Welcome in to the full recap of the Raiders' Week 13 matchup vs. the New York Giants where the Raiders keep their playoff hopes alive taking care of business against the Giants 17-24. With the Chiefs loss earlier today and the Chargers win, the Raiders find themselves on a 3-way tie for the AFC West.
Thank you Ben McAdoo and the Giants for inexplicably benching Eli Manning and putting in Geno Smith for this game. We don't know how different the outcome would've been if Eli started, but obviously the Giants have a lot of injuries and got nothing to play for other than a high draft pick. If the Raiders lost this game, it would've been the story of this tumultuous season. But, they are slowly but surely turning around a slow start into a strong finish. Not to mention, some scenarios are falling their way now with the Chiefs being in a free fall after a 5-0 start.
(+)
The Slash Bros. Defense as a whole is still suspect even with the change from Ken Norton Jr. to John Pagano. But, they did what was expected of them against the Giants and this patchwork O-line. The specific two who did most of the work though: Khalil Mack and Bruce Irvin aka the "Slash Bros." Both had a sack. Irvin forced a fumble. Mack had a forced fumble and recovery. They did work against the Tackles off the edge and had Geno Smith running for dear life on almost every play whenever the Giants offense had possession.
Marshawn Lynch, 17 carries, 101 yards, 1 TD, 2 receptions, 20 yards. Beast Mode was alive and well with that 51 yard rumble into the end zone on the Raiders' first drive. If I'm correct, this is Lynch's first 100+ yard rushing game since coming out of retirement and since becoming a Raider. He had a scare with that 51 yard run as it looked like he pulled something if I heard well. But luckily, he still came out there and carried the running game against a bad Giants run defense.
Cordarrelle Patterson, 4 receptions, 97 yards. Speed kills. Patterson stepped it up big and bailed out Carr and the Raiders again with a big 59 yard catch and run to set up Carr's passing TD to Johnny Holton. Patterson is not a route runner, but if you set him up in catch and run situations he can turn on the jets if he wants. That's exactly what the Raiders did. The plays for Patterson were executed and the blocks were set up nicely to give Patterson room to run.
(-)
Ball security. The Raiders are really fortunate with this since the defense bailed them out on some of the turnovers. Jalen Richard in particular had a lot of trouble fielding punts for the Raiders. Definitely not his best game as a punt returner if Special Teams relied on DeAndre Washington late in the game to field punts and kickoffs late in the game. Johnny Holton had one fumble when the Raiders were in Giants territory. It could've been costly, but the defense bailed him out. He could've had another fumble, but luckily he crossed the plane before the Giants defender was able to make a play on the ball.
Offensive playcalling. My goodness, Todd Downing is either calling the run plays in the wrong formations or is not creative enough with some screen passes. Particularly in the running game, Downing is calling run plays in Singleback formations rather than the typical "I" Formation. The Giants' D-line were getting easy penetrations and stuffing some runs for no gain or a loss of yardage, especially when the Raiders called run in Singleback formation. Whenever Downing calls screen, the Giants see it coming from a mile away. Still as of now, I'm still eating crow making my bold prediction earlier in this season that Downing is a better OC than Musgrave. Some plays worked today, but a lot of the playcalling was super easy for Steve Spagnuolo and the Giants' defense to read.
MVP
Beast Mode's 51 yard TD run turned out to be the real difference maker this game. The Raiders just have to continue to turn Marshawn Lynch loose. They've limited his carries to keep him fresh and he's starting to pay dividends as the Raiders run the table to the playoffs.
Conclusion
The Raiders take advantage of another struggling team and took care of business. Like I said, at this stretch of the schedule with the exception of the game @ Philadelphia, a lot of the games are very winnable and the Raiders winning out is a realistic scenario. Next week's game against the Chiefs in Kansas City is huge. They are struggling big time since the 5-0 start. If there's any indication that the Raiders are getting hot at the right time, a win against the Chiefs at Arrowhead will be the one that highlights the Raiders' run to the playoffs after a 4-6 start. Looking ahead, that Week 17 game against the Chargers could be the deciding game of the AFC West if the Raiders and Chargers keep up with the wins. But more importantly, it's about taking care of business in Kansas City. Overall, it feels good to finally be at .500. It's time for the Raiders to break that ceiling and control their destiny in this tight AFC West. I'll see you guys next week for the Week 14 game against the Chiefs.
No comments:
Post a Comment