For the second week in a row, the Rams pulled off a preseason victory, defeating the Raiders in Oakland 24-21. And while the preseason games are exhibition matches in nature, Rams' fans can still find plenty to get excited about from Saturday night's comeback win.
In last week's preseason win over the Cowboys, the Rams' first-team offense was in for just eight plays, culminating in Cooper Kupp's fumble recovery in the end zone.
On Saturday night Jared Goff and much of the receiving corps played the majority of first two quarters — and once again, the opening drive featured an exciting touchdown play from Kupp.
"You see it — he's very reliable, understands the game," McVay said. "You watch the way that he's able to contribute in some of those crunch-time plays [and] he just does all the little things the right way."
On Saturday, Kupp led the Rams' with six receptions for 70 yards. The highlight of which came early on when quarterback Jared Goff aired it out to a wide-open Kupp for a 23-yard touchdown play in the corner of the end zone.
"It was planned like that," Goff said of Kupp's route. "We had run it in practice and had a similar result — Cooper kind of running free there. And came out, saw him running free, and just put it up there."
"I was good," Kupp added. "A great play call. I didn't really have to do much, just run into a spot. Everyone else did their job and it just left me wide open. So it was a lot of fun"
Plus, Kupp was able to move the chains, recording half of his receptions on third down.
"He makes it easy for me, the way he runs his routes, and how friendly of a target he is," Goff said. "He made a couple really great catches, contested catches today that were big time for us, [and] moved the chains."
Since the draft there has been plenty of hype surrounding the third-round pick out of Eastern Washington. And after two preseason games and a touchdown in each, the rookie receiver appears to be living up to it.
"It's just one of those things where you continue to get comfortable when you catch the ball and get a feel for who's around you without really having to look and see who's around you," Kupp said after the game. "Just continue to play faster, play in and play out. I think that will just continue to happen with more reps, the farther we get going through it."
And as the regular season officially draws closer, Kupp should prove to be one rookie to keep an eye on this year.
"There's a lot of examples of some younger players who we're leaning on and counting on to be big-time contributors for us this year. And it's been a good sign so far," McVay said. "Very pleased with him."
