The Oakland Raiders were beyond bad in their 44-7 loss to the New York Giants at Giants Stadium on Sunday. They could generate no sustained offense, nor could their defense find a way to get off the field when the game was still in doubt.
The Giants first four drives all ended with touchdowns, whilst the Raiders did not even register a first down until their fifth drive which was midway through the second quarter. The only drive where the Raiders generated significant offense was aided by two gifts, one from the Giants and the other by the officials. Despite that drive ending in a touchdown, the Raiders had no rhythm on offense.
After a promising start to the season in a hard fought loss to the San Diego Chargers and a last second win over the Chiefs, the Raiders have regressed to a team that has fallen into the abyss of futility. This game was no longer a contest before the first quarter expired.
The Raiders were beaten in all three phases of the game. They could not get anything done on offense or defense, and their return game was ineffective. The coverage team had a good play where they pinned the Giants deep in their own territory, but would later give it back by aiding a return with a 15 yard horsecollar penalty.
The Raiders offense generated a total of 124 yards. They were balanced in their ineptitude, they could not run or pass the ball. They had 64 passing yards and 60 rushing yards. This is now their fourth straight game without breaking 200 yards offense to cement this as the worst offensive output by a Raider team ever. Prior to this season, they had never had three straight games without breaking 200 including the low water mark of 2006. To add to those woes, Russell stripped three times during sacks with all three of them being recovered by the G-Men.
The defense did not fare much better. The Giants ripped the Raiders defense for 483 yards. The Giants ripped off 220 rushing yards and 263 through the air. At one point, the Giants ran a three play drive that was a 43 yard pass followed by two runs (17, 20) that ended with a touchdown. They also converted a 3rd and 24 with a screen pass that went for 54 yards.
The domination was so complete that Eli Manning was pulled in the middle of the second quarter to rest his injured foot. David Carr finished the game looking solid. The bulk of the second half was the Giants running the ball to kill the clock.
By all rights, the Raiders should have been shut out. Their scoring drive was continued by a muffed punt that was recovered by the Raiders. After a pass interference call, the Raiders had the ball first and goal at the Giants five. The ball was handed off to Justin Fargas who fumbled the ball. The loose ball was picked up by a defender who ran it into the end zone. However, the officials ruled that Fargas’s forward progress was stopped and the whistle had blown so it was not only not a fumble, it was also not a reviewable play. However the TV replays showed that it was a fumble, and no whistle had blown until the ball was out.
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