Raiders Round-Up Week 9: A Big Win Against the Little Giants

WE’RE GOING TO THE SUPER BOWL! 

 

Ok, no we’re not, but man does it feel good to be excited about this team again! 

 

The Las Vegas Raiders and the New York Giants both entered week 9 desperate for a win. The Giants had just lost to the Jets in one of the most ridiculous endings to a game in recent memory, and the Raiders were playing on a short week following a truly humiliating performance against the Detroit Lions. 

 

Raiders Owner Mark Davis is clearly a BCP+ reader, and followed our advice to fire HC Josh McDaniels and GM Dave Ziegler. The reins for the team were turned over to linebackers coach Antonio Pierce. Pierce, a former New York Giant himself, seems to be the perfect man for the job. He has a furocity about him that the players relate to and respect. He’s a leader, and someone just as hungry for success as the players themselves. 

 

Pierce’s first decision as Interim Head Coach was a big one. He benched QB Jimmy Garoppolo, who was very much a Josh McDaniels guy, and turned to rookie QB Aiden O’Connell. This move made it evident that Pierce is not in this position to be a lame duck coach. He’s going to try to change the culture as much and as quickly as he can. 

 

The new mindset and attitude was evident from the opening drives of the game, as the Las Vegas defense held the Giants to a 3-and-out, and followed that up with a beautiful 6 play, 67 yard drive that saw WR Jakobi Myers get in on a 17 yard jet sweep for a touchdown. 

 

The next two Giants drives were long ones, but the Raiders defense came up big both times. First, a nine play drive ended when the Raiders defense came up with a big fourth down stop. Then, a 10 play drive was stopped after the Raiders recorded back-to-back sacks to force a punt. 

 

Despite keeping the Giants off the scoreboard, there were a few causes for defensive concern. The Raiders were being torn apart in the running game, and Daniel Jones barely missed a couple of open receivers who were way downfield. At this point, the Raiders were happy to be clinging on to a one score lead.

 

It seemed like this game was still very much in the air until Daniel Jones went down with a noncontact injury. The Giants had to turn to their backup QB, Tommy Devito for the rest of the game, and it quickly got out of hand. With nine minutes left in the half, Las Vegas forced another three and out and went on a long touchdown drive on the back of Josh Jacobs.

 

Following the touchdown, desperation started to seep into the Giants sideline. Devito threw an interception to CB Amik Robertson on a long erratic throw, and on the very next play, O’Connell connected with fellow rookie Tre Tucker for an insane 50 yard completion. Expect to see Tucker in a lot more schemes and packages in the following weeks; this kid’s got something special. 

 

Jacobs finished off the drive with his second touchdown of the game and suddenly the Raiders were up 21-0. With two minutes left in the first half, we had tied our season high mark for points.

 

But why stop there? New York was still desperate to turn things around before the half, and Tommy Devito made another poor throw and was picked off yet again, this time by Nate Hobbs. Welcome back, Nate! Oh, how we have missed you. The Raiders were able to effectively kill the clock and K Daniel Carlson hit a 24 yard chip shot field goal to send the Raiders into halftime up 24-0.

 

While all seemed well in Raider country, we know what one of our biggest weaknesses has been this season: the dreaded halftime adjustments. The first drive of the second half would be a good indicator if Pierce could keep his players hungry and playing hard after a successful first half. 

 

Pierce passed the test.

 

The Raiders came out and manufactured a 14 play drive and capped it off with another field goal from Carlson. From that point forward, the Raiders were content to play “bend, don't break” football, and just try to kill the clock as quickly as possible. They did allow one long drive from the Giants, that saw Tommy Devito connect with Wan’Dale Robinson who was so wide open in the end zone, Danny Devito could have completed that pass. 

 

Following the touchdown, New York attempted a trick play which gave flashbacks to Rick Moranis’s team in Little Giants. Unfortunately for New York, Daniel Bellinger is no Devon Sawa. The two-point pass attempt failed, and the score was 27-6. 

 

Outside of that one drive, the Raiders defense looked phenomenal. They recorded eight sacks, three of which came from all-star Maxx Crosby. The Raiders stopped New York on three fourth down attempts in the second half, had the two aforementioned interceptions, a forced fumble (also by Amik Robertson) and allowed less than 300 yards of total offense. 

 

Speaking of offense, Aiden O’Connell played a very clean game. He started out 9-for-10, didn’t throw an interception or fumble the ball, never took a sack, and at multiple times throughout the game, read the defense at the line, changed the play, and was successful in his execution. He spread the ball around and hit eight different receivers through the course of the game. Is he the next Tom Brady? Probably not, but it's clear that he’s the best QB on our roster and he deserves to be the starter. 

 

Let’s be clear: The Giants are a team in shambles, but this was perhaps the perfect time to change the direction of the team. This win gives us something to be confident about and build around. Next week, the Raiders take on a much better defense in the New York Jets. It will be interesting to see if this offensive firepower was a result of facing a bad team, or if we really have turned the page.