Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

Live blog: Raiders stop late 2-point conversion attempt, beat Rams

Raiders beat Rams

Associated Press

Las Vegas Raiders wide receiver Marcell Ateman (88) celebrates his touchdown catch with quarterback Derek Carr, right, next to tight end Matt Bushman (84) during the second half of a preseason NFL football game against the Los Angeles Rams on Saturday, Aug. 21, 2021, in Inglewood, Calif.

Updated Saturday, Aug. 21, 2021 | 10:34 p.m.

Nathan Peterman threw a 29-yard touchdown pass to Marcell Ateman in the fourth quarter and the Las Vegas Raiders held on to defeat the Los Angeles Rams 17-16 on Saturday night.

Bryce Perkins threw a 2-yard touchdown to Jacob Harris with 15 seconds remaining, but his pass intended for Harris on the 2-point conversion that could have won the game was incomplete.

Peterman was 16 of 24 for 172 yards with two interceptions and added 36 yards rushing. He took advantage of a busted coverage to find Ateman all alone on a double move with 6:58 remaining to engineer his second straight preseason win.

Perkins was 26 of 39 for 208 yards, two touchdowns and one interception as he played the whole game for the Rams, but their standout player was linebacker Chris Garrett after he dominated the second quarter.

—Associated Press

6:58 fourth quarter: Raiders 17, Rams 10

Third-string quarterback Nathan Peterman is doing his best to help the Raiders avoid overtime tonight, as he just orchestrated a six-play, 67-yard touchdown drive to put Las Vegas ahead, 17-10, with less than seven minutes remaining.

The first big play of the drive came off script, as Peterman scrambled and flipped a short pass to running back Trey Ragas for 23 yards. Two plays later, Peterman dropped back and lofted a deep pass to tight end Marcell Ateman for a 29-yard touchdown.

Peterman is now 16-of-24 on the night for 172 yards, with one touchdown and two interceptions.

Raiders, Rams tied in fourth quarter

2:34 third quarter: Rams 10, Raiders 10

This game is all tied up after Daniel Carlson banged in a 29-yard field goal late in the third quarter to knot the score at 10-10.

Of course, the score is secondary in the preseason, to the point where the NFL no longer requires teams to play an overtime period if the game is tied at the end of the fourth quarter, so the Raiders' 60.8 percent win probability doesn't mean much. The most important thing for Las Vegas will be escaping the final 15 minutes without suffering any more injuries after linebackers Javin White and Malcolm Koonce both went down in the third quarter.

Rookie cornerback Nate Hobbs continues to make his case for a starting job. The fifth-round draft pick had excellent coverage on a deep ball midway through the third quarter, leaping and coming down with and interception 49 yards downfield. Hobbs has the interception, a pass breakup and a tackle for loss tonight.

Javin White leaves game with injury

13:39 third quarter: Rams 10, Raiders 7

Javin White went down 90 seconds into the second half with an apparent knee injury and had to be helped off the field. After being examined in the medical tent on the sideline, White was then carted to the locker room.

The second-year linebacker appeared to be emotional as he exited, which is probably not a good sign.

White had emerged as one of the best stories of the offseason, as the former UNLV star seemed to be carving out a significant role as a coverage linebacker. He broke up two passes in the first half against the Rams.

Jon Gruden may have an update on White's status after the game, but it certainly doesn't look good right now.

Sloppy second quarter for Raiders' second stringers

Halftime: Rams 10, Raiders 7

The second quarter was a sloppy one for the Raiders.

Second-string offensive lineman Patrick Omameh is having a rough night. On the Raiders' first drive of the second quarter he was pushed back into the pocket, allowing his man to get his hands up and deflect Nathan Peterman's pass. The tipped ball floated into the air and was intercepted, setting up a game-tying touchdown for Los Angeles.

