2023-11-06 07:07:33
By Tashan Reed, Vic Tafur, Charlotte Carroll and Dianna Russini
The Las Vegas Raiders dominated the New York Giants 30-6 on Sunday in Antonio Pierce’s first game as interim coach. Here’s what you need to know:
The Raiders fired coach Josh McDaniels and general manager Dave Ziegler on Oct. 31. Las Vegas was 3-5 this season under McDaniels and 9-16 since he took over in 2022.
Raiders QB Aidan O’Connell — who replaced offseason acquisition Jimmy Garoppolo as the starter — was 16-of-29 passing for 209 yards. Josh Jacobs added 98 yards and two touchdowns on the ground.
Giants quarterback Daniel Jones left Sunday’s game following suffering a knee injury in the second quarter. He was 4-of-9 passing for 25 yards before exiting the matchup, replaced by Tommy DeVito. The Giants fear that Jones’ knee injury is a torn ACL, but that will be determined by tests later, according to a team source.
Las Vegas improved to 4-5 while New York dropped to 2-7.
New sense of hope for Raiders?
Long before kickoff once morest the Giants, Raiders owner Mark Davis made fans happy with his decision to fire McDaniels and Ziegler on Tuesday. That move — and the injection of energy brought by interim head coach Pierce — had already reinvigorated a franchise that previously felt rudderless.
For it to translate to a dominant win over New York was the icing on the cake. The Raiders still have work to do to turn their season around, obviously, but there’s a sense of hope that was previously nonexistent. We’ll see what happens from here, but that can go a long way. — Tashan Reed, Raiders beat writer
Las Vegas leans on running game in big win
Raiders fans shouted “thank you” to Davis when he appeared on the field before the game. They were happy that McDaniels was fired, and even happier when the Raiders put up 24 points in the first half — a season-high for them.
The Raiders finally got the running game going and O’Connell was 8-of-9 in the first half for 129 yards. Pierce said he and new offensive coordinator Bo Hardegree were going to lean on Jacobs, and they did just that.
It was only a one-score game (7-0) when Jones’ knee buckled, and the Raiders defense was all over a hapless DeVito following that. Maxx Crosby had three of the Raiders’ eight sacks, and Amik Robertson and Nate Hobbs each had interceptions.
Next up for the Raiders is a home game once morest the Jets. — Vic Tafur, Raiders beat writer
Giants drop one of few favorable matchups
The Raiders game was supposed to be one of the winnable contests left on the Giants’ schedule. And following Las Vegas fired its coach, general manager and offensive coordinator this week, it made the contest even more of a must-win. Instead, the Giants allowed a season-high 30 points from the Raiders and New York feels like it’s officially looking to the future rather than the remaining eight games. Sitting at 2-7, the Giants are currently projected to pick within the top five of the 2024 NFL draft. With their quarterback situation once once more up in the air, the Giants might be selecting even higher come April. — Charlotte Carroll, Giants beat writer
How will New York replace Jones?
Once Jones exited with a noncontact knee injury, the hopes for the season fell even further. Backup Tyrod Taylor is on injured reserve with a ribs injury and won’t be back before the December bye. The Giants signed Matt Barkley to the practice squad last week, but he was not elevated for Sunday’s game, leaving DeVito as the only other active quarterback. He threw two interceptions that put this one out of reach. While the rookie quarterback settled down and threw his first career NFL touchdown, he still struggled in his second straight game.
The Giants signed Jones to a big contract this offseason but left some wiggle room by not guaranteeing any money into the third year of the deal. Now with a third stringer and midseason signings potentially starting for New York the rest of the year, the Giants might seriously be looking at drafting one of the class’s top quarterbacks, headlined by USC’s Caleb Williams and North Carolina’s Drake Maye. It’s all been quite the unexpected outcome coming off a playoff win and Brian Daboll’s coach of the year award. — Carroll
Required reading
(Photo: Kyle Terada / USA Today)
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