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LOS ANGELES — Yikes.
I know this game meant nothing, and neither team really tried to win, but yikes.
That was some ugly football, especially by the Raiders for the vast majority of the game. Luckily for them, very few of the players on the field Saturday will step foot on the Coliseum field in three weeks for Monday Night Football.
Here are your five quick takeaways from Oakland’s 19-15 loss.
Hiding their hands
The vast majority of prominent players didn’t dress for the Raiders, including Derek Carr, Amari Cooper, Jordy Nelson, Marshawn Lynch, Martavis Bryant, Bruce Irvin, Derrick Johnson, the entire starting offensive line and several others. Jon Gruden clearly didn’t want to give away a single iota of strategy ahead of the two teams’ Week 1 matchup in Oakland, though he did play his entire starting secondary of Gareon Conley, Reggie Nelson, Karl Joseph and Rashaan Melvin.
Both Gruden and Rams head coach Sean McVay expressed their confusion/displeasure with having to play each other three weeks before a matchup that actually counts. The Rams rested their prominent players, too, including Jared Goff, Todd Gurley, Brandin Cooks, Aqib Talib, Marcus Peters and others.
The product on the field clearly reflected two teams hiding their hands. Week 1 can’t get here soon enough.
Ready, set, fumble
Gruden might have headaches sorting through his backup quarterback competition, and not headaches for a good reason.
Both Connor Cook and EJ Manuel lost fumbles on Saturday, and that doesn’t even count the botched snap and fumble on the very first play of the game between Cook and center Jon Feliciano. Cook finished 6-of-12 with 49 yards passing and Manuel 10-of-16 with 89 yards and a touchdown, the latter actually doing some nice things in the second half but still nothing special.
Bottom line: the Raiders need to pray Derek Carr doesn’t get hurt this season.
Conley returns
If you want to look on the bright side, last year’s first-round pick played in a game for the first time since Week 3 last season.
He wasn’t tested and didn’t play much, but he played, and that’s all that matters.
Conley saw only two games during his rookie season due to shin injuries, and practiced only four days during training camp after suffering a hip strain on Day 1 in Napa. The Raiders clearly have Conley penned as the starting cornerback opposite Melvin, so just getting him on the field is a good step in his return to what the Raiders hope is No. 1 cornerback status.
Hurst gets on the board
Last Friday it was rookie second-round DT P.J. Hall tallying his first career sack. This week it was fifth-round DT Maurice Hurst. This is exactly why the Raiders drafted them.
Oakland received virtually no interior pass rush last season. They’re only two exhibitions, but the Raiders could be in for a treat if the rookies fill that void.
Hurst overpowered Rams offensive lineman Aaron Neary in the third quarter, and Shilique Calhoun forced QB Brandon Allen to step up in the pocket. Hurst met Allen with a thud, and celebrated accordingly. Hurst is on the board, and it won’t be his last sack this season either.
Warren finds the end zone
After a strong NFL debut last Friday, undrafted rookie running back Chris Warren continued his push for the 53-man roster against the Rams.
Warren can absolutely bulldoze defenders, and he did just that on Saturday, including into the end zone for his first career touchdown. The score came from three yards out late in the third quarter, and cut the Raiders’ deficit to 10.
Warren followed up his 13 rushes and 86 yards against the Lions with an efficient 110 yards on 18 carries against the Rams.
