Sean McVay and Jon Gruden elected to treat Saturday night’s preseason game between the LA Rams and Las Vegas Raiders as an opportunity to imagine an alternate universe where the players who started the game were legitimately each team’s best players. Rather than play phases of the game where they begin with starters, then move to backups, then finally give playing time to the players fighting for roster spots, the Rams and Raiders sat their starters and most of the reserves, and gave extended opportunities to players who might be on the bubble.
The result was a game that felt legitimately competitive and came down to the final :15 seconds, when a Bryce Perkins two-point attempt flew by and out of reach for Jacob Harris and Las Vegas beat Los Angeles 17-16 at SoFi Stadium.