The Los Angeles Rams won their second straight preseason game, as they defeated the Oakland Raiders 24-21 with a late touchdown.
Jared Goff played a majority of the first half for the Rams in the second preseason game. He looked impressive too. With the second-year quarterback under center, LA attempted 17 passes, and Goff completed 14 of them for 145 yards and one touchdown.
Both sides score on first possessions
That touchdown came off the opening drive of the game. The Rams drove right down the field after starting at their own 15-yard-line. Goff hit Robert Woods for a 10-yard and a 9-yard catch to set the tone for this possession.
Hoping for a bounce back season, Todd Gurley got involved early. He broke off a couple of nice runs, including a nine and an eight yard run to get the Rams into Oakland territory. Then Goff showed off his arm. The Northern California native found his new tight end, Gerald Everett for a nice 24-yard gain. Goff finished off the impressive drive to a wide open Cooper Kupp.
Oakland, however, answered right back. Los Angeles’ drive was methodical, calculated, the opposite to the Raiders’ first drive. In four plays, Oakland drove 60 yards down the field for the game tying touchdown. Marshawn Lynch got half of the touches, totaling 10 yards on the ground. The possession ended with a 19-yard throw from Derek Carr to the veteran tight end.
Rams capitalize off turnover
DeAndre Washington picked off Carr, which gave the Rams excellent field position to start the third drive of the game.
The 23-year-old, Gurley, added 14 more yards to his total on this drive and finished it off with a two-yard scamper into the back of the endzone
Sammy Watkins involvement
This game was also important for Goff and the retooled offense because it allowed Goff to get acquainted with his new number one target Sammy Watkins. Watkins was targeted four times and caught two balls for eight yards.
Yet, just his added presence opened up the passing game for Goff. Oakland’s defense always had an extra set of eyes on Watkins, which allowed Goff to distribute the ball to his other receivers. As Watkins gets used to his new offense, more balls will definitely get thrown his way.
Late flurry for the win
Connor Cook looked solid on his last drive of the game, executing an 11-play drive that gave the Raiders their first lead of the game. He hit Johnny Holton from 17-yards away to make it 21-17 Raiders.
But the scoring did not stop there. Sean Mannion and the Rams had one more opportunity to win the game, and they did just that. Mannion really open up the drive with a clutch 17-yard throw to Michael Thomas to get near midfield.
On a 3rd and 7, Mannion continued to look solid when he completed a big throw to Pharao Cooper to extend the game. Mannion ended the drive in fashion, as he found Josh Reynolds in the back corner of the endzone.
Coming up
Next week’s preseason game is big. The Los Angeles Rams will do battle with the Los Angeles Chargers at the LA Coliseum. Kick off for the third preseason game is scheduled for 8:00 PM EST on August 25th.