LA Rams at Oakland Raiders: Win-loss predictions for Week 1

It’s the moooost wonderfuuuul tiiiiiiime of the yeeeeaaaaaaar! Football is back Youth Cooper Kupp Jersey , Los Angeles Rams’ fans! And they’ll take on their Week 1 opponent - the Oakland Raiders - in the late game on Monday Night Football. Head coach Sean McVay opted to sit his starting offense for the entirety of the preseason, and the starting defense, prior to signing Aaron Donald, saw very minimal time. Could a well-rested Rams’ team blow the Raiders out of the water on Monday night? Or will the team show signs of rust in their season opener, making this one a battle to the very end? The Turf Show Times’ staff make their predictions: go rams (@AndrewKulick) Too much talent on Rams to lose and must meet expectations.Prediction: Rams win, 73-3RamBuck (@lannyosu)Monday Night Football. A team wondering wtf their head coach is doing vs. a team with a man with a plan. Aaron Donald is back. Brandin Cooks is ready to show why he belongs in the top tier of WR’s. A secondary ready to roll. I expect fireworks and a resounding win.Prediction: Rams win, 35-14Eddie Perez (@iAmEddieP_)The Oaktown Raiders just traded away arguably one of today’s top three defensive players — not a good way to begin, especially when going up against HC Sean McVay & his electric offense.There will be rust since the majority of the starters (with a few exceptions) didn’t log in any live exhibition snaps. I just don’t see old ass Jon Gruden winning, especially since our boy Jared Cook confirmed he made ‘em study McVay’s grandfather’s teams’ films.Prediction: Rams win, 27-10Michael Frank (@turfshowtimesmike)Welp. Rams coming off being number 1 overall on offense. Signing top flight Free agents, trading for top flight players to boost the Defense. Raiders? Eh, not so much. Mack? Gone. This does not look well for the Raiders. Rams will make a statement early on offense. So, Ram fantasy owners, stand ready. Raiders will have to have a genius game plan to overcome the talent difference between them and the LAR. All the Rams must do is not to trip over their own shoe. Rams’ offense should dominate. Rams defense should dominate. The only factor, who starts out the game less rusty. Prediction: Rams win, 35-13Charlie Hiller (@charliehiller)I could have seen this maybe going the other way about a week ago. But the trade of Khalil Mack, the release of Martavis Bryant, and the questionable trade for AJ McCarron seems to be ushering in a new dark ages for the Las Vegas Raiders of Oakland. Welcome to the Jon Gruden Era 2: Electric BoogalooPrediction: Rams win, 32-13Tevin Broner (@T_Bron)I don’t think think that the Raiders are a good team. It is a squad devoid of talent. What will help them is the fact that McVay learned from the Grudens and that the Rams offense has not played a snap in the preseason.Prediction: Rams win, 21-10 Eric Nagel (@Eric_nagel)Somewhere in the wilderness Jeff Fisher still takes credit for this team.Prediction: Rams win, 27-10Skye Sverdlin (@skyeattolah)Any anxiety about the Rams being rusty goes out the window when the Rams start out strong, silencing the Black Hole with 17-0 first quarter advantage. The Raiders scrape back and trail only 17-13 early in the third when a Marcus Peters interception sets up an easy score for the Rams, which is followed by another scoring drive that culminates in a Todd Gurley touchdown. The Rams starters get to sit for the last eight minutes of play, while Legatron taps another couple nails into the coffin. Much of the fourth quarter television coverage is a montage of Rams players joking on the sideline and glum face painters who decided to stick around to watch their team get hammered.Goff ends up going 19-25, for 246 yards and 2 TDs.Prediction: Rams win, 37-13Elijah Kim (@Big_EZK)With all the dust settling from the top defenders of the free agency class finally inking monster level deals, Aaron Donald remains a Ram while Khalil Mack has been shipped out of Oakland to be a member of da Bears. In Jon Gruden’s return, the prot茅g茅 takes on his master. This time, the young McBae will win, showing that the Rams will still be the team to beat in California. Look for Gurley, Goff, and the receiving corp to attack the soft Oakland Raiders defense.Prediction: Rams win, 31-21kristianramirez (@kristianramirez)The Raiders gave up Khalil Mack. The Rams have Donald, Suh, Brockers, Talib, Peters, NRC, Johnson III, and Joyner. The Raiders do have some Possible offensive weapons in Cooper, Lynch, and Nelson, but I think they’ll mostly be held in check by the defense. Meanwhile the combo of JTG, Cooks, Kupp, and Woods is going to make life really difficult for the Raiders.Prediction: Rams Win http://www.ramsauthorizedshops.com/authentic-john-johnson-jersey , 28-10Hotdaddywags (@hotdaddywags)Could two teams be more diametrically opposed heading into Week 1? After a massive offseason haul