The Rams struggled to put long drives together on offense in Sunday’s game against the Raiders, but the team’s defense forced enough takeaways to lead the club to victory.
Los Angeles defeated Las Vegas 20-15 on Sunday, moving the club to 2-4 on the season.
Raiders quarterback Aidan O’Connell had to exit the contest in the first half, as the team reportedly fears he suffered a broken thumb. That left Gardner Minshew as the team’s quarterback — and his turnover problems continued.
Minshew was intercepted by cornerback Cobie Durant midway through the second quarter, which led to Kyren Williams’ 13-yard touchdown to give Los Angeles a 7-3 lead. Then Durant strip-sacked Minshew on Las Vegas’ next drive, with safety Kam Curl returning the loose ball for a 33-yard touchdown, making the L.A. lead 14-3.
Daniel Carlson hit a 47-yard field goal as time expired in the first half to make the score 14-6. But after Minshew was intercepted for a second time, Williams got into the end zone for a 2-yard score to make it 20-6. The score stayed that way with Joshua Karty’s missed extra point.
Carlson hit another pair of field goals in the second half, narrowing Los Angeles’ lead to 20-12 — one of which came off of a Matthew Stafford interception.
The Rams had a shot to likely put the game away with a 35-yard field goal, but Karty knocked it off the left upright to keep it at a one-possession game with 10:11 left in the contest.
The Raiders had a shot at tying the game on fourth-and-goal from the 4-yard line with 2:50 left, but a false start penalty backed the team up and induced head coach Antonio Pierce to settle for a field goal.
Carlson’s fifth converted kick came from 27 yards and made the score 20-15 with 2:46 on the clock. The Raiders still had three timeouts, giving them an opportunity to get the ball back with a defensive stop.
Though they got one, Minshew’s turnover problem continued. On third-and-10, Minshew threw his third interception. He was looking for DJ Turner but safety Jaylen McCollough picked off the errant pass to effectively end the game.
That was McCollough’s second interception of the day and his third pick in his last two games.
Minshew finished 15-of-34 for 154 yards with three picks. O’Connell was 6-of-10 for 52 yards before he exited the contest.
Tight end Brock Bowers — who set a new NFL record for tight end receptions in his first seven games — had 10 catches for 93 yards.
On the other side, Stafford finished 14-of-23 for 154 yards with an interception. Williams had 76 yards on 21 carries with a pair of TDs. Tyler Johnson led the team with 57 yards on four catches.
With the victory, head coach Sean McVay tied John Robinson’s record for most wins in franchise history — including postseason — with 79.
At 2-4, the Rams will have a quick turnaround for their next game, as they’ll host the Vikings on Thursday night.
The 2-5 Raiders will host the Chiefs in Week 8.
