saw a glimpse of what the Raiders initially had in mind, as the team registered a season-high 23 quarterback pressures against the Chargers, according to Pro Football Focus. Edge rushers Maxx Crosby and Chandler Jones notched six pressures apiece, while recently acquired defensive tackle Jerry Tillery had five. Part of the success came because the Chargers’ offensive line looked overmatched while without three starters, but the Rams are in a similar position up front. They’ve suffered what Rams coach Sean McVay described as an “unbelievable” amount of injuries to the offensive line, with five players added to injured reserve. Only two offensive line starters — center Brian Allen and right tackle Rob Havenstein — remain from the unit that paved the way to the Super Bowl last season. The Raiders feasted on mediocre blocking a week ago and should have a chance to do it again against the Rams.
THEY SAID IT
“My juice comes from knowing I’m about to get a three-day weekend and knowing I’m going to get to rest my body.” -Running back Josh Jacobs when asked if he gets more excited for a chance to play in primetime on Thursday Night Football
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“It’s like learning a new language. You’re not going to be fluent in Spanish the first week you start taking the class. We’ve started to understand things better.” -First-year coach Josh McDaniels on the learning curve of his complex systems and why they now appear to be sinking in with the players
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“Bobby has been playing at a high level since my sophomore year at Fresno State when we played him at home and he made every tackle in the game. At the time, I didn’t know his draft position or ranking or any of that stuff, but I knew this guy finds the football. … It’s fun to still see him. There’s not many of us left from the WAC Conference anymore.” -Quarterback Derek Carr on going up against Bobby Wagner, who played collegiately at Utah State
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“I find that they do it a lot less to me than other people, and I don’t want to sound any type of way, but it’s just the fact of the matter. But I’m down for it. I’ve been doing this for a long time, so I don’t really seek that out at this point.” -Receiver Davante Adams on cornerbacks trash-talking receivers and if he’s prepared to hear it from Rams All-Pro Jalen Ramsey this week
Problematic matchup: Rams’ rush defense vs. Josh Jacobs’ heavy workload
The one area where the Rams have remained at the top of the league is in stopping the run. Los Angeles sits fourth in the NFL in allowing only 3.9 yards per carry. That could be problematic with the Raiders having implemented an identity as an offense powered by Jacobs, who’s first in the NFL in everything from rushing yards (1,303 yards) to positional PFF grades (93.4). It’s a clash of top-rated players here, as PFF grades likely future Hall of Famer and longtime Seattle Seahawk Bobby Wagner as the top linebacker in the NFL, largely because of his run-stuffing prowess. Jacobs may also be wearing down from his heavy workload, which has included three straight games of at least 100 rushing yards. He’s fought through a calf injury to play in the past two games and will presumably do the same against the Rams, but his limp was noticeably more pronounced after the win against the Chargers. Jacobs has been exceptional regardless, but the average rank of the past three rush defenses he’s faced by yards per carry allowed is 30th in the NFL. The Rams will provide more resistance.
Gamebreaker: Cornerback Nate Hobbs
The defensive backfield was another area where the Raiders had underwhelmed throughout the season but looked much improved last week against the Chargers. A lot of that had to do with the return of the second-year Hobbs, who had missed the Raiders’ previous six games with a broken left hand. Hobbs didn’t have his best game — he gave up four completions — but he provided an emotional spark and played pretty well considering the rust to be expected getting back up to game speed. Hobbs couldn’t work out for a couple of weeks after surgery and had only two full practices before returning, so it was unreasonable to expect him to looks like the star he'd flashed the potential to be in training camp. But he asked to play as much as possible and wound up only missing three snaps. “I was tired but that’s exactly what I needed,” Hobbs said. If Hobbs can solidify the back end of the Raiders’ defense, they’ll be significantly more dangerous going forward.
Big Number: 5.23
The Raiders’ offensive line ranks first in the NFL with 5.23 adjusted line yards, a run-blocking metric created by Football Outsiders. Jacobs has praised the offensive line throughout his historic season for opening holes bigger than he’s ever seen in his professional career, and now he has some statistical evidence to support the claim. It’s been a remarkable ascent for a front five — left tackle Kolton Miller, left guard Dylan Parham, center Andre Jones, right guard Alex Bars and right tackle Jermaine Eluemunor — that came into the season looking like one of the league’s worst units. They’re still mediocre from a pass protection standpoint — ranking 23rd in Football Outsiders’ adjusted sack rate — but it’s been a willing trade-off for how tenaciously they’ve pushed forward. The first-place standing doesn’t take away from Jacobs’ success — he’s also ranked first in Football Outsiders’ DYAR metric for running backs — but shows the line has complemented him as well as he’s stated all season.
Best Bet (5-7): Josh Jacobs under 118.5 combined rushing and receiving yards
Not only are the Rams skilled in stopping the run, they’re also above-average at slowing running backs in the passing game. Only one running back has beaten this number against the Rams all season — San Francisco 49ers all-purpose weapon Christian McCaffrey. Jacobs has made strides in the pass game this year but he’s not on McCaffrey's level. With the season Jacobs is having, it would be foolish to doubt him, but a big part of sports betting is timing — knowing when to sell high and buy low. This looks like a clear spot to do the former. A month ago, Jacobs’ number in this same prop was below 100 yards against schemes that weren’t as well-equipped to slow him as the Rams’ defense.
Case Keefer can be reached at 702-948-2790 or [email protected]. Follow Case on Twitter at twitter.com/casekeefer.Case Keefer can be reached at 702-948-2790 or