Alright welcome in to the full recap of the Raiders' matchup with the St. Louis Rams where it wasn't even close as the Rams put on a complete smackdown in St. Louis, routing the Raiders 0-52.
I'm still chuckling at that Matt Schaub pick 6 to add a little more icing on the cake to sum how this game went down. There is not much to talk about here. The Rams just decimated the Raiders this game from start to finish. If they at least tried more on offense in the 2nd half, this game would've been 0-100 or something like that if they at least tried, but their offense at least showed mercy after dropping 21 early on in the first and 17 in the second. The defense for the Rams still continued to play though and they generated a lot of turnovers in the 2nd half to make the margin much bigger than expected. But the Raiders, I don't know if there's a more derogatory word to describe this game other than "embarrassing."
The Positives
No positives. There were no positives once the first half was over and there are no positives now that the game is over. Game was pretty much out of reach when the Rams jumped to a 0-38 lead. Even if the Raiders were to put up garbage time like they usually would because Greg Olson is a moron not opening up the playbook early on, there would still be no positives to take away from this game. I don't if Latavius Murray playing would've made a difference because the Rams defense is just stout.
The Negatives
Everything. Everyone, everywhere, and everything was pretty much the negatives all game long for the Raiders. I'm just going to completely reiterate what I said in the halftime post. The defense couldn't stop anyone, the receivers couldn't get separation or catch a cold, the running game was completely ineffective, even if Murray was in, like I said, it wouldn't matter. Carr had a bad game, but we gotta live with him making those rookie mistakes since he's learning on the job. 1 pick, Vincent Brown ran the wrong rout, another pick was all Carr's mistake; he should've taken a sack and avoid the Rams more momentum with that INT. What's even worse is that the Rams were just calling screen plays, bubble screens and it burned the defense big time. How you go from shutting down the Chiefs screen game with Jamaal Charles on Thursday Night to not containing the Rams' screen game is beyond me.
Conclusion
This game was truly demoralizing after getting that emotional first win over the Chiefs last week, but then again, it shows the lack of talent we have on both sides of the ball. Even with all the free agent signings of proven veterans, there's a lot of regression of talent on the team. Well, next week should be fun though, despite the Raiders laying an egg here. It's the Battle of the Bay when the Raiders face off against the 49ers at O.Co. I was supposed to go to that game, maybe provide a special video of my reactions after every quarter, but they sold out real fast and it's a bummer because I would've attended my 2nd Raider game (my first one was the game against the Chicago Bears back in the 2011 season). Anyway, I'll see you guys for that game, but before that, I'll make a short announcement regarding a special Smack Talk post two days before the game with a guy who I frequently collaborate with on his blog. I'm sure you guys know who he is considering I've plugged our collaborations on this blog as well even though it's unrelated to what I cover. Other than that, I'll see you guys later.
