Oakland Raiders Film Room: Week 13 (Rams)
By Evan Ball
Nov 30, 2014; St. Louis, MO, USA; St. Louis Rams running back Tre Mason (27) falls into the end zone for a eight yard touchdown during the second half against the Oakland Raiders at the Edward Jones Dome. St. Louis defeated Oakland 52-0. Mandatory Credit: Jeff Curry-USA TODAY Sports
Wow. Week 13 was a rough one for Oakland. The Raider Nation came off the high of the win over Kansas City only to be slammed right back down into the black hole of depression by the St. Louis Rams. 52-0. It was not pretty.
This game was over very quickly and for everything that broke the right way against Kansas City, seven things broke the wrong way in St. Louis. Tackling was atrocious, blown coverages were everywhere, and the offense nearly didn’t exist. The game was over in the first quarter. Oakland will have a lot to work on this week in preparation for San Francisco, despite the latter team’s struggles.
That being said, in this article we’ll examine the key plays of the first quarter that let this game get out of hand. While not ALL of the bad plays in the first quarter by any means, these plays were emotional game-changers – giving St. Louis the early edge they needed to physically and mentally dominate Oakland for the rest of the game.
Let’s get started…