The Los Angeles Rams and Las Vegas Raiders are squaring off on Sunday afternoon at Allegiant Stadium, and before they take the field, we caught up with an expert on the Rams' opponent. Raiders Wire's Levi Damien helped us preview this matchup by sharing an underrated defender to know, some insight on Ashton Jeanty's struggles and his prediction for the game.
He expects the Raiders to pull off the upset and send the Rams into a three-game losing skid, while simultaneously snapping Las Vegas' own three-game losing streak.
Besides Maxx Crosby, who’s a Raiders defender the Rams should be aware of?
Raiders Wire: It’s probably between Nakobe Dean and Eric Stokes. Dean will have at least a couple "wow" plays per game that make the rounds after. That includes him having a forced fumble in the fourth quarter of each of the Raiders'
wins to start the season. And Stokes is the most consistent defensive back the Raiders have. He will be the one trying to stop Puka Nacua from destroying the Raiders’ defense. Certainly no easy task, but he’s the best equipped to take a shot at it.
What’s the biggest reason behind Ashton Jeanty’s lack of efficiency as a runner?
Raiders Wire: Though the Raiders won’t admit it, he’s just not completely healthy. When he’s in the open field, he looks great. Still plenty fast. It’s his ability to make guys miss and drive through tackles that hasn’t been there. That’s the main reason, but the Raiders’ lackluster wide receiver corps isn’t helping matters. Opposing defenses have been stacking the box with regularity, which means he’s not seeing as much room to run as he should.
How big a difference has Klint Kubiak made for the Raiders this year?
Raiders Wire: Considerable. Combined with Kirk Cousins coming in with familiarity in his system you have the Raiders offense working more efficiently than it has in a long time. And they’re doing it with one of the worst wide receiver corps in the NFL. He has just shifted to targeting the tight ends. And the Raiders have a couple good ones, so it has been working fairly well.
Is there a weakness the Rams can exploit in Vegas’ defense?
Raiders Wire: Swing passes seem to be working like gangbusters against them. I’d say at least three times a game you see the QB bootleg out of play action and dump it to a back on a swing pass to like 20 yards of completely open field. It’s amazing, really, how it happens so often. Either offenses are keying on a certain alignment, or all the guys who are supposed to be there are biting so hard on the play action that they take themselves out of the play. And if it were an easy answer, I feel like the Raiders would have fixed it by now.
Who wins on Sunday and what’s the score?
Raiders Wire: I see this as the perfect opportunity for the Raiders to pull out of their losing streak. Two of the three games in the streak were competitive games against tough opponents, the Chiefs and Bills. And both were at home. I had the Rams winning this one in my preseason predictions. But without the likes of Myles Garrett, Davante Adams, and the two injured DTs, I think the door is open for them to get the win. Raiders 27, Rams 23.
This article originally appeared on Rams Wire: Rams Week 7 preview: Q&A with Raiders expert
