What do the Rams need to do to beat the Raiders in Week 7?
The Los Angeles Rams come out of their bye week and 1-4 and will need to find a way to beat the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 7. If the Rams want to turn their season around, taking care of business against a lesser team is a must. Here are five keys to victory for the Rams against the Raiders.
1. Make Raiders one-dimensional
Going into the game against the Chicago Bears, D’Andre Swift was one of the least efficient running backs in the NFL. Swift had 16 carries for 93 yards and scored on a long touchdown run. The Rams can’t allow the Raiders offense to get going on the ground. This is a group that doesn’t have a lot of talent with Alexander Mattison likely getting the start, but the Raiders will lean on him.
The Rams should be going up against Aidan O’Connell. O’Connell started games last year, but lost the starting job to Gardner Minshew in training camp. The second-year player has re-gained the starting role, but is still prone to mistakes. It’s going to be important for the Rams to take away the run game and force O’Connell to beat them through the air.
2. Mix it up in the run game
Through the first six weeks of the season, the Raiders are allowing the ninth most rushing yards to running backs. In nickel personnel, the Raiders rank 12th in EPA per pass on defense but 27th in EPA per rush. The Rams need to get the run game going early and mix it up. That means a heavy dose of both Kyren Williams and Blake Corum.
Divine Deablo tries to go thru Darnell Washington’s chest and Jack Jones misses the tackle in the hole and Najee Harris is off to the races pic.twitter.com/vlc9pzJX8K
— Matt Holder (@MHolder95) October 14, 2024
When all is said and done, the Rams should be able to win this game on the ground. Najee Harris averaged 7.6 yards per carry against the Raiders defense last week. While there is certainly some game-script involved, this is a defense that is susceptible to big plays in the run game.
3. Contain Brock Bowers
The Raiders traded away their best wide receiver early in the week. That means that best pass catcher on the team is now Brock Bowers. However, tight ends against the Rams are averaging 59 yards per game which in the third most in the NFL. Their 0.6 touchdowns allowed to tight ends is also the second-most.
Bowers has 17 receptions over the last two weeks and is a player that the Raiders will clearly want to get the ball to on offense. The rookie tight end is going to get his, but the Rams defense needs to be able to mitigate the damage. He’s too big for a defensive back, but too fast for a linebacker. With a linebacker group that has struggled at times this season, the Rams could have a challenge on their hands.
4. Be ready to play physical
This is a Raiders team that has started fast in games this season and they have embraced Antonio Pierce’s physical ethos. The Raiders led 10-0 against the Broncos before losing and were leading the Steelers after one last week. This team may not be the most talented, but they do have wins against the Baltimore Ravens and Cleveland Browns.
At the end of the day, this is the NFL and if you keep bad teams in games long enough, they can win. The Rams have kept lesser teams in games this season and it has cost them in the wins department. They need to come out and match the Raiders’ physicality. If they can do that, the Rams should be able to wear them down as the game goes on. This starts in the run game where the Raiders defense ranks 26th in EPA per rush.
5. Can the Rams finish in the red zone?
Sean McVay has had two weeks now to find ways to improve the red zone offense. The Rams rank 24th in red zone touchdown percentage this season. Meanwhile, the Raiders defense ranks 21st. Not being able to finish drives has been the biggest problem for the Rams offense this season. If they can’t fix it this week, it may continue to be a problem.
At the end of the day, this is simply something that the Rams have to get fixed. Settling for field goals is how you keep teams in games and that’s what hurt them against the Bears. If the Rams keep the Raiders in this game, they have the ability to steal a win. The Rams have to be able to score touchdowns and put the Raiders away early.