that saw the Rams land Suh, Peters, Talib and Cooks, the Rams organization finally pulled up their collective britches and paid the man. Oakland? They paid an overrated coach, wasted a third-rounder on a headcase, brought in a one-legged Jordy Nelson and let their best player walk for lottery tickets. Rams might be rusty out of the gate, but it won’t matter, as the Raiders are simply outclassed on both sides of the ball.Prediction: Rams Win, 31-10 TG25 (@MrTimGodfrey)Jon Gruden is going to trade Derek Carr as soon as another team offers him a ham sandwich this year, and two ham sandwiches next year. The Raiders gave away their best player and gave team control to a guy who won a Super Bowl with someone else’s team.Donald and Suh are going to wreck everyone. There’s no need for an analysis here. Carr is going to be ripped in half like the guy in Jurassic Park 2 (the worst Jurassic Park).Prediction: Rams win, 42-10Sosa Kremenjas (@QBsMVP)The Raiders are simply less talented than the Rams. Maybe the Rams wont start out firing right away, but I believe as they have a series or two to settle into the game and get their feet under them, their dominance will start to show. Expect the offense to have an absolute field day against the weak Raiders defense. I’d also expect lots of pressure defensively, and a flurry of turnovers.Prediction: Rams win, 34-14seattlerams (@seattlerams_nfl)Talk all you want about Gruden vs McVay, this game will come down to pure talent, and the Rams simply have more of it. Now, I also expect the Rams offense to be a bit rusty, and as good as they were last year, they often bogged down and settled for field goals more often than not (A big part of why GZ led the league in scoring.) Let’s call it 23-17. Rams and be happy starting the season 1-0.Prediction: Rams win, 23-17joeyaucoin (@LARamsRamsRams)Raiders are trash, but Rams will be rusty. Prediction: Rams win, 38-0Sean Wilkinson (@Papa_Lurch)The Rams extended the best defender in football. The Raiders traded a damn good one instead. That tells you all you need to know about the direction of these two franchises.Without Khalil Mack the Raiders won’t be able to muster much pressure against Jared Goff. Meanwhile, Derek Carr is going to be running for his life.This is gonna be fun to watch.Prediction: Rams win, 37-133k (@3k_)No nduja? Just add an extra glug of olive oil along with some red pepper flakes.Prediction: Rams win, 26-10Brandon Bate (@NoPlanB_)Part of me expects to see the Rams take the field and win pretty handily, but show clear signs of rust — and not necessarily because McVay sat his starters for most (and all, in some cases) of the preseason. The other part can’t get beyond the Rams being the far superior team, and how this thing could get out of hand relatively early in the game. I’ll take what I think is a conservative score for Week 1, but if the Rams shook off that rust during practice this offseason, then 30 points could be far too low a prognostication. Prediction: Rams win, 30-13And there you have it. 18 out of 18 TST staffers are picking the Rams to win. Add up the scores, carry the two, divide by pi, and boom(!) average score is Rams - 34, Raiders - 11.Should the LA Rams trade Jared Goff before giving him a massive deal? An interesting topic came up on twitter today, when ESPN’s Bill Barnwell suggested that a team would potentially try to - and the Rams might be interested in listening to - trade offers for Los Angeles Rams’ quarterback Jared Goff a year or two down the road.Now this is obviously not a rumor or speculation, but more so a look at how the Rams could continue to keep star talent all over their roster by not having to potentially pay Goff $100M(+) when the time comes due. It’s certainly a very risky proposition, as there are no guarantees the Rams don’t completely fall apart without a strong QB. There are a few things to consider here. First of all, you’d have to come to grips with trading away the No. 1 overall pick without any guarantees of acquiring an even half decent starter. Sean Mannion certainly wouldn’t be able to carry the team to the postseason. And then you’d have to consider whether or not Sean McVay would be the QB whisperer to another young QB and provide the same type of results we saw from Goff in 2017. But if you can wrap your brain around the idea, the next question is what the compensation would look like.If the Rams were to be offered a 1st round pick, the answer is definitely no. But if a team, let’s say a not very good team with a huge need for a QB, was to offer you TWO first round picks, then maybe it’s something to consider. Maybe not. But at some point in time the potential trade compensation has to get you thinking. At any rate, the TST staff were having some fun with the idea...well Samson Ebukam Jersey , we were mostly bickering, but I felt it might be something the TST fans - who are smarter than us - might