Jon Gruden enjoyed that . . . for the first half. Or maybe not considering all the Raiders penalties.
In any event, he surely didn’t enjoy the outcome.
The Rams outgained the Raiders 267 to 141 in the second half, overcoming a 13-10 halftime deficit to win easily, 33-13. It ended up being the result most expected, but it took the Rams a while to realize the season had started.
After resting their star players in the preseason, the Rams got off to a slow start. Raiders tight end Jared Cook had more receiving yards in the first half (113) than the Rams had total yards in the first half (98).
But Los Angeles made up for lost time, rolling upon its return from the locker room by wearing down the overmatched Raiders.
In the second half, Greg Zuerlein hit field goals of 28, 55 and 20 yards; Cooper Kupp caught an 8-yard pass from Jared Goff; and Marcus Peters returned an interception 50 yards for a touchdown.
Peters’ pick-six was the sixth of the NFL’s opening weekend. It was Derek Carr’s third interception of the night as he went 29-of-40 for 303 yards and a 62.8 passer rating.
Todd Gurley finished with 20 carries for 108 yards and three catches for 39 yards and a touchdown. Goff went 18-for-33 for 233 yards and two touchdowns, a passer rating of 97.2. Brandin Cooks caught five passes for 87 yards.
Aaron Donald, the NFL’s defensive player of the year in 2017, played most of the snaps but finished with only one tackle.
The Raiders missed Khalil Mack, getting only one sack, two quarterback hits and two tackles for loss as Goff had plenty of time in the pocket.
Cook caught nine of Carr’s passes for 180 yards, while Marshawn Lynch rushed for 41 yards and a touchdown on 11 carries.
The Raiders finished with 11 penalties for 155 yards with 145 of the penalty yards coming in the first half.
