Staying undefeated so far this pre-season, quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo and the Silver and Black defense led the Raiders vs Rams Week 2 matchup to a 34-17 victory. Controlling the entire game, the defense only gave up 224 total yards of offense to the Rams.
Jimmy G completed all four of his passes to start the game, leading the team to a touchdown drive in favor of a Brandon Bolden 7-yard rushing touchdown. Kicker Daniel Carlson finished the first half with two field goals and two extra points, one of which came after Bolden’s score and another following Raiders safety Isiah Pola-Mao’s 50-yard pick six to regain the lead before halftime.
On the Rams end, kicker Tanner Brown put three on the scoreboard in the second quarter and linebacker Jake Hummel picked off Raiders quarterback Brian Hoyer on a 21-yard touchdown. Hoyer finished the game with 12 completions off of 22 passes along with 144 passing yards.
Raiders vs Rams Week 2 | 2023 Pre-Season Highlights
The Raiders third-string QB Aidan O’Connell was able to gain a solid amount of quality reps during the second half. Throwing 11-18 for 163 passing yards, O’Connell found the endzone twice. His first touchdown went to receiver Cam Sims for a 12-yarder to bring the score to 27-10. O’Connell’s second tuddy was sent to receiver Kristian Wilkerson for a short 2-yard pass, extending the lead to 34-17 following a rushing touchdown from Rams RB Stetson Bennett.
With their second win this pre-season, the Raiders played a well rounded game on both ends. Jimmy G was able to brush some of the dust off, as he hasn’t played since December 4, 2021.
“Felt good just to knock some of the rust off, get in the game flow with some of the guys,” said Garoppolo said after the Raiders vs Rams Week 2 win. “It’s the little things that we’re trying to work on, and I thought the guys played well tonight. I wanted to play, so I’m glad Josh let the starters get out there and get a couple of reps in. Guys were operating at a fast pace, which is important in this offense.”
“You always go through that conversation in your head every year,” Coach Josh McDaniels added. “We just felt like with the number of new faces, the number of guys that were basically going to play their first regular season game together, that we’d like to go ahead and get that feeling you have in your stomach on a normal game day in the regular season.”
The Las Vegas Raiders will travel to AT&T Stadium on Saturday, August 26 for a Week 3 matchup against the Dallas Cowboys.
Raiders vs Rams Week 2 Pre-Season – Summary