3 Takeaways from Raiders' Week 9 Win vs. Giants
The Las Vegas Raiders delivered a perfect response to their midweek coaching change with a 30-6 win over the New York Giants.
The Raiders players looked re-energized with interim head coach Antonio Pierce running the show in place of the fired Josh McDaniels.
Aidan O'Connell turned in a decent showing in his reprised starting role and Josh Jacobs perfectly played the role of star running back with 98 yards and two touchdowns.
The Las Vegas defense looked fierce as well, although most defenses can say that after facing Tommy DeVito.
Although it was the expected result, the Raiders did what they were supposed to do on defense to reach 4-5.
Excellent Response to Coaching Change
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The Raiders played with a renewed energy on Sunday.
The bad vibes that surrounded the end of McDaniels' tenure were washed away and the win over the Giants truly felt like a fresh start.
O'Connell's start over Jimmy Garoppolo also brought a freshness to the Raiders' Week 9 approach.
The rookie quarterback did not do anything special, but he did not make any mistakes and made some key throws when he was asked to.
The Raiders still have to work on getting Davante Adams more involved in the offense, but they can deal with a four-catch, 34-yard day as long as their offensive star played well.
Jacobs carried the offense with his two-touchdown performance that put away the result by halftime.
The Raiders truly look like a new team, and that could make the second half of the season exciting for everyone involved with the franchise.
Defense Performed Exactly How It Was Expected To
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The Raiders made life difficult for a struggling offense.
It is not the most earth-shattering takeaway from Sunday's win, but it was a welcome sight to see the Raiders command a game they were expected to triumph in.
Of course, the Raiders defense was helped out by Daniel Jones' first-half injury that thrust DeVito back into the pocket.
Even when Jones was on the field, the Raiders contained the Giants passing attack. Jones was 4-for-9 with 25 yards and he was sacked twice.
Las Vegas sacked DeVito on six occasions and picked him off twice. The Raiders turned those two picks into 10 points.
The Raiders did give up 90 rushing yards to Saquon Barkley, but if you take away his 26-yard run, the containment looks more successful on paper.
Playoffs?!?!?!
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Time to overreact to a win over a bad team.
The Raiders exit Week 9 at 4-5 with a 1.5-game gap to the Cincinnati Bengals in the final wild-card spot.
Las Vegas needs to be mentioned in the wild-card mix because of how it responded to the coaching change and its favorable schedule over the next six weeks.
The Raiders play four of their next five games at home. Three of those contests are winnable against the New York Jets, Los Angeles Chargers and Minnesota Vikings.
The tough part of the next five games comes through a Week 11 road trip to face the Miami Dolphins and a Week 12 home clash with the Kansas City Chiefs.
The Raiders could emerge from that five-game stretch with a 3-2 record and head-to-head tiebreakers over two wild-card contenders.
They have 11 days to prepare for their second matchup with Kansas City on Christmas Day and then finish with the Indianapolis Colts and Denver Broncos at home.
A 9-8, or 10-7, record is not out of the question for the Raiders, and if they are in contention going into Week 18, we will view the Week 9 win as a turning point.
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