LOS ANGELES–Saturday night, Jimmy Garoppolo kept things short and sweet.
Following a rough start to training camp, Garoppolo looks as though he’s shaking off the rust and playing with a lot of confidence heading into the regular season.
The 31-year-old veteran carved up his former team, the 49ers, last week in joint-practice. Against the Rams, Garoppolo took the field for the first time this preseason, finishing a perfect 4-4 on his throws with 39 yards.
Garoppolo’s best throw of the night went to Jakobi Meyers. Garoppolo, sometimes known for checking down too often and not keeping his eyes downfield, did not go to his first-read—a screen pass in the flat to his halfback, but rather he found Meyers down the field for his longest pass of the night.
The 18-yard strike set up a touchdown a few plays later by Brandon Bolden, punching it in from 7 yards out to put the Raiders up 7-0.
Garoppolo’s backup, Brian Hoyer, surprisingly saw 22 pass attempts during the first half.
Hoyer, who’s lowlight of the game was a pick-6 thrown to the Rams’ Jacob Hummel to tie the game at 10-10, may not be Garoppolo’s primary backup for much longer.
One bad pick-6 deserves another, and so the Raiders’ 2nd year undrafted safety, Isaiah Pola-Mao, the nephew of hall of fame safety Troy Polamalu, returned the favor to put the Raiders back up 17-10.
Aidan O’Connell continues to impress as he looks to climb into the no.2 spot at quarterback. Picking up from where he left off last weekend, O’Connell threw a touchdown pass on his first drive of the game, putting the affair out of reach for the Raiders with a 27-10 lead.
O’Connell then threw another touchdown early in the 4th quarter, answering a touchdown drive by the Rams to put the Raiders up 34-17.
This is the second week in a row the Raiders put up 30+ points up on the board.
O’Connell, showing off his legs a bit in the 4th quarter, picking up a first down with his legs on a 7 yard carry.
The 24-year-old sports a solid stat-line thus far: 26-36, 304 yards with 3 TDs and 0 INTs.
The Raiders finish their preseason next week in Dallas against the Cowboys.
