No one will remember the play itself, amid everything that happened on Thursday night at SoFi Stadium. But the third-and-10 that Baker Mayfield faced from the Raiders 30-yard line with 3:44 left in third quarter may have best illustrated exactly what the Rams team he joined in California less than 48 hours earlier was up against, and just how they overcame all of it.
In the huddle, the Amazon cameras caught Mayfield flipping open the notecards tucked into his wristband, and reading a play off to his teammates. He then lined up in the shotgun, took the snap, hesitated a beat and snapped off to Tutu Atwell, with a tunnel screen set up for the diminutive receiver. Atwell cut back against the grain and shot through the heart of the Raiders defense for 14 yards to set up first-and-10 at the Raiders’ 16.
O.K., the first thing you need to know is the result of the play: It was called back, with a holding flag thrown on right tackle Rob Havenstein. The penalty put the Rams in in third-and-16, and then an eight-yard gain on a throw to Brycen Hopkins was wiped out by a personal foul that move the ball back, for fourth down, to the 43. Matt Gay wound up missing a 61-yard field to give the ball back to the Raiders, who were up 13–3.
