This Rams Vs Raiders matchup has the feel of a hinge point for both teams, but especially for Las Vegas. The Raiders are 3-3 and trying to snap a three-game losing streak, while the Los Angeles Rams arrive in Week 7 after back-to-back losses and a growing injury list that has changed the shape of their roster.
If the game is going to tilt toward the Raiders, it likely starts up front. That is where Maxx Crosby remains the obvious force to watch. Through the first six games, Crosby had two sacks, two tackles for loss, 24 pressures, 11 hurries and 10 quarterback hits. The sacks are not the whole story. The pressure volume is. Even when the finish has not always shown up, he has still been disrupting pockets often enough to matter every week.
The trenches could decide it
That matters because this is not a matchup that looks built for finesse. The Rams have already been hit hard by injuries, losing Davante Adams to a hamstring injury, Kobie Turner to a groin injury, Poona Ford to a ruptured triceps and Blake Grupe to a torn ACL in Week 6. Before the Week 7 game, they were also without Nate Landman because of a concussion. For a team already coming off a 37-34 overtime loss to the Buffalo Bills in Week 5 and an 18-16 loss to the Arizona Cardinals in Week 6, that is a difficult sequence to absorb.
For the Raiders, the cleanest path to a more stable performance is to make the game uncomfortable. That does not always mean a blowout or even a dominant box score. It means forcing the Rams to deal with constant stress in protection and making every drive a trench fight. Crosby, at 29 years old, 6-foot-5 and 255 pounds, still gives Las Vegas a player who can change that equation on his own.
That is why this matchup feels like a chance for the Raiders to get right. When a team is trying to break a losing streak, it helps to have one edge rusher who can tilt the field. Crosby has not produced a huge sack total yet, but his 24 pressures through six games show that the disruption is real. Against an injury-hit Rams group, that kind of persistent pressure could be enough to decide who controls the night in Las Vegas.
