The Las Vegas Raiders and Los Angeles Rams entered the 2026 NFL season with very different expectations but find themselves entering the Week 7 contest in very similar situations. To a certain degree, this feels like a swing game for both clubs as the 3-3 Raiders and 2-4 Rams are clinging to playoff hopes as we approach the halfway point of the campaign. That adds importance to the key matchups below.
Stokes vs. Nacua
Even when Davante Adams was available, the Rams’ passing offense primarily ran through Puka Nacua. Despite missing two games, Nacua leads the team in targets (52) and receptions (37) while ranking second behind Adams in yards (417) and touchdowns (one), per Pro Football Focus. Now that Adams is on injured reserve, Nacua’s workload should increase even more.
While the fourth-year pro doesn’t have blazing speed, he’s a very good route runner and one of the most efficient wideouts in the league. According to PFF, he ranks fifth at the position with 2.78 yards per route run so far this season, which would be just the third-highest YPRR he’s had during his four regular seasons. Also, that’s almost a full yard lower than Nacua’s 2025 figure (3.71).
In other words, the BYU product is a tough cover that commands attention from the opposing defense’s top cornerback. That’s where Eric Stokes steps in for Las Vegas.
After having a breakout performance last year, Stokes had a slow start this fall. He was targeted 24 times and allowed 15 receptions (62.5 completion percentage) for 209 yards and a pair of touchdowns in Weeks 1-5, per PFF, after yielding just a 56.0 completion percentage, 261 yards and one score over 16 games in 2025.
However, the six-year veteran is coming off his best outing of the current campaign, surrendering just two catches on four targets for 29 yards to post a season-high 71.3 coverage grade against the Buffalo Bills’ high-powered offense. Diving even deeper, one catch and 23 of those yards came on a screen to running back James Cook, meaning Stokes only gave up one grab and six yards to the Bills’ receivers.
So, there is a question of which version of the defense’s top corner the Raiders are going to get on Sunday. The lockdown perimeter defender from a year ago and last week, or the corner who seemed to struggle fitting into new defensive coordinator Rob Leonard’s system? Obviously, the Silver and Black hope it’s the former.
Granted, Nacua lines up all over the Rams’ offense with 109 snaps as a right outside receiver, 66 snaps on the left and 56 in the slot, per PFF, while Stokes is almost exclusively left outside corner (343 snaps out of 387 total, 88.6%).
However, given that the Raiders are currently playing musical chairs at the other cornerback spot and the Rams don’t have many other notable receivers with Adams out, it’d make sense for Leonard to tweak his approach and have his top corner shadow Sean McVay’s top receiver on Sunday.
Bowers vs. McDuffie
It’s no secret that Klint Kubiak’s offense runs through “tight end” Brock Bowers. Like Nacua, Bowers missed two games and still leads his team in targets (40), receptions (28, tied with Michael Mayer) and receiving yards (382). He’s also tied with wide receivers Tre Tucker and Cody White for the team lead in receiving touchdowns with three.
An “offensive weapon” is a more accurate description for the 2024 first-round pick since he’s only spent 15.8 percent of his pass snaps as an in-line tight end this season, according to PFF. As a result, opponents typically treat him like a ‘WR1’ by putting their top coverage defender on him. The Denver Broncos figured that out a few years ago with cornerback Patrick Surtain II, and several teams have followed suit, including the Bills last week.
Buffalo did a decent job of keeping Bowers bottled up by matching him up against cornerback Christian Benford, resulting in just two catches for 23 yards on five targets. But when other defenders were covering Kubiak’s “football robot from heaven” a week ago, he hauled in two of three targets for 47 yards. So, expect the Rams to follow suit and go with a best-on-best matchup in the secondary.
While the “Super Team” Los Angeles assembled this offseason hasn’t panned out so far, cornerback Trent McDuffie — who was acquired via a trade with the Kansas City Chiefs — isn’t part of the problem.
The two-time All-Pro has been targeted 18 times but has yielded just five completions for a 27.8 completion percentage that ranks first among corners with at least 52 coverage snaps, according to PFF. That’s due in part to recording five forced incompletions at the third-highest rate (28 percent) for the position, resulting in the second-best coverage snaps per reception allowed (31.8) and second-highest coverage grade (88.7).
Despite being division foes in 2024 and 2025, these two have only faced each other twice, with both matchups coming in Bowers’ rookie season since he was injured for both bouts against the Chiefs last year. The good news for the Raiders is that he had two catches for 48 yards on two targets against McDuffie that year, per PFF. So, the defensive back has been waiting about two years to get some payback.
That being said, McDuffie missed last week’s game with a groin injury and sat out of Wednesday’s practice. So, there’s a chance McDuffie doesn’t play on Sunday.
Dean vs. Rams’ RBs
Circling back to Los Angeles’ offense, McVay will likely lean more heavily on the rushing attack without Adams, especially since he has a strong running back duo.
Kyren Williams is still the Rams’ lead back with 80 carries for 393 yards and four touchdowns on the season. Additionally, he’s been one of the most efficient backs in the league, ranking tied for eighth (minimum 27 carries) with 4.9 ypc and 10th in EPA per rush (0.03), according to Sumer Sports. Meanwhile, Blake Corum has about half as many rushes (47) but has been just as efficient with 223 yards, 4.7 ypc (tied for 12th) and 0.07 EPA per attempt (fourth).
In other words, L.A. has a potent rushing attack no matter who is in the backfield. That raises the importance of Nakobe Dean’s role on Las Vegas’ defense this week. Among linebackers with at least 44 snaps against the run, Dean ranks 23rd with a 70.3 PFF run defense grade this season. That’s due in part to ranking tied for 14th with 12 ‘defensive stops’ in that phase of the game.
Additionally, the free agent addition is tied for the league lead in forced fumbles with three through six weeks. Corum hasn’t had much of a fumbling issue in the NFL, with just one (Week 2 of 2026) in his three-year career. However, Williams has coughed up the rock 11 times during the regular season in his five-year career, and had another fumble in the postseason a couple of years ago. To the latter’s credit, he’s only had one this fall (also in Week 2), but Dean will certainly be looking to test Williams’ ball security.
In the passing game, Corum has never been much of a threat in the past. But he does have nine catches for 91 yards in 2026, and both of those figures are already career highs. That being said, Williams is still the bigger threat out of the backfield. He’s logged 141 career catches for 962 yards and nine receiving touchdowns, and ranks first (30), fourth (217) and tied for seventh (one) for those metrics among running backs this season.
That’s where the Rams could have an advantage since Dean has had trouble covering running backs, drawing seven targets and allowing seven catches for 67 yards to the position this year, per PFF. That being said, he is an effective blitzer with six pressures on 19 pass rushes in 2026. Meanwhile, Williams has yielded five pressures on 54 opportunities — something Leonard might game plan for — but Corum has yielded just one on 21 opportunities.
Long story short, we’re in for a good running back(s) versus linebacker matchup on Sunday in several phases of the game.