There is nothing that is aesthetically appealing about this season’s version of the Giants. They don’t do anything particularly well, but thanks to their division, just winning is all that is required in keeping themselves afloat. It helps that the current portion of the schedule features lackluster, backup, or injured quarterbacks on the other side, but as it is, the Giants are finding themselves right back in the thick of things in the NFC (L)East following a 24-20 win over the Raiders.
All Aboard the Andre Brown Express: Aside from Brandon Jacobs turning back the clock against the Bears last month, the Giants running game has been putrid. With David Wilson now potentially never playing again due to a spinal stenosis diagnosis (to say nothing of his inability to hold onto the football when healthy, but that that feels like a needless nitpick now), the Giants are still looking for a feature back. Andre Brown did everything he could to cement himself as the top dog for the rest of the season with a fantastic 115-yard effort on 30 carries and a touchdown.
The Defense Continues Their Dominant Stretch: If the Giants actually do pull off the unlikely and find themselves hosting a playoff game in January, the entire group deserves MVP mention. The defense gave up their first touchdown in three games, but that was a result of Jerrel Jernigan’s fumble on the opening kickoff where the Raiders would score from inside the one. With Raiders quarterback Terrelle Pryor being hobbled with a sore knee, the defense was able to able to harass him just enough to get four sacks and Terrell Thomas likely made the play of a game with a 65-yard interception return that set up the game winning touchdown. Rashad Jennings did the heavy-lifting for the Raiders with 107 all-purpose yards, but it’s a good day if you only give up 213 yards total.
Eli is Not Elite This Year: The other Raiders touchdown went directly to Tracy Porter for a 43-yard pick-six. This lead to Twitter jokes of “Archie and Cooper never threw pick-sixes to Porter!” Or some variation. It just ain’t Eli’s year, and I’m a guy who defends him at every turn. It’s been hard this year. Moving on.
Special Teams? The Exact Opposite of “Special”: Long returns. Again. Steve Weatherford continuing his Jeckyll and Hyde act with a shank and a garden variety partially-blocked-punt-that-wasn’t-by-rule-a-blocked-punt-because-the-ball-actually-went-forward-seven-yards attempt. On the plus side, the Giants blocked a punt for their initial score on the day, but other than that, PT coach Tom Quinn’s seat probably feels mighty toasty.
Up Next: The Giants carry a three-game winning streak into a late-afternoon tilt against the Aaron Rodgers-less Packers, who now could be on their third quarterback in as many weeks as Seneca Wallace went down with a groin injury. The sudden opposing quarterback luck will likely continue for the Giants. They’ll try for their fourth straight win as they continue their ascent up the NFC East. Winning ugly is their thing, and they’ll continue here, 21-17.
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