5 reasons the Oakland Raiders will beat the New York Giants
By John Buhler
The Giants are out of the NFC playoff race, while the Raiders are very much in the AFC playoff picture.
New York is 2-9 and is one of a few teams that has already been eliminated from playoff contention this season. The Giants have made the move to start Geno Smith over Eli Manning, possibly the rest of the way. They may look to see what third-round rookie Davis Webb has before presumably taking a franchise quarterback with their certain top-three pick.
As for the Raiders, they are 5-6 and only one game out of playoff positioning. Going 4-1 the rest of the way to finish 9-7 could totally get the Raiders in as a wild card time. Interestingly, that record might be good enough to win the awful AFC West for all we know.
In essence, the Giants have nothing to play for in this game, while this is a game the Raiders have to win to contend for a playoff spot. There is way more on the line for Oakland than New York in this one and it will present itself during the game.
Not saying that the Giants will mail it in, but it doesn’t serve them to play their A-team the rest of the way. This is a time where some of the younger guys can have their talent evaluated honestly. Oakland might be a little undermanned in this game, but should have enough horses in the stable to win this one convincingly. They have an incentive to win this game and New York has more incentive to lose.