Oakland Raiders: The good, bad, and ugly in season opening loss to Rams

Bad: Running Game Vanished

Just to dovetail on the last point, the Raiders all but abandoned the run game in the second half. Yes, as the game wore on, and they dug themselves into a deeper and deeper hole, they needed Carr to try and throw them out of it.

But, with the fourth quarter just beginning, and the team trailing just 20-13 at that point, the Raiders called just one run play for the rest of the game. Just one. They ran Jalen Richard off the left end – a play that gained just one yard during their third drive of the half – again, down by just seven at that point, and with just about a full quarter to go.

Granted, it is tough to run against that formidable defensive front of the Rams, but they had some success against them during the first half. It wasn’t huge statistically speaking – they ran for just 55 yards in the first half – but more important than yards, they set the tempo. They controlled the clock. And they kept Jared Goff and the Rams offense off the field.

That third drive of theirs consumed just 1:26. The Rams took the subsequent punt, chewed 4:15 off the clock, and kicked a field goal to go up by 10. Taking over with just over nine minutes to play, the Raiders didn’t run the ball, and consumed just 1:21 before Carr threw his second pick of the night.

The Rams ate up another four minutes plus, and kicked a field goal to go up by 13, and that was that. Peters’ pick-six was just icing on a cake that had already been baked and served.

The going was tough on the ground, to be sure. But with just eight total carries in the second half, the Raiders didn’t even make a nominal attempt to replicate the success they had in the first half.

And it cost them.