Oakland Raiders: The good, bad, and ugly in preseason loss to the Rams
By Kevin Saito
Ugly: That First Half
Last season, if there was one common thread linking most of Oakland’s games, it was that the team got off to really slow, really poor starts.
That’s a trend that continued against the Rams, as the Raiders stumbled out of the gates, couldn’t seem to get out of their own way, and – well – couldn’t seem to do much of anything, really. Nothing right, anyway.
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Granted, it’s a preseason game, and it was the backups manning the field, but it was bad. Really, really bad.
The first half against the Rams was beyond abysmal and inspires less than zero confidence in the backups at this point in time. Hopefully, it’s a learning experience, and one that they can all grow from, but, at this point, Gruden has got to be concerned about anything happening to his starters, because his second team was an absolute dumpster fire.
Oakland’s seven first half drives went like this – punt, punt, punt, fumble, punt, punt, fumble. For the half, they gained just one first down, and 58 yards of total offense. They had two drives that lasted less than a minute, and had 11:34 in time of possession in the first half.
That, is pretty much the textbook definition of ugly.
The team picked it up and put up a fight down the stretch, but the slow start more or less, doomed them to a loss to the Rams.
That is something this team needs to correct before the season gets underway. They absolutely can’t afford to come out of the gates slow and sluggish. If they do, we might see a team that falls behind early, and often.