Heading into the season, who would have thought that the Week 7 matchup between the Las Vegas Raiders and Los Angeles Rams would be a “loser goes home” type of game when it comes to the playoffs? Not many, that’s for sure. But here we are.
The 3-3 Raiders need to end a three-game losing streak and beat a quality opponent to be legitimate postseason contenders, while the 2-4 Rams desperately need a win to keep pace in the NFC Wild Card race. To preview the game for Raider Nation, Silver and Black Pride reached out to our friends at Turf Show Times, and Kenny Arthur was kind enough to answer a few questions about the Rams.
Q: Sorry, but I have to start with the elephant in the room. The Rams won the offseason and were billed as the heavy Super Bowl favorites heading into the campaign. Sitting at 2-4, how did the “Super Team” fall apart?
A: For the record, I never thought the Rams were a super team, or even the best team in the NFC West. They spent the offseason doing what the Rams always do, which is chasing big names and brushing aside actual weaknesses. To be fair, Trent McDuffie and Jaylen Watson addressed a need at cornerback, and McDuffie was a much better use of a late first-round pick than anyone in the draft would have been. So kudos to L.A. for that, although Watson was an overpay. Even so, he was an overpay to replace one of the worst starters on the team.
None of the other moves were that smart, and the non-moves were terrible miscalculations.
Number one, the Rams had the worst special teams in the NFL last year, and it’s been a running theme for L.A. to have bad special teams for at least the last five years. Did they upgrade kicker Harrison Mevis? No. (Mevis was cut last week.) Did they hire a better special teams coordinator? No, they hired Bubba Ventrone, who was fired by the Broncos last year. Did they replace returner Xavier Smith, who fumbled the NFC Championship game away? No, they kept him. (Smith was released last month after the season started).
So number one, the Rams had the 32nd-ranked special teams, and I would’ve predicted no change there. It’s extremely difficult to win the Super Bowl with the worst special teams in football, as the Rams found out last year. So no, I didn’t have a lot of respect for their disrespect of special teams.
Number two, instead of using resources to upgrade obvious needs like a linebacker or a receiver (injuries to Puka Nacua and Davante Adams are NO surprise) or a safety or a defensive tackle, the Rams trade for Myles Garrett (???) and use a first-round pick on QB Ty Simpson (???). Are you pushing all-in or planning for the future?
Garrett is a Hall of Famer, but he didn’t address a weakness, especially by trading away Jared Verse for him. Simpson felt like a reach — I understand the urge to draft a QB when your starter is 38 — but this is less about him. It’s more than the Rams always treat rookies like they couldn’t possibly help. That’s not true. Every year the Super Bowl teams have several key rookies. The Rams used their second-round pick on TE Max Klare, who is fifth string and has one snap this year.
So that’s what I’d say about the “super team”. The Rams made headlines (like paying Aaron Donald $20-$30 million for one season and he’s having zero impact) but they ignored weaknesses. So yes, being 2-4 surprises me, but being far more beatable than they were predicted to be does not.
Q: Matthew Stafford hasn’t looked anything like the guy who was last season’s MVP, from an outside perspective at least. What’s been the difference between this year’s version of Stafford and last year’s? Are the injuries starting to catch up to him?
A: From 2022-2024, Stafford had a TD rate of 4% and an INT rate of 2%. That’s an average of 23 touchdowns and 11 interceptions per season and 7.3 Y/A, right? That’s three seasons; it’s a much larger sample size than one season. That’s who he is. That’s your basic Matthew Stafford.
Then last season the Rams acquired Davante Adams, and he threw 46 touchdowns. Stafford’s TD rate went up to 7.7% and his Y/A went up to 8.8. He had a top-3 WR in Nacua helping him take chunks out of the field on the drive, and then at the goal line Sean McVay would call a pass for Adams. In 2025, Adams caught 11 goal-line touchdowns. McVay turned Stafford into a goal-line back, except with his arm. I say this all to say that Stafford won MVP because McVay changed the goal-line offense into one that favored passes instead of runs, which is what helped Stafford barely beat Drake Maye at the finish line.
Now we’ve seen a normal Matthew Stafford season again. I think he struggled against the 49ers in Australia in Week 1, and then against the Eagles he wasn’t that good, and the goal-line touchdowns went to Kyren Williams. Otherwise, I actually think not much has changed. He’s Stafford. He’s good. He’s not elite. You’d rather have him than most quarterbacks. Puka missed two games; now Adams is out for 6-10 weeks. I think the Rams should have — as I said before — added another receiver in the offseason. Now they’re out of money.
Q: A ruptured hamstring robbed us of the Davante Adams revenge game this weekend. So, who is expected to step up and fill the void as Los Angeles’ No. 2 pass-catcher behind Puka Nacua?
A: Nobody will step up. Konata Mumpfield might get the reps, but he’s not that good. Jordan Whittington isn’t that good. Tyler Higbee might get the second-most targets, but he’s not that good. Tutu Atwell isn’t good. I might think it’s tight end Colby Parkinson, but he’s having an awful season. The Rams screwed up; they should have used their first-round pick to acquire a receiver somehow.
Q: I’m going to cheat here and ask two defensive line questions. One, how has Aaron Donald looked since coming out of retirement? Two, besides Donald, with Myles Garrett, Kobie Turner and Poona Ford injured and out for Sunday, who is left on the Rams’ defensive line?
A: Aaron Donald hasn’t looked good. Unfortunately for the Rams, he’s still been the best defensive lineman on the roster. The only other guy who might have that distinction is Turner, and he’s on IR. Ford could only stop the run; he’s arguably the worst pass-rushing defensive tackle in the league. Braden Fiske has regressed badly since his rookie season.
Dare I say that Ashton Jeanty is going to look like a top-10 pick on Sunday? This might be the worst defensive line in football.
You’ll see guys named Tyler Davis and Ty Hamilton. That’s about all I can say about them. Larrell Murchison too.
Q: Los Angeles’ defense is interesting on paper because despite ranking third in yards allowed, the unit is 17th in points surrendered heading into Week 7. What’s led to that anomaly? If you were Klint Kubiak, how would you attack the Rams’ defense?
A: Ask yourself when the Rams’ defensive stats improved. Against Jameis Winston in Week 2 (when he replaced Jaxson Dart) and against Jalen Hurts in Week 4. And against Bo Nix. Last week it was Jacoby Brissett. Josh Allen and James Cook had no problems. Brock Purdy and Christian McCaffrey had no problems. If the team has talent at QB and RB/OL, I wouldn’t think twice about having a banner day against L.A.
Given how well Klint Kubiak seems to have done with Kirk Cousins this season (you know better than I do if that’s true), I expect an ugly day for the Rams defense. McDuffie was out last week; I’m not sure if he’ll be back this week. The Rams’ best players are McDuffie and Garrett, and both could be out. Without those two, the defense is downright bad. Attack them however you want.
I’ll be called a “hater” by Rams fans, and “not a Rams fan” because of these answers. This is merely what I’ve observed from a 2-4 season with wins over the Giants and Eagles, and just losing to the Cardinals. In the same way that the Chargers are 0-6, should we say that the Chargers “aren’t that bad” because they looked better on paper? Or should we call a spade a spade? This is a very interesting matchup with another team that badly needs to stop the bleeding. I don’t know who will win, but given how banged up L.A. is this week, it could definitely be the Raiders.