Top Shots: Raiders vs. Rams - Preseason Week 1 Take a look through the top images from the Raiders' win against the Los Angeles Rams in Preseason Week 1 at Oakland-Alameda County Coliseum. The Seahawks are a slight 1.5-point favorite against the Rams, according to the latest NFL odds. The oddsmakers had a good feel for the line for this one, as the game opened with the Seahawks as a.

The preseason for the Los Angeles Rams will be reserved for unproven players competing for starting jobs and roster spots. None of the biggest stars are expected to suit up for an exhibition game this summer, certainly not on Saturday against the Raiders.

There will still be key position battles to keep an eye on this weekend, however. The Rams are still unsettled at a couple different positions, the majority of which are on defense.

Here are four position battles to watch in the Rams’ preseason opener against Oakland.

Nose tackle

Wade Phillips said Joseph-Day has seized the opportunity to replace Ndamukong Suh at nose tackle, but that doesn’t mean he’ll be the Week 1 starter. Joseph-Day has had an excellent offseason, but that solid play will need to continue into the preseason. Gaines isn’t going to be the easiest competition to hold off and his first chance to shine will come on Saturday night.

This is arguably the most important and closely matched position battle to watch throughout the preseason for the Rams because the winner will have a big hand in improving the run defense.

After the first week of football, the Las Vegas Raiders are 1-0 with a 34-30 win against the Carolina Panthers. The Raiders needed this win with New Orleans coming into town with super bowl expectations, and the offense led the way to a key victory.

Time to dive into critical stats that stood out during the victory and what adjustment the Raiders could make going into Week 2 of the NFL season.

Play Action Frequency

Fans have been dying for more play-action passes, especially with teams putting defenders in the box to stop the dominant Jacobs. Jon Gruden this week answered the call with a heavy play-action gameplan to start the NFL season.

According to Pro Football Focus, the Raiders ran play-action passes on 37% of their passing plays, which is way higher than their 22.3% from 2019. Derek Carr excelled from these pass plays, highlighted by the vast gain to Henry Ruggs for 45 yards. He completed 72.7% of his passes with 8.5 YPA and a passer rating 98.3.

If this continues to be a trend of the Raiders in 2020, it could open up a lot of deep shots for Carr with his tendency to keep it short. Gruden has to keep dialing up the play-action passes and open up huge plays with added talent in the offense.

Raiders Vs Rams Tickets

Defense Struggles with Pressure

Defensive line growth was a key emphasis going into the season. The Raiders are young in that area and brought in a new coach Rod Marinelli to help with development. Week 1 did not display this growth at all and looked like the defensive line from last year.

The Raiders only accumulated ten pressures on the day total on Teddy Bridgewater’s 39 dropbacks, according to PFF. While Bridgewater did get rid of the ball in 2.5 seconds, the Raiders did not win early, and he was able to pick his spots and make completions downfield. Maxx Crosby and Clelin Ferrell achieved one pressure combined, which can not happen this week against the Saints.

Raiders Vs Rams Week 14

Players who played less pass rush snaps generated more pressure than the starters, with Nassib leading the way with two on 11 pass-rush snaps. The Raiders have to make serious adjustments if they want to help out a young secondary that is having issues covering in man to man.

Raiders Predictable on First Down

One of the biggest grips against Gruden last season was becoming too predictable as the year went along. The primary stat that proved that was the Raiders’ first-down run percentage of 60% according to sharp football stats. The trend of first-down runs continued on Sunday, even when it didn’t work.

The offense ran the football 64% of their first down opportunities, which was higher than their mark from last season. The main problem was the Raiders only averaging 2.6 YPC on those carries. On the flip side, the Raiders had a 70% success rate with the 9.2 YPA passing on first down.

If the Raiders continue this trend throughout the season, teams will catch up incredibly fast, just like they did in 2019. Gruden has to pass more on first down, especially with a conservative quarterback who is going to take the five yards of positive play. Running the ball every first down is not going to be beneficial in the long run.

Trayvon Mullen Continues His Steady Play

The Raiders defense has its issues in the secondary, consistently letting Bridgewater players downfield to throw too. While this is true, one player continued his great coverage numbers from the year before. Trayvon Mullen had another day that displayed he is the best cover player in this secondary.

Mullen was targeted five times but only allowed two receptions for 21 yards, according to PFF. He finished with a passer rating 52.9 on those targets and was able to show off his man to man skills on a pass breakup against DJ Moore.

Raiders Or Rams Week 13

Mullen is the bright spot right now in the secondary in coverage with everyone else struggling to come along while being thrown in the fire. The Raiders will need the young former Clemson Tiger to continue to display growth while the rest of the young corners have their growing pains.