The Rams hit the road in Week 7, heading to Las Vegas for a Sunday afternoon matchup against the Raiders. Kickoff from Allegiant Stadium in Las Vegas is scheduled for 1:25 p.m. PT on FOX.
Ahead of the contest, here are 3 Keys to Winning for the Rams, presented by The Law Offices of Jacob Emrani (CallJacob.com).
1) Establishing the run game to find more balance on offense
During his MVP season last year, quarterback Matthew Stafford didn't have a single game with more than 50 pass attempts in the regular season. In 2026, just six games into the year, Stafford already has three games of more than 50 pass attempts. Also, running back Kyren Williams hasn't had a game with more than 16 rush attempts after having five such games last year. Head coach Sean McVay said he's often going to ride with the hot hand in terms of the running game, but running back Blake Corum also hasn't gotten as many carries this season (8.5 carries per game last year to 7.8 this year).
Although some of that was a result of the circumstances due to needing two-minute drives at the end of each of those three games, it still highlights the imbalance the Rams offense has so far this season. The Raiders — boasting the 28th-best run defense in the NFL by allowing 134.3 yards per game on the ground — present an opportunity for the Rams offense to establish the run game early and get into a rhythm in the first half instead of needing to rely on a fourth-quarter drive and a pass-heavy offense to potentially win the game.
2) Eliminate Brock Bowers as a target
After missing the first two weeks of the season with a knee injury, tight end Brock Bowers returned as his game-changing self in the last four weeks. He's had 70-or-more receiving yards in each of the last four games, including a touchdown in three of the four games and two of those games with over 100 yards. The Raiders are on a three-game skid, but in their most recent win against Saints in Week 3, Bowers had 10 receptions for 116 yards and a touchdown.
The Rams have done well when it comes to minimizing the impact of opposing star tight ends this season. George Kittle had a season-low 12 receiving yards for the 49ers in Week 1, Isaiah Likely had just 33 receiving yards for the Giants in Week 2, the Bills' tight ends had a combined 13-total receiving yards in Week 5 and Trey McBride had below his season average 60.2 receiving yards with 53 yards for the Cardinals in Week 6. If the Rams can minimize or even eliminate Bowers altogether as a go-to target for quarterback Kirk Cousins, it could limit what Las Vegas can achieve on offense.
3) Minimize self-inflicted wounds
Historically over the past few seasons, the Rams have been the least penalized team in the NFL. But through the first six games this season, their have been many pre-snap penalties and other self-inflicted wounds that have plague Los Angeles' offense. The Rams tied for their least amount of penalties so far this season in last week's game against the Cardinals with four, but those few came at crucial times. Most notably was a false start penalty on fourth-and-3 that, with less than four minutes to go in the game, turned it into a fourth-and-long that the Rams offense couldn't convert.
In the Rams' Week 3 and 5 losses, they had double-digit penalties that ultimately cost them those games. Although Los Angeles improved last week, those unofrced at the biggest moments have been a thorn in its side. The Rams offense can't afford to fall behind the sticks yet again as a result of its own shortcomings.
