Las Vegas Raiders at New York Giants: 3 Studs, 3 Duds in Week 9

Las Vegas Raiders at New York Giants: 3 Studs, 3 Duds in Week 9

Duds

Derek Carr

Derek Carr has been playing at an MVP level for most of the season, but he struggled in this one. Carr did come close to tossing for 300 yards, but he was also a turnover machine, as he had two interceptions and a fumble, all of which came at crucial times.

With the Raiders getting the ball to kick off the second half, Carr, who missed Darren Waller for a touchdown right before the half, threw it short to Hunter Renfrow, and Xavier McKinney returned it for a score. Later, with the Raiders deep in Giants territory with a chance to tie the game, he was sacked and fumbled, ending a potential game-tying score.

Bryan Edwards & Zay Jones

Bryan Edwards and Zay Jones combined for a total of one reception for 20 yards in this game, and that is not going to cut it.  After the tragic incident involving Henry Ruggs earlier this week, it put Zay Jones in the starting position for the first time since he’s been with the Raiders.

Every teammate and coach has praised his work ethic in practice, so they were confident he could answer the call when his time came, but that was not the case. Bryan Edwards had been coming through in the clutch almost all season for the Raiders as most of his catches had come in either the fourth quarter or overtime, but he was held scoreless in this one.

Even if it wasn’t all their fault because Derek Carr was just off today, the Raiders still need more production than what they got today, and that’s why the Raiders and free-agent wide receiver DeSean Jackson have agreed to terms for the rest of the season.

Run Defense

If there was one really bad part of the defense this game it was the run defense.  The New York Giants were without their starting running back Saquon Barkley once again, but that didn’t stop the Giants and former Raider Devontae Booker from running all over them inside MetLife field on Sunday.

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Booker finished the game with 99 yards on the ground, Elijhaa Penny contributed 35 yards on seven carries, and even Daniel Jones had 17 of his own.  The run defense has been something that the Raiders have been struggling with for years not just this season, and that is just pretty much the only aspect of this defense that hasn’t improved under Gus Bradley.