Rams vs. Raiders: How to watch Week 2 NFL preseason matchup at SoFi

If the Los Angeles Rams believe that familiarity breeds contempt, the Saturday August 19 matchup against the Las Vegas Raiders should be a wild one. The Week 2 preseason game kicks off at 6 p.m. from SoFi Stadium. After two light-contact joint practices earlier this week were interrupted by skirmishes of varying degrees, the Rams and Raiders get to go at it full-speed and full contact.

In the Raiders preseason opener, they dominated the San Francisco 49ers and both sides of the line of scrimmage in a 34-7 win. The defense held the ‘Niners to 69 rushing yards and made four sacks. On the offensive side, the Raiders ran for 120 yards and completed 18 of 23 passes.

Who to watch for the Rams?

While the Rams opening game loss to the Los Angeles Chargers left a lot to be desired, there were a few players who deserve attention vs, the Raiders. The Raiders pass rush gave the 49ers fits, so the offensive line will be tested.

Reports out of the Rams/Raiders joint practices were that the L.A offensive line was dominated by Las Vegas. The interior triumvirate of Mike McAllister, Zachary Thomas, and Tremayne Anchrum looked good in Week 1 and will be challenged. McAllister and Thomas are still on the roster bubble and need to stack another good game. Logan Bruss injured a hand in practice this week, if he’s out of the game, he could be out of the offensive lines plans.

In the 49ers game, the Raiders did give up passing yardage on mid-range routes and it was reported that Rams QB Matthew Stafford picked the Vegas pass defense apart in joint drills. There are decisions to be made at wide receiver. Veterans Demarcus Robinson and Tyler Johnson, rookie Puka Nacua, and L.A. holdovers Lance McCutcheon and Austin Trammel are all battling for two, maybe three roster spots.

On defense, it’s a cast of thousands. Both the whole defensive line and edge units need to step up their games. In particular, nose tackle Bobby Brown needs to show a comeback game, if he cannot do it against backups, hard to make a case for him in the regular season. If he has another uninspired showing, the Rams need to get rookie Kobie Turner a lot of snaps or call on a quartet of under-sized veterans, Larrell Murchison, Jonah Williams, Marquise Copeland, and Earnest Brown to push him. I recently opined that Murchison should get a look at nose tackle.

Raiders rookie QB Aiden O’Connell had a solid maiden NFL game and should challenge the Rams young secondary. Tre’Vius Hodges-Tomlinson had a good week of workouts to go with his performance in the opener. Derion Kendrick is back to push both THT and Robert Rochell at outside CB. Will we see THT moving into the slot for reps?

We shall see what we shall see and here’s how to do it.

How to follow the game

Date: Saturday August 19

Kickoff: 6 p.m PST

Location: SoFi Stadium in Inglewood, Ca.

Watch it live: No national television coverage

Preseason TV:

• ABC7/KABC-TV – Los Angeles
• KOAT ABC 7 - Albuquerque, NM
• KBAK CBS 29 – Bakersfield, CA
• KFSN ABC 30 – Fresno, CA
• KPSP CBS 2 – Palm Springs, CA
• KKFX FOX 11 – Santa Barbara/Santa Maria/San Luis Obispo, CA
• KSWB FOX 5 – San Diego, CA
• KHON FOX 2 – Honolulu, HI
• KJZZ 14 – Salt Lake City, UT
• KNSN Nevada Sports Net – Reno, NV
• KYUR CW 13.2 – Anchorage, AK
• KATN CW 2.3 – Fairbanks, AK
• KJUD CW 8.3 – Juneau, AK

Live stream: A host of streaming services including LA Rams Mobile App, NFL+, ESPN+, fuboTV, DirecTV Stream, Hulu Live TV, Sling TV, and You Tube TV

Listen: ESPNLA 710 AM, KWKW 1330 AM, JACK 93.1 FM

ESPNLA’s affiliate radio stations:

• KMET/1490 AM & 98.1 FM - Banning, CA
• KFIG/1430 AM & 790 FM – Fresno, CA
• KAVL/610 AM & 106.7 FM – Lancaster, CA
• KRHQ/102.3 AM - Palm Springs, CA
• KTIE/590 AM – Riverside, CA
• KGB/760 AM – San Diego, CA
• KXTK/1280 AM & 101.7 FM – San Luis Obispo, CA
• KSMA/1240 AM & 99.5 FM - Santa Maria, CA

En Español: Tu Liga Radio 1330 AM

Tu Liga Radio’s affiliate radio stations:

• KTMZ/1220 AM – Pomona, CA
• KCAL/1410 AM – San Bernardino and Riverside, CA
• KOXR 910 AM – Oxnard and Ventura, CA

Current betting odds @ DraftKings Sportsbook

Line: Raiders -3.5 -110 / Rams +3.5 -110

Over/under total: 39.5 -110

Money line: Raiders -175 / Rams +145