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Amari Cooper and the Oakland Raiders are set for a formidable test in their season opener as they face the Los Angeles Rams. The Rams were the highest scoring offense in the NFL last season, averaging just a shade below 30 points per game.
Cooper realizes that he and the rest of the Raiders offense will likely need to put a lot of points on the board if they hope to come up with the upset over the Rams, who have a lot of hype surrounding them this season.
“We might have to go out there and score every possession. You never know,” Cooper said, via Matt Schneiderman of the San Jose Mercury News.
Oakland didn't exactly have that sort of high-powered, free-scoring offense last season. The Raiders suffered some significant regression as they finished just 23th in the league in points after ranking seventh in 2016.
Either way, Cooper will likely need to deliver a big game if the new Jon Gruden-led Oakland offense is to produce points against the Rams' improved defense. Cooper going up against LA’s new cornerbacks, Aqib Talib and Marcus Peters, will be particularly interesting to watch.
Cooper’s comments about needing to score likely weren’t meant as a shot to the team’s defense, which just lost its best player in Khalil Mack. Even with Mack, the Raiders probably would’ve struggled to shut down the Rams’ prolific attack.
However, they will almost surely have a tougher time producing the stops they need to beat LA without their superstar defender, which puts the pressure on Cooper and the offense to go out and win them the game.
