Giants lose to the Raiders 24-17
Geno Smith was 21 of 34 for 212 yards and 1 TD, rushed for 13 yards and fumbled twice.
Orleans Darkwa rushed for 32 yards on 14 carries and 1 TD, and caught 1 pass for -1 yards.
Paul Perkins rushed for 12 yards on 3 carries
Wayne Gallman rushed for 11 yards on 3 carries, and caught 1 pass for 8 yards.
Shane Vereen rushed for -3 yards on 1 carry, and caught 3 passes for 13 yards.
Evan Engram caught 7 passes for 99 yards, and 1 TD.
Sterling Shepard caught 3 passes for 56 yards.
Tavarres King caught 4 passes for 23 yards.
Roger Lewis caught 1 pass for 9 yards.
Rhett Ellison caught 1 pass for 5 yards.
Landon Collins recovered a fumble.
Calvin Munson had 1 sack.
Aldrick Rosas kicked a 52 yard field goal.

"Just like every Giants fan, I had mixed feelings about this game. I wanted to see Eli Manning out there on the field. I wanted to see him do what he's always done, try to win football games for the Giants. Manning didn't get that opportunity today. I find it hard to even talk about this game, and it would be the same even if we had won. Geno Smith was the starting quarterback, and Manning never played a down in this game.
The Giants went three-and-out on their first three drives before scoring a touchdown on the next. That tied the game up, as the Raiders had scored one on their first drive. The Raiders scored a field goal and a touchdown before the Giants scored again late in the fourth quarter. That had the Giants trailing 17-14. That's as close as they got, because Raiders quarterback Derek Carr threw a pass that went for 59 yards.
Two plays later, the Raiders were up 24-14. The Giants got down to the Raiders 34-yard line, and had Rosas kick a long 52 yard field goal. Then with time getting low, they tried an onside kick, but that didn't work out. The final score was 24-17 in favor of the Raiders. Next week the game will be against the Cowboys at MetLife Stadium. We'll have to see if Smith starts again, or if Ben McAdoo decides to start Davis Webb."

"So what did Ben McAdoo prove today? It's up to the head coach to get the best players on the field each and every week. Did that happen? Geno Smith got the start in place of Eli Manning. He wasn't terrible, and no one including Manning would shine with the offensive line the Giants have going. It's entirely possible the Giants could have won this close game if Manning was playing. Sterling Shepard was back, and tight end Evan Engram was actually hanging onto the ball.
Smith got to throw to Engram when he was playing at his best, catching seven out of eight passes for 99 yards and one touchdown. Shepard caught three out of six for 56 yards, and Tavarres King caught four out of nine for 23 yards. The running game went nowhere. Darkwa gained only 32 yards, and Smith was actually the second leading rusher with 13 yards. Yes, running backs Paul Perkins, Wayne Gallman and Shane Vereen were all playing in this game, so you see how bad things were.
Smith didn't help himself out by fumbling the ball away twice. The second one right near the end of the half was the worst. The Giants were at the Raiders 4-yard line with a first down, and Smith lost the ball when he was sacked. They could have gone into halftime with a 14-7, or a 10-7 lead, breaking the 7-7 tie they were at.
The defense couldn't stop running back Marshawn Lynch. Along with his 51 yard touchdown run, he gained 101 yards overall, his best on the season, although they did prevent Lynch from making one important fourth-down attempt. Looking at pass defense, they gave up a big one, that Derek Carr to Cordarrelle Patterson 59 yard pass late in the fourth quarter. It allowed the Raiders to add a touchdown to put the game out of reach.
We'll have to see where we go from here. Before this game even started there were rumors that McAdoo would be fired tomorrow. The owners had originally said that they make those decisions at the end of the year. If that happens, you have to wonder, could McAdoo have avoided all this mess simply by responding to Manning's thought that it wouldn't be fair to Smith not to start the whole game - 'No, you are my best starting quarterback so you will start. I was just giving you a heads-up on this. If I decide to take you out later in a game, that's my choice and that's how it will go.' We'll all have to see how this plays out over the next week. Who should start, a quarterback who has faced the Cowboys in 26 games over 14 years or Geno Smith?"

Giants Eli Manning’s streak of 210 consecutive regular-season starts ended when Geno Smith started at quarterback for this game.

Giants Eli Manning was the only Giants player in uniform who did not play in the game.

Giants Orleans Darkwa has 3 of the four rushing touchdowns this season, Eli Manning has one.

[Back to Team Giants] Click on the Team Giants logo to be informed of all Giants game previews, reviews and off season football news. Stop in and visit "Mike's Keys to the Internet" at  MikesKeys.com