Reviewing the Los Angeles Rams’ preseason opener against the Oakland Raiders

Week One of the NFL preseason made everyone thankful that these are not the Los Angeles Rams starters.

The Rams depth proved to be less than impressive as the Oakland Raiders rolled to an easy 14-3 win. Now, obviously since it’s the preseason, a loss is not something to freak out about. But it should be a bit concerning that LA’s depth was unable to provide some comfort knowing they are the insurance policy should any of the starters go down.

The offense

The offensive line was pitiful. From start to finish, the line couldn’t hold blocks, couldn’t give the quarterbacks consistent pressure, and the run-blocking was below-average at-best.

During a third down situation on the first drive of the second half, QB Brandon Allen had a wide-open man which would have been a gain of 15. But OL Jamil Demby was pushed back in front of Allen, who tried to make a higher throwing motion to avoid being struck. He overthrew the man.

Demby originally started the game at guard and was not good there, either.

G Jeremiah Kolone and LT David Edwards got thrown around like rag dolls on a critical third-down during the second drive of the game, which resulted in an incomplete pass. The Rams finished 1-for-7 on third-down.

RB Darrell Henderson could be a good running back if we knew how he could run without three men in his face whenever he took a handoff.

There were several penalties for holding and false starts, which is always cool.

The receivers had far too many drops. The Rams’ offense struggled and dropped passes on screens and short routes didn’t help anyone.

The defense

QB Nathan Peterman ran for more than 50 yards on a single play before throwing a touchdown pass two plays later. Thankfully that was the worst play of the game.

The defense, particularly the pass-rush, was poor for most of the first half. The pass-rush was virtually non-existent in the first quarter and had a few spurts in the second quarter. However, QB Mike Glennon was able to stand up through for nearly the entire time he was out there.

The Raiders offensive line wasn’t even all that great. It’s just the Rams pass-rush seemed lost.

The pass defense did manage to get two interceptions but those came between massive gains by the Oakland offense. On one of the last drives before halftime, Oakland had three consecutive big-gain passes in a row.

The linebackers didn’t have great awareness to start the game. The linebackers seemed to take things at face value and count guys out.

For example, there were two plays where a tight end or a running back start blocking at the snap, and then run out in the flat as a wide-open receiver.

S Steven Parker managed to get his interception because Glennon underthrew the open man near the end-zone.

The pass-defense did make some solid plays to keep Peterman to 66 passing yards. It wasn’t just their protection but their ability to come down on the receivers on throw passes to keep the gains minimal.