Even before the Raiders took the field against the Rams, it was clear they knew the Rams were going to lean heavily on the run. They geared up to try and stop it, but none of their efforts worked.
Where the team went about trying to stop the run was personnel. First, they elevated and activated Tim Keenan from the practice squad. Not only did he spend the offseason with the Rams, at 6-1, 327 pounds, he is a true nose tackle. While Keenan was up, Thomas Booker IV and Jonah Laulu were down. That gave them two three-techs in Adam Butler and Tonka Hemingway and two nose tackles in Keenan, Folorunso Fatukasi, and JJ Pegues. With Keenan making his regular season debut, seeing 19 snaps, and Pegues seeing a season-high 16 snaps.
They also went about bulking
up the second level. With Tommy Eichenberg seeing a season-high 43 snaps (60%). This, in turn, meant nickel corner Taron Johnson saw a season low 29 snaps (40%).
The result? Nearly giving up TWO 100-yard rushers.
Rams back Kyren Williams picked up 99 yards on the ground while averaging 6.2 yards per carry. While Blake Corum picked up 93 yards while averaging 5.5 yards per carry. And both scored touchdowns on the ground. That's a colossal backfire.
This article originally appeared on Raiders Wire: Raiders Week 7 snap counts vs Rams: Vegas attempts to stop the run backfire
