Las Vegas Raiders: Keys to victory against the Rams in 2022 Week 14
By Brad Weiss
The Las Vegas Raiders battle it out against the Los Angeles Rams on Thursday Night Football, and here are the keys to victory.
After beating division rival Los Angeles 27-20 on Sunday, the Las Vegas Raiders will now head to Los Angeles, to take on the other local team in the Rams. After winning the Super Bowl last year, the 2022 season has been a nightmare for the Rams, and they have a host of key players out this week against the Raiders.
Here, we look at a few keys to victory for Las Vegas on Thursday night.
Las Vegas Raiders: Keys to victory against the Rams in 2022 Week 14
Get to John Wofford early and often
With Matthew Stafford likely out for the season, the Rams have turned to John Wofford, and he struggled in a big way against Seattle this past weekend. For Wofford, he is trying to navigate a passing attack that is lacking weapons, as Allen Robinson is out, and they really do not have a WR2 on the roster.
We have seen recently that the Raiders front-7 are vastly improved, and they could be even stronger this week with Andrew Billings returning. The goal has to be to continue to hit the quarterback, just like they did against Justin Herbert on Sunday, forcing Wofford into making key mistakes.
Slow down Cam Akers
While the Rams have a very weak passing attack, they do have a talented running back in Cam Akers, who scored two touchdowns against Seattle in Week 13. After the team got rid of Darrell Henderson, the job was given to Akers, and he is a guy the Silver and Black must key on Thursday night.
If the Raiders’ run defense, which has been outstanding as of late, can shut down Akers, there is really no other option for this Rams offense. That could lead to this game being very lopsided in favor of Las Vegas.
Punish the Rams’ secondary
Geno Smith attacked the Rams’ secondary last weekend, as both DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett went for over 100 receiving yards. The Raiders should look to do the same on Thursday, attacking the Rams’ secondary early, and feeding both Mack Hollins and Davante Adams in the vertical passing game.
The worrisome thing on Thursday is that this game is very winnable for the Raiders, and they have struggled as the favorites this season. However, they have also looked like a completely different team on both sides of the ball in recent weeks, so win No. 6 should be on the horizon for them in this one.