It’s time for Week 14 in the NFL season and both of these teams are not where they expected to be. The Raiders brought in Coach McDaniels and Davante Adams to help Derek Carr but it was off to a rough start. As of late, the Raiders look to have found a nucleus that has worked despite injuries to Darren Waller/Hunter Renfrow. The Raiders have been leaning on Adams and the running game through Josh Jacobs. The LA Rams on the other hand just placed Matthew Stafford on injured reserve with a serious neck injury. It’s been tough because they also lost Cooper Kupp to a foot injury that has him on injured reserve as well. The Rams made headlines on Tuesday as they were the only NFL team to put in a waiver for Baker Mayfield who was released by the Carolina Panthers. The Rams look to throw Baker right into the mix and get him up to speed as they need good quarterback play if they even want a chance to creep into the postseason.
The Raiders have had a roller-coaster season as they’re (5-7) on the season and will be looking to make that 6 wins. Last week Derek Carr had 250 yards passing with 2 touchdowns against the Chargers. The Rams defense is a lot tougher on paper as they still have Jalen Ramsey who should be defending Davante Adams. Adams has surpassed 120 receiving yards in 4 of the last 5 games. The way he’s been able to get open against defenses has been nothing short of special. The Rams still don’t know if they will have Aaron Donald who’s been nursing an ankle injury. Josh Jacobs has been the true workhorse that the Raiders have needed him to be this season. Even with injuries and all he’s been able to put up monster numbers the past couple of weeks.
Jacobs has combined for 373 rushing yards and 3 touchdowns in the last two weeks. He will be looking to run against a Rams team that has been beaten up defensively. With the injuries in the offense, these 3 players have put the Raiders on their backs to make sure that they stay in playoff contention. On the defensive end, Max Crosby will be trying to get his hands on Baker Mayfield who will be thrown into the mix for the Rams. The Raiders secondary isn’t that bad but they need improvement going against a Rams team lacking their offensive starters can boost your confidence quickly. This will be one of those games that should put the Raiders back in the mix and they may be able to wiggle into the playoffs if things work out around the league. The Raiders will have to get it done on their end first and hope that the Rams who are out of the playoff hunt don’t spoil their chances.
The Rams will be starting either Baker Mayfield or John Wolford against the Raiders tonight. It will be a tough matchup because the Raiders are clicking on all cylinders and will be putting up points at a high clip. The Rams don’t have the offensive weapons to keep up but they will try. A positive for the Rams is the fact that Cam Akers has been resurging in this offense and he’s going to be the player they lean on if they want to make this interesting. The Rams will need to use the running game and the defense to keep Derek Carr off the field. Akers had 17 rushes for 60 yards and 2 touchdowns last week so look for that workload to increase.
The work will be there for Van Jefferson to flourish in this offense it’s just the fact we don’t know if the quarterback will have the chance to get it to him. The Rams defense still can ball as they have Ramsey and Wagner still being impactful. This will be a tough one as they look to slow down Jacobs and Adams which will be tough. Overall the Rams will be in a slugfest but if they want to win this game they will need to punch first and keep that momentum throughout the whole game. The Rams will need that home-field advantage to come in clutch tonight.
Score Prediction – Las Vegas Raiders 28, Los Angeles Rams 13
Photo Credit: (Photo by Chris Unger/Getty Images) & (Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)
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