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Giants (4-0) vs Oakland
(1-3)
Last week the Raiders took a 29-6 beating at
the hands of the Houston Texans. It was extremely disappointing to the Raiders
because they were facing a team that was last in the league against the run and
in total defense through their first three games.
Meanwhile, the Giants
continued their great season start by adding another win to make them 4-0. This
one was in Kansas City against the Chiefs, 27-16. Steve Smith caught two of Eli
Manning's three touchdown passes and the defense amassed 5 sacks by five individual
players. Raiders.
The
Raiders finished at 13-3 in 2002. From then it took them three full seasons to
come up with 13 wins (13-35). The next three seasons netted them only 11 wins
(11-37). That brings us to 2009 where they hold a 1-3 record. The Raiders started
the season losing to San Diego. It was a tough loss considering they had a 20-17
lead on a Monday night game in front of their
home crowd with just 2:34 to go in the game.
That was followed by a late come from behind win in Kansas City to put them at
1-1. After that they scored only 3 points against Denver and only 6 against the
Texans in their last two losses. Currently they have given up over twice as many
points (86) than they have scored (42). Raiders
Offense.
There hasn't been much offense
and it's hard to believe the situation will get better any time soon. Since their
loss on Sunday the Raiders have found that they will be without running back Darren
McFadden and right tackle Cornell Green for the next 2 to 4 weeks. Coming into
that game, quarterback JaMarcus Russell owned
the league's worst-rated passer rating and had the worst completion percentage.
He connected on only 12 of his 33 passes for
128 yards but head coach Tom Cable says there were nine dropped passes by the
intended receivers. The running game amounted to only 31 yards on 19 carries against
a Texans defense that had allowed a league-worst 205 yards per game and the Raiders
came up with only 165 total yards in the game. Raiders
Defense.
The Raiders have been giving some
big plays over the last two games and Houston was up on them 20-6 at halftime
last week. This time 259 of Houston's 329 yards of offense came on only nine plays.
Their 58 other offensive plays got them only 70 yards. This on-and-off again defense
is a real problem for the Raiders defense. The
war Cry.
Wary of a letdown last week before
the game, Tom Coughlin reminded his players about last year’s trip to Cleveland
when they were 4-0 and the Browns were 1-3. They lost 35-14. This week it's about
facing Raiders cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha. That's not bad material considering
how good he is, but there are a lot of other players out on the field that don't
quite measure up. Coughlin will have a much easier sell job next week when
they face New Orleans. It's just been like an extended preseason so far for the
Giants in terms of competition. Giants
Offense.
Eli Manning went 20 of 34, throwing
for 292 yards, 3 touchdowns and 1 interception that wasn't his fault. He accomplished
that even without finishing the game, leaving early in the fourth quarter. The
running game looked more on track than it has been and Steve Smith stood out with
his 11 catches for 134 yards and 2 touchdowns, always being there for Manning
when he needed him. Giants
Defense.
They came up with five sacks against
the Chiefs, one each by Justin Tuck, Michael Boley, Osi Umenyiora, Rocky Bernard
and Mathias Kiwanuka. Quarterback Matt Cassel felt the pressure throughout the
game as they hit him seven times and deflected three of his passes at the line
of scrimmage. Tuck tossed a compliment to his teammates when he said, "The secondary
did a good job of making him hold on to the ball." He didn't have to even mention
it as the good game play by Corey Webster and C.C. Brown stood out on it's own. Giant
Concerns.
Lawrence Tynes seems to stay on
our list from week to week. Against Kansas City he kicked field goals of 25 and
40 yards, but he had another miss from the 38. Kevin Boss twisted his ankle near
the end of the first half and kept playing but he wasn't the only one hurting
by the end of the game. Eli Manning is battling plantar fasciitis and has been
missing practice which is highly unusual for him. Mike Boley (knee), is expected
to be out a month, and Kehl (fractured left index finger) had surgery. Mario Manningham
had trouble catching the ball. He had three drops including one that became an
interception. He did catch one pass for 43 yards, but juggled it around a bit
before hauling it in. The Giants haven't been at their best in stopping the run
so far this year. From
thirty two to sixteen to nine to seven to five.
We're
up to week 5 and now the number of undefeated 4-0 teams stands at five. There's
the Colts and Broncos in the AFC and in the NFC it's the Giants, Vikings, and
Saints. That group could stay
the same, with the Saints having a bye and the rest facing easy competition except
for Denver facing the 3-1 Patriots. A high
84 percent of teams that started at 4-0 make it to the playoffs. The
number of teams with no wins stayed
at six. Browns, Titans and Chiefs in the AFC and Bucs, Panthers and Rams in the
NFC. In that group only the Panthers are favored to win their game over the Redskins.
NFC East.
Aside from the Giants playing the 1-3 Raiders, the rest of the division teams
face opponents who have yet to win a game this season. The Cowboys (2-2) play
at Kansas City (0-4). The Redskins (2-2) play at Carolina (0-3). The Eagles (2-1)
coming off their bye week host Tampa Bay (0-4). All the NFC East teams play their
games at 1PM on Sunday. 
Check
out.
The Team
Giants Store, and see some of the really unique items we put together.
There are some items you certainly haven't seen elsewhere, and each sale helps
out our site. Notes.
Giants
Steve Smith leads the league in receptions with 34 and yardage - 411. Giants
backup quarterback David Carr has 79 career starts. Raiders
have failed to score a touchdown for two straight games. Raiders
cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha was the NFL’s highest-paid player (on a per-season
basis) before Eli Manning got his new contract. Raiders
next face Eagles, Jets and Chargers before their bye week. Raiders
special teams coach is John Fassel, the son of former Giants head coach Jim Fassel. Raiders
head coach Tom Cable faces the possibility of prosecution for allegedly assaulting
an assistant coach on Aug. 5.
Next
Game
Oct 18.
Giants at New Orleans at 1:00PM.
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