Giants win over the Raiders 23-16

"Well the Giants made it exciting. Don't they always, win or lose, and this time they did win! Daniel Jones got the Giants off to a fast start on the first drive of the game, and when he got to midfield facing a 3rd-and-1, Devontae Booker broke through with a 16-yard run. Jones finished the dive off with a 30 yard touchdown pass to Evan Engram.
My expectations were high after that opening drive touchdown, but it turned out to be the only offensive touchdown of the game. The Raiders took over and matched what the Giants did, and their touchdown tied the game at 7-7. The Giants lost any momentum they had on the next drive on a 3rd-and-2, when their trick play was a snap to Kadarius Toney for a possible pass. Toney lost 2 yards on the play, and they had to punt.
The defense did a nice job on their turn, getting the Raiders 3-and-out, but Jones was sacked and fumbled the ball back to them on the next play. The Raiders were held to a field goal, and both teams added one more before the second quarter ended. I couldn't believe the way this game started out, that the Giants would be at the losing end of a 13-10 score at the end of the half.
Jones had completed every pass, and Booker was averaging 6 yards a carry, and somehow the Giants were trailing at halftime, as if that's the tradition this season. Giants safety Xavier McKinney got me past my down mood, when he took an interception into the end zone on the third play of the second half. The Giants 17-13 lead was cut by three points when the Raiders next scored a field goal, but Graham Gano did the same on the Giants next turn, and everything went their way after that.
The Raiders missed on a 25-yard field goal. Derek Carr was intercepted, once again by McKinney. The Giants added another field goal, and then Carr was hit with a sack fumble. Carr was facing a 2nd-and-10 from the Giants 13-yard line with 44 seconds left, and that killed any chance of him tying the game up with a touchdown pass.
The way things usually run, I was expecting to see the Giants heading into overtime, instead of winning this one 23-16. I'm glad the Giants are heading into a bye week. I feel I can use the break as much as they can, and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers are up next."

"The Giants were coming off a Monday night football loss, and had a short week to prepare for a team that had won their last two games, and were well rested coming off a bye week. The Las Vegas Raiders were the leaders in the AFC West division, and the Giants had lost three of their last four games. Add to that, on Tuesday the Giants had 13 members of the organization test positive for the COVID-19 virus. That included players and coaches, and Saquon Barkley, who the Giants were hoping could be available. Barkley was dealing with an ankle injury he's been battling since the Week 5 game with the Dallas Cowboys.
The protocol, only for vaccinated players, is two negative tests in a 24-hour span to be cleared to practice or play. With the added restriction, the Giants were limited on evaluating his progress. Barkley was out for this game. You had to think that the Giants were planning to use Barkley, because they leaned heavily on the ground game. They had Devontae Booker carry the ball 21 times for 99 yards, and Daniel Jones threw only 20 passes. Jones completed 15 of them and had 1 touchdown, but his 110 yards was the lowest total in his 35 career starts.
Booker meanwhile would have had more yards running than Jones had passing, considering fullback Elijhaa Penny took over for Booker after he injured his hip in the fourth quarter, and Penny added 4 runs for 29 yards. In the end, the offensive game plan produced only 16 points, but it all worked thanks to the defense coming up with 7 more when Xavier McKinney intercepted a Derek Carr pass, and returned it 41 yards for a touchdown.
You could say the defense did their part and more to win this game. They were all over Carr in the first half, limiting him to 103 passing yards, and 1 touchdown. Carr had completed only 12 of his 21 passes, and we're talking about a quarterback who was 31 of 34 in the last game he played. They let up a bit in those areas in the second half, but intercepted Carr again, and their one sack of the game was a big one, as he fumbled the ball over in the process. The Raiders scored just 3 points in the whole second half of the game, and the Giants had their third win of the season with a modest 23-16 score.
The Giants offense needs to generate more than 16 points a game as they did in this one, if they expect to add more wins than losses. Kadarius Toney was targeted just once in this game, catching a 9-yard pass. Toney was limited in practice this week, and they may have used him more in this game as a distraction to the Raiders secondary, and possibly useful for a trick play or two. With that, Kenny Golladay was targeted for only 2 passes, and he caught both for 28 yards.
Working in favor for the Giants is the upcoming bye week, where possibly they will have left tackle Andrew Thomas, running back Barkley, and possibly wide receiver Sterling Shepard, available for the offense. The extra time will also be helpful for Toney and Golladay as well. They'll need all hands on deck and healthy, for a possible upset of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the next time they play in their Monday night game."

Giants this season, have let seven opponents score in the final 1:33 of the first half.

Giants 149 total rushing yards was their second highest of the season.

Giants have won consecutive home games for the first time since 2018.

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