enjoy. Here are a few of our thoughts. We hope you’ll share yours in the comments below: Sosa KremenjasYeah, I’d be open to it. I think it could be a stroke of brilliance if performed properly, though the NFL is a very old-school type of league so let me preface this by saying I don’t think it’ll ever happen. But back to the pros/cons. This offense has far more to do with Sean McVay than it does with Jared Goff. He simplifies the game for the QB. His route combinations and plans of attack are downright brilliant. You have arguably the best RB in the league. The offensive line is strong. The trio of weapons are among the best in the league. If you can find another QB who can offer you 5 years of controlled costs (as well as potentially multiple draft picks) to improve the team elsewhere, you’re a Superbowl contender. It also helps to do it in a year where there’s a strong draft, particularly at QB, such as the past two drafts. Lastly, how many QB’s could start for Sean McVay right now and give you what Jared Goff gives you? 10? 15? Maaaybe 20?Again, I don’t think it will happen, but it would absolutely be something I’d be open to.Tevin BronerI can’t see the Rams trading Goff. Teams are scared to trade or get rid of QBs like Blake Bortles or Andy Dalton. Hell, I was surprised when the Rams got rid of Sam Bradford.With that being said, I could imagine a scenario with the Rams finding a QB in the draft and maybe Goff gets injured. But it just seems far-fetched, even if I think that he’s a system QB.Charlie HillerI’ve wondered about the idea of flipping Goff for a rookie/FA when the time comes but it’s incredibly risky. If you think that McVay truly is a QB whisperer who can turn an average-to-replacement-level guy into a serviceable starter, then pull the trigger. But if Goff had any bit to do with last season’s success, I think you have to keep him and build around him. Who knows, maybe he’s one of those “team friendly” guys when it comes to be contract time. That being said, if there’s a QB projecting to be a late 1st or 2nd rounder and McVay wants him...I think he’s earned the benefit of the doubt. Even at the risk of plunging the team right back into quarterback hell.Eric NagelNo, trading Goff is a silly idea. Quarterback is easily the most in demand position in football, and getting rid of someone, who admittedly the jury is still out on (but put up nearly 4000 yards and 30TDs last year) is quite frankly stupid.Teams would kill for that level of production, and there is no guarantee a rookie would be able to replicate that.Put it this way - you don’t trade him, and you’ll probably get similar stats. Trade him and it doesn’t work out? Somebody is getting fired. If that’s your level of risk, cool. But it isn’t mine.HotdaddywagsShort answer: no. No, you don’t deal a promising QB prospect at or near the end of his rookie deal. We’ve played hell trying to find a capable signal caller for a decade, and we’ve got a kid who has a high ceiling and is a good fit for our offense. Still, it’s an intriguing notion – if Goff is average in 2018 and the Rams fall short of expectations based on his play, you have to wonder how that impacts his sticker price. And if that price is too high, and you’ve established a strong trade market, identified a veteran stopgap solution and a draft target, you definitely consider it. But until we have more information, I’m in the “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it,” camp and am hopeful Goff silences his critics and becomes a guy worthy of the big bucks.Joey AucoinI would hope that if Goff isn’t a top 5-10 QB, his agents won’t ask for the farm. Like, if it’s clear that he’s Andy Dalton or Blake Bortles (which is not the case yet), he shouldn’t get Derek Carr money. I want Goff to succeed and still feel like he’s getting better. I want this season to be proof that all of the “Goff sucks” jerks have been jumping the gun.seattleramsRight now I’m a big no. The Rams spent 8 years looking for someone to fill the position after Marc Bulger left. Goff might not be Drew Bree’s, but it’s working, so leave things as they are.However, with that said... I am on board with allowing Sean McVay to do anything he wishes with this team. If he wants to move Jared Goff along for a used pizza box, I am going to trust his beautiful ass to make it work.Brandon BateI’d definitely listen to offers. I realize it’s a huge risk trading away your quarterback. I also think Sean McVay has the potential to turn an average QB into a very good one — especially if he’s able to maintain the talent level around him. The setup the Rams have now, with Goff on his rookie contract, is ideal. It’s a large part of what’s allowed them to build the roster as you see it today. Again, it’s risky, but I would put my trust in McVay to get a signal caller - whether it be a free agent or a rookie - ready and make the Rams a consistently solid team.