Top 4 takeaways from Rams vs. Raiders
NAPA – With both teams resting the majority of their top players, the Raiders beat the Los Angeles Rams 14-3 Saturday night at the Coliseum.
The teams had joint practices in Napa and neither the Raiders Jon Gruden nor the Rams Sean Mcvay felt the need to put their top talent at risk. Still, there were some things to be gleaned in the mostly forgettable exercise: 1. Raiders wide receivers
shine: Even with Antonio Brown doing Antonio Brown things and Tyrell Williams not suited up, it’s clear that position group as a whole has been dramatically upgraded.
On the Raiders’ first drive, quarterback Mike Glennon left up a back shoulder fade down the right sideline that J.J. Nelson caught for a 38yard gain to set up a 7-yard touchdown run by Deandre Washington. Nelson’s
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straight ahead speed is no surprise, but he caught that one in traffic and throughout camp hasn’t looked like merely a deep threat.
That wasn’t all. Ryan Grant had three catches for 32 yards out of the slot after taking a back seat to rookie Hunter Renfrow throughout camp. Keon Hatcher, who had a exhibition season a year ago, had two reception for 45 yards and Marcell Ateman caught one pass for 19 yards.
In the second half, undrafted rookie Keelan Doss caught a 3-yard touchdown on a slant from Nathan Peterman, beating Dominique Hatfield to the inside.
2. A sack, a sack!: Let the record show that with 2:13 left in the half and the Rams facing third-and-4 at the Raiders 13-yard line, Arden Key broke through and dropped Brandon Allen for a 5-yard loss. That’s right – a sack!
The Raiders famously had only 13 all of last season, something they’ve been reminded about by defensive coaches on a near-daily basis in Napa. Key had only one sack as a rookie, when he was forced into fulltime duty when the original pan was for him to be a nickel rusher.
The Raiders played well overall defensively, with the Rams gaining 190 yards yards in total offense. 3. Peterman support
is growing: Raiders fans know all about quarterback Nathan Peterman and his disastrous tenure in Buffalo. And there were few catcalls when Peterman entered in the second half in place of starter Mike Glennon.
The jeers turned to cheers quickly enough after Peterman scrambled 50 yards to the Rams’ 8-yard line, getting a screen block from Ateman. After a 5-yard gain by James Butler, Peterman then hit Doss for a 3-yard touchdown on a slant.
Peterman looked comfortable, was safe with the ball, found outlet receivers and was pretty much mistake free, which is the most important asset in a bench quarterback. He finished 9 of 12 for 66 yards and the one touchdown.
The Raiders gained 402 yards overall, more than doubling the Rams’ output. 4. Glennon ruins potentially
good night: Ordinarily, completing 17 of 25 passes for 200 yards in one half of play would be encouraging. And Mike Glennon at times threw some very nice passes, starting off with the 38yard pass to Nelson that helped set up the lone firsthalf touchdown.
But the completions and yardage were outweighed by two bad interceptions, the first to Kevin Peterson on a pass thrown late over the middle to Grant, the second at the goal line well behind Derek Carrier which was gift-wrapped for Steven Parker.
Rest assured Gruden hates the interceptions much more than he loves the completions.