Baker Mayfield’s remarkable comeback embarrasses Raiders

Thursday night’s matchup between the Los Angeles Rams and Las Vegas Raiders wasn’t your typical matchup between two bad teams late in the season. The Rams, in particular, were intriguing heading into this game because of their recent acquisition of Baker Mayfield. Mayfield, the former no. 1 overall pick in the 2018 NFL Draft, wound up getting waived early in the week by the Carolina Panthers before the Rams scooped him up, gave him the playbook through a firehose, and asked him to be ready in two days’ time.

The Raiders had won a couple of games in a row and were actually kind of riding a nice little wave heading into this game. They were one of the bigger favorites this week given all the injuries the Rams have suffered this year and all of the players that were on the sideline as a result. The Raiders looked like they were going to coast to victory late in the fourth quarter with a 16-3 lead and one of the best running backs in the game, Josh Jacobs, to help close things out.

But it was Baker Mayfield closing things out in this one, not the Raiders.

Baker Mayfield engineers remarkable 2-minute drive to embarrass Raiders

There were equal parts of a variety of different things going on in this epic fourth quarter between the Rams and Raiders. First and foremost, it’s worth mentioning the job of Sean McVay and his staff — as well as the Rams’ roster as a whole — to help Mayfield get ready in about 48 hours time to play almost the entire game against the Raiders.

Not only did Mayfield have to study the new playbook, but you’ve also got to prepare for an opponent. Then to go out there and run a two-minute drive, down by six, and make the plays he did? The huge play to Skowronek after getting out of his own end zone…it was a truly remarkable performance from Mayfield and McVay.

You’ve got a great coaching job done here by McVay and the Rams, but you’ve also got the Las Vegas Raiders, who have been captains of the comeback this season. Unfortunately, they’ve been on both sides of the coin.

The Raiders also have walk-off wins against the Broncos and Seahawks, but the fact that they have lost to Jeff Saturday in his NFL coaching debut (at home) as well as Baker Mayfield who just had his jersey printed in Los Angeles is pretty damning evidence against Josh McDaniels and his staff.

Playing press-man with no safety help on a 2-minute drive when you’re close to the red zone and up by six? The Raiders didn’t respect Mayfield on that two-minute drive, and it cost them.

As little as people can agree on these days, the football world felt pretty unified watching Mayfield have this kind of success. No matter what way you slice it, he got a raw deal in the end with the Cleveland Browns, certainly wasn’t put in a good situation in Carolina, and hasn’t had the chance to realize his tremendous potential in the NFL.

Given the injury status of Matthew Stafford, and the potential that the Rams might need Baker Mayfield beyond just this season, this was the perfect start for both Baker and the Rams.

For the Raiders? This is yet another embarrassing point in a season full of them. This is a team that made the playoffs last year and brought in a coaching staff that many felt could excel, players that commanded massive contracts, and all they’ve been is a let-down across the board.