On Las Vegas's ensuing possession, Omameh was beaten off the snap by Chris Garrett on 3rd-and-long; Garrett sacked Peterman and forced a fumble, which the Raiders were fortunate to recover. After the punt, the Rams were able to take advantage of a short field to kick a go-ahead field goal.

Javin White made another terrific play late in the half, shadowing receiver Jeremiah Haydel 30 yards downfield to break up a deep bomb. It was White's second pass breakup of the game, but unfortunately he was victimized just a few plays later (maybe) on the touchdown pass to Rams tight end Kendall Blanton.

White was in a zone on the play and appeared to let Blanton run past him to an open spot in the back of the end zone, where Los Angeles quarterback Bryce Perkins found him uncovered for the score. It's impossible to know exactly what defense the Raiders had called on the play and whose responsibility it was to run with Blanton, but if it was White, that kind of miscue will stick with the coaches when they review the game tape.

We've yet to see any quarterback but Nathan Peterman this preseason. He played the entire way last week, and though backup Marcus Mariota is healthy today, it's been Peterson under center for every snap so far. After looking more than competent last week, Peterson has completed 9-of-14 passes for 70 yards against the Rams, with no touchdowns and the one interception.

Raiders up 7-0 on Rams

End first quarter: Raiders 7, Rams 0

Only one presumptive Week 1 starter is actually playing tonight for Las Vegas, and he's doing quite well, thank you.

Rookie right tackle Alex Leatherwood recorded two pancake blocks on the goal line on the Raiders second drive, paving the way for running back Trey Ragas to score on a 4th-and-goal from the 1 to put Las Vegas up, 7-0.

Leatherwood played only the first quarter last week, and considering he's the only starter out there, his night could be over.

On defense, second-year linebacker Javin White is popping again. He was stellar in coverage last week, and he's already flashed again against the Rams. He split out and blanketed Los Angeles wide receiver J.J. Koski on a slant over the middle, cutting in front of the route and breaking up the pass. White probably should have secured an interception on the play, as he got both hands on the ball, but it was impressive enough to see him run stride-for-stride with a wideout and make the play.

Carr out, Peterman starting for Raiders

As expected, Derek Carr is not playing tonight. That means the entirety of the reps will be handled by the only other two quarterbacks on the roster, Marcus Mariota and Nathan Peterman.

Peterman went the distance last week against Seattle, as Carr sat out and Mariota missed the game due to injury, and he's starting again tonight. So Gruden is going to have a ton of preseason film on his No. 3 QB.

Gruden no doubt wants to get Mariota, the presumptive No. 2 quarterback, some live work before the season starts, so it would make sense to give him a significant amount of snaps tonight. We'll see how it plays out on the field.

Raiders ready for preseason game No. 2 at Rams

Will we see any of the Raiders’ stars tonight when they take on the Los Angeles Rams in the second preseason game for both teams?

Some position groups have made their way onto the field at SoFi Stadium for pregame warmups, including quarterback Derek Carr, who is throwing to the receivers. It is unlikely Carr will play in the game, however, so this is probably the only action he’ll see tonight.

Carr will probably be joined on the sideline by most of the team’s veteran starters, just like last week’s preseason opener. Given that the Raiders just went through two days of intense joint practices with the Rams, tonight’s game is more about tying a bow on the end of the week as opposed to getting live game reps for established players.

The guys who do suit up tonight have an opportunity to make their case for a roster spot, or for the depth players who are comfortably projected to make the 53-man roster, more playing time.

From a defensive standpoint, rookie cornerback Nate Hobbs has turned heads in training camp so far, and second-round rookie Trevon Moehrig appears close to locking down the starting free safety job. Second-year linebacker Javin White is battling for a roster spot and looking to build off an impressive performance in the first preseason game against Seattle.

Offensively, it will be interesting to see if second-year receivers Henry Ruggs and Bryan Edwards see any reps tonight. Neither played in the first preseason game, but you wouldn’t think either player is established enough to skip the preseason entirely (they combined for 37 catches all of last year).

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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