Rams and Kyren Williams outlast Raiders as Las Vegas woes at QB continue: Key takeaways

By Vic Tafur, Tashan Reed, Jourdan Rodrigue and Jelani Scott

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A hard-fought 20-15 Los Angeles Rams victory over the Las Vegas Raiders gave fans a defensive battle to see on Sunday as the two struggling clubs squared off in Week 7 at SoFi Stadium.

Led by another tenacious effort from running back Kyren Williams, the Rams persevered with timely offensive plays and a stellar performance from their defense to secure a much-needed win at home. Williams scored 21 carries for 76 yards and a touchdown in his ninth straight game with a touchdown — the longest active streak in the NFL.

Williams' two goals underlined an exceptional performance by the Rams defense (2-4), which benefited from an injury to Raiders quarterback Aidan O'Connell (thumb) early in the game. O'Connell's departure once again opened the door for backup Gardner Minshew, who threw three interceptions, took two sacks and lost a fumble for a Rams scoop-and-score.

Despite another week of poor offense, the Raiders' (2-5) defense stepped up in the second half after trailing 14-6 at halftime. The unit held the Rams to 259 total yards while recording one interception and one sack.

The Las Vegas offense is still searching for answers

The quarterback situation is messy, but part of that is the Raiders' lack of proven receivers over the last two weeks. With Davante Adams now traded to the New York Jets and Jakobi Meyers still sidelined with a sore ankle, the Raiders were once again lacking talent on the wing for the second week in a row.

Only two receivers caught passes against the Rams – Tre Tucker with three catches for 36 yards and DJ Turner with two for 13 yards. Both O'Connell (before his thumb injury) and Minshew were locked in on tight end Brock Bowers (10 catches to 14). scores for 94 yards) and Harrison Bryant (two for 19 before leaving due to injury in the third quarter).

Meyers seemed closer to the game last week than he did Sunday against the Rams. He's a skilled catcher, but his presence would also make life easier for the speedy Tucker in the matchup. — Vic Tafur, Raiders senior writer

The loss overshadowed the impressive defensive performance

The Raiders blew a pretty solid performance from their defense. They limited the Rams to just 258 total yards, held them to 2 of 10 on third down and allowed just two scoring drives.

Defensive coordinator Patrick Graham's squad gave their offense plenty of opportunities to capitalize, but regularly failed to do so, scoring just 15 points and committing four turnovers.

After nickelback Nate Hobbs stuffed Williams on fourth-and-1 in the second quarter, the Raiders took over at the Los Angeles 49-yard line. The Raiders' offense finished with a three-pointer and threw the ball right back to the Rams. Hobbs grabbed Rams quarterback Matthew Stafford and returned him to the Los Angeles 14-yard line.

After trailing 20-9, the Raiders offense settled for a field goal. Then, with the Raiders trailing 20-12 in the fourth quarter, the defense forced another stop.

The offense advanced to the Rams' 4-yard line, but ultimately settled for a field goal. The defense again forced the Rams off the field and forced a punt, which gave the ball back to the Raiders' offense with 1:39 to play in regulation. They couldn't even get a first down when Minshew threw a crucial pick.

The defense has been a disappointment this season, but this loss wasn't their fault. — Tashan Reed, Raiders senior writer

The Rams' defense makes up for the offensive woes

Los Angeles' still-developing defense may have reached a key point of growth on Sunday – four takeaways, including a strip-sack fumble recovery for a touchdown, and no touchdowns allowed is one way to achieve it – but in the They have a big problem offensively.

Stafford, under intense pressure week to week and without his top two receivers, is not playing at the level needed to outperform the rest of the unit and has turned the ball over in the last two games.

The Rams haven't scored a touchdown in the first quarter all season and even suffered a blowout loss to the Raiders despite the bye in Week 6. They capitalized on the two defensive takeaways with touchdowns — both on a short field — but when the field was full they couldn't move the ball.

On 11 possessions, excluding the kneedowns at the end, Los Angeles scored a touchdown on a short field after a takeaway and otherwise turned over once on downs, threw an interception and missed a field goal and the rest ended in punts.

Not even the return of Cooper Kupp can change that, and while every win counts, this victory exposed persistent deficiencies on offense. – Jourdan Rodrigue, Rams senior writer

Required reading

(Photo: Alex Gallardo / USA Today)