2014: Week 13
Oakland Raiders @ St. Louis Rams
Resurgent Rams Go Two Straight
The NFL-worst Rams now have a two-game win streak after besting San Diego and Oakland.
The St. Louis Rams are, by stats and standings, the NFL's worst team. The Rams opened the season with 10 straight losses, making a nearly invincible case for next year's top draft pick as the team struggled to find results against anyone. Finally, in week 11, they managed to pull out a win against the self-destructing San Diego Chargers, and they struck gold twice in a row by beating an equally faltering Oakland squad on Sunday.
The game looked like a battle between bottom-dwelling NFL teams should. There were plenty of missed opportunities, both offenses failed to muster any noteworthy drives, and it was only the late-game collapse of the Raider defense that allowed Sam Bradford to secure the win after he returned from an injury that kept him out for the middle quarters of the game.
Denarius Moore provided one of the only bright spots for Oakland in the first half, taking a jet sweep handoff near the goal line to score a rushing touchdown -- a strategy the Raiders have been using with increasing frequency (and success) in the red zone.
Denarius Moore scored the Raiders' only touchdown in a difficult loss Sunday.
But from that point on, the offense had almost no traction against the Rams. The St. Louis defense shut down Maurice Jones-Drew so thoroughly that Dennis Allen benched MJD and leaned on Darren McFadden, whose better performance wasn't enough to jump-start the offensive attack. Derek Carr was reliable enough in the short passing game and took a few runs downfield, but when it came time to take the leash off and make big plays, the young QB couldn't get the ball deep downfield for put much-needed points on the board.
The Rams, for their part, were forced to play most of the game relying on back up QB Shaun Hill while Bradford sat out the second and third quarers with a minor injury, and the Raiders did a good job of keeping Hill off balance for most of the game.
Safety Charles Woodson intercepts Shaun Hill in the third quarter.
Hill only had one big drive, but it was all that mattered. His touchdown pass into the corner of the endzone to Tavon Austin gave the Rams the jolt they needed, and kept them in contention until Zac Stacy scored the winning touchdown in the fourth quarter, with Oakland failing to answer and going three-and-out in their attempt a two-minute offense.
| Oakland Raiders at St. Louis Rams |
| | 1ST | 2ND | 3RD | 4TH | SCORE |
| Oakland Raiders (5-6-0) | 0 | 10 | 0 | 3 | 13 |
| St. Louis Rams (1-10-0) | 3 | 0 | 3 | 14 | 20 |
| Team Stats Comparison |
| OAK | STL |
| Total Offense | 257 | 305 |
| Rushing Yards | 122 | 76 |
| Passing Yards | 135 | 229 |
| First Downs | 14 | 18 |
| Punt Return Yards | 36 | 15 |
| Kick Return Yards | 107 | 48 |
| Total Yards | 400 | 368 |
| Turnovers | 0 | 1 |
| 3rd Down Converstion | 5-16 | 9-16 |
| 4th Down Conversion | 1-3 | 0-0 |
| 2-Point Conversion | 0-0 | 0-0 |
| Red Zone Touchdowns/Field Goals | 100% | 66% |
| Penalties | 0-0 | 0-0 |
| Posession Time | 30:25 | 29;34 |
| Scoring Summary |
| FIRST QUARTER SCORING | OAK | STL |
| 8:43 | (STL) Greg Zuerlein 47yd FG | 3 | 0 |
| SECOND QUARTER SCORING | OAK | STL |
| 4:39 | (OAK) Sebastian Janikowski 46yd FG | 3 | 3 |
| 1:03 | (OAK) Denarius Moore 9yd run | 10 | 3 |
| THIRD QUARTER SCORING | OAK | STL |
| 4:46 | (STL) Greg Zuerlein 45yd FG | 10 | 6 |
| FOURTH QUARTER SCORING | OAK | STL |
| 14:11 | (STL) Shaun Hill 17yd pass to Tavon Austin | 10 | 13 |
| 6:15 | (OAK) Sebastian Janikowski 38yd FG | 13 | 13 |
| 2:22 | (STL) Zac Stacy 5yd run | 13 | 20 |
| Oakland Raiders | | PASSING | C/A | YDS | TD | INT | | Derek Carr | 19-29 | 147 | 0 | 0 | | RUSHING | ATT | YDS | AVG | TD | | Maurice Jones-Drew | 17 | 43 | 2.5 | 0 | | Darren McFadden | 11 | 45 | 4.0 | 0 | | Denarius Moore | 3 | 15 | 5.6 | 1 | | Derek Carr | 3 | 15 | 5.0 | 0 | | RECEIVING | REC | YDS | AVG | TD | | Greg Little | 6 | 67 | 11.1 | 0 | | James Jones | 5 | 17 | 3.4 | 0 | | DAusberry | 3 | 33 | 11.0 | 0 | | DEFENSE | TACK | SACK | INT | TD | | Charles Woodson | 6 | 0 | 1 | 0 | | Lamarr Woodley | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | | KICKING | FG | XP | PTS | LONG | | Sebastian Janikowski | 2-2 | 1-1 | 7 | 46 | | PUNTING | NO | YDS | AVG | IN20 | | Marquette King | 5 | 220 | 44.0 | 2 |
| | St. Louis Rams | | PASSING | C/A | YDS | TD | INT | | Sam Bradford | 14-19 | 134 | 0 | 0 | | Shaun hill | 12-20 | 129 | 1 | 1 | | RUSHING | ATT | YDS | AVG | TD | | Zac Stacy | 20 | 76 | 3.8 | 1 | | RECEIVING | REC | YDS | AVG | TD | | Chris Givens | 8 | 100 | 12.5 | 0 | | Kenny Britt | 6 | 49 | 8.1 | 0 | | Tavon Austin | 2 | 34 | 17.0 | 1 | | DEFENSE | TACK | SACK | INT | TD | | James Laurinaitis | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | | KICKING | FG | XP | PTS | LONG | | Greg Zuerlein | 2-2 | 2-2 | 8 | 47 | | PUNTING | NO | YDS | AVG | IN20 | | Johnny Hekker | 5 | 256 | 51.2 | 1 |
|
A loss like this will make a lot of people in Oakland nervous -- especially Head Coach Dennis Allen, whose job security is uncertain as the Raiders fall lower and lower in the NFL rankings.
All NFL Scores
| Week 13 2014: All NFL Scores |
| Thursday's Games |
| Bears (16) @ Lions (21) |
| Sunday's Games |
| Eagles (45) @ Cowboys (38) |
| Seahawks (33) @ 49ers (27) |
| Redskins (31) @ Colts (28) |
| Titans (16) @ Texans (26) |
| Browns (13) @ Bills (19) |
| Chargers (18) @ Ravens (23) |
| Giants (9) @ Jaguars (13) |
| Bengals (17) @ Buccaneers (6) |
| Raiders (13) @ Rams (20) |
| Saints (27) @ Steelers (13) |
| Panthers (34) @ Vikings (6) |
| Cardinals (14) @ Falcons (6) |
| Patriots (23) @ Packers (20) |
| Broncos (24) @ Chiefs (21) |
| Monday's Games |
| Dolphins (27) @ Jets (21) |