Raiders QBs Excel in 34-17 Win Over Rams

The Las Vegas Raiders continue to be consistent with excellent play this preseason, and tonight it was the quarterbacks that led them to a 34-17 win over the Los Angeles Rams.

INGLEWOOD, Cal--The fact that the Las Vegas Raiders went to 2-0 in the 2023 preseason is nice, but that’s not the most important thing about their impressive 34-17 victory over the Los Angeles Rams at SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Calif.

What had to impress fans of Raider Nation most was the performance of the team’s new starting quarterback, Jimmy Garoppolo, who signed with the Raiders as a free agent during the offseason.

Garoppolo played only the first series of the game in his inaugural performance with the Raiders. Still, he guided them 68 yards in nine plays to a seven-yard touchdown run by running back Brandon Bolden with precisely 10 minutes left in the first quarter, and Las Vegas never trailed.

While engineering the touchdown drive, Garoppolo completed all four passes he threw 39 yards, including an 18-yarder to rookie tight end Michael Mayer and a 10-yarder to running back Ameer Abdullah, before taking a seat on the bench for the rest of the game.

“I wanted to play,” Goroppolo said. “So I’m glad Josh let the starters go out there and get a couple of reps in. I thought the line played great. I thought guys were just operating at a fast pace, which is important in this offense. I thought it was overall pretty good. It felt good.”

The Raiders’ entire quarterback corps looked sharp in this one.

Veteran Brian Hoyer, another free agent signing, completed 12-of-22 passes for 144 yards without a touchdown. However, he did throw an interception that linebacker Jake Hummel returned 21 yards for a touchdown to tie the score, 10-10, with 8:42 left in the second quarter.

However, the Raiders got that one back when safety Isaiah Pola-Mao picked off quarterback Stetson Bennett’s pass and returned it 50 yards for a touchdown with 1:35 left in the half to make it 17-10 and the Raiders were ahead the rest of the way.

Hoyer led the Raiders to Daniel Carlson’s 30-yard field goal with no time left in the half to make it 20-10. Carlson kicked a 46-yard earlier in the second quarter is perfect on four field goals and eight extra points in the two games.

Rookie Aidan O’Connell, who led the Raiders to a 34-7 preseason victory over the San Francisco 49ers last week, played the second half and completed 11-of-18 passes for 163 yards and touchdowns of 12 yards to wide receiver Cam Sims and two yards to wide receiver Kristian Wilkerson to blow the game open.

“Your brain goes to the ones you messed up, so I know I left a bunch of plays out there on the field that are a little frustrating,” O’Connell said. “But you can learn from film and try and get better.”

The Raiders’ quarterbacks completed 27-of-44 for 342 yards and two touchdowns with one interception.

Wide receiver Keelan Cole caught five passes for 60 yards, and Wilkerson made five catches for 54 yards, while wide receiver Phillip Dorsett caught four passes for 76 yards, and wide receiver Tre Tucker had three catches for 66 yards.

Running back Zamir White led the Raiders 40 yards on ten carries and caught one pass for nine yards, while Bolden scored on his only carry.

The Raiders piled up 440 yards of total offense while holding the Rams to 224, including 148 passing and 76 rushing. Las Vegas added 141 total kick return yards, with 97 coming on punts, with Tucker contributing 66 on four returns to give him 132 total yards, including his receptions.

Undrafted rookie linebacker Drake Thomas, from North Carolina State, led the Raiders with 12 total tackles, including two on special teams. In comparison, rookie linebacker Amari Burney had five tackles, linebacker Curtis Bolton had four stops, and linebacker Luke Masterson made three.

Undrafted rookie defensive end David Agoha of Nigeria, who didn’t play college football, had the Raiders’ only sack for an eight-yard loss.

The Raiders have played well in all three phases of the game in both preseason games, in which they have never trailed.

The Raiders wrap up their three-game 2003 preseason schedule next Saturday against the Dallas Cowboys at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas, at 5 p.m. (EDT).

The the Silver Black open the regular season against the Denver Broncos at Empower Field at Mile High in Denver on Sunday, Sept. 25, at 1:25 PDT, before going to meet the Buffalo Bills at Highmark Stadium in Orchard Park, N.Y., at 10 a.m. PDT on Sunday, Dec. 17.

The Raiders will play their first 2023 regular season home game against the Pittsburgh Steelers on Sunday night, Sep. 24, at 5:20 PDT at Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas.

The Raiders are 6-0 in preseason games under Coach Josh McDaniels, but members of Raider Nation will tell you that doesn’t mean a thing because they were 6-11 in the regular season a year ago, despite losing several close games, and missed the playoffs.

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