Giants defeat Raiders: Winners, losers and those in between
The New York Giants managed to win a slugfest on Sunday, defeating the Las Vegas Raiders, 23-16, in a defensive battle that went down to the wire.
In the end, Patrick Graham’s defense did what Jason Garrett’s offense could not do, putting the final nail in the Raiders’ coffin with a sack-fumble by rookie Quincy Roche.
With the win, the Giants improve to 3-6 on the season and will be able to enjoy their bye week significantly more now.
Here’s a quick look at the winners and losers (and those in between) from Week 9.
Winners
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Evan Engram: It was a somewhat quiet day for Engram in the box score outside of his touchdown, but he played solid across the board. Not only was his TD catch extremely impressive, he held up well in the blocking department on Sunday. That proved to be key on Sunday. He also drew a DPI in the fourth quarter.
Xavier McKinney: With Antrel Rolle out for the season, McKinney has seen an uptick in playing time and it’s beginning to pay dividends. He did have a few hiccups in coverage but balanced that out with six tackles, two interceptions and one touchdown. There’s some improvement to be made but he flashes superstar talent.
Will Hernandez: It’ll be interesting to see how this holds up upon the film review, but Hernandez appeared to play one of his better games of the season on Sunday. He was particularly solid in the run blocking department and held his own as a pass protector. In a few instances, he let his nasty streak come out, too.
Quincy Roche: What a day for the rookie. Four tackles, two QB hits, one sack and one game-winning forced fumble.
Others: Leonard Williams, Tae Crowder, Graham Gano
Losers
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Keion Crossen: Crossen is with the Giants because he’s considered a special teams ace. On Sunday, he drew an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty for destroying the Raiders punter with an obviously dirty hit. He responded to that by downing a Riley Dixon punt that was still gaining yardage, essentially costing the Giants up to 5-7 yards of field position. He did force one fumble.
Danny Shelton: Shelton has struggled all season and that’s something that continued against the Raiders. He did little to manipulate the pocket and was routinely targeted on the ground. Any time Las Vegas was desperate for a first down, they seemed to run right at the veteran nose tackle.
Others: Darnay Holmes, Darius Slayton
Mixed reviews
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James Bradberry: Bradberry gave up an early touchdown and then added a defensive holding penalty. However, he did record a pass defensed that arguably saved a touchdown. He was also caught trailing a wide open Darren Wallen who Derek Carr overshot on a would-be touchdown. It was that kind of day for No. 24.
Logan Ryan: It was a very slow start to the day for Ryan, who missed a couple tackles and ate a brutal stiff-arm to the face. He was headed toward the “losers” category initially, but a few big fourth quarter plays — including a key tackle on a third down — lifted his value and stock significantly.
Others: Matt Peart, Matt Skura, Nate Solder, Azeez Ojulari
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