Las Vegas Raiders at New York Giants: 5 Things we learned in Week 9
3: Raiders Need to Shore Up the Run Defense
This is another familiar issue that has come back to haunt the Raiders as they just could not stop the run. Coming into the game the Giants had a bottom ten rushing attack and were without Saquon Barkley but the Raiders defense made Devontae Booker look like a Pro Bowler.
They kept Booker out of the end zone but gave up 99 yards to him on 21 carries and also gave up 35 yards on 5 carries to Elijhaa Penny once Booker was knocked out of the game. Daniel Jones couldn’t get anything going through the air and threw for just 110 yards but that didn’t matter as the Giants were getting 5 yards a carry from their backs.
The Raiders have been light up the middle and losing Nick Kwiatkoski to injury didn’t help in that department but they need to improve in this category to be a contender for a playoff spot. Next up is a KC team that is even worse at running the ball than the Giants but they will be looking to establish the run if it is such a glaring weakness for the Raiders.