Eli Perfect as Giants Annihilate Raiders 44-7: The New York Giants improved their overall record to 5-0 by destroying the Oakland Raiders 44-7 earlier today at the Meadowlands. The Giants made short work of the Raiders by scoring touchdowns on each of their first four offensive possessions to go up 28-0 early in the second quarter.
QB Eli Manning started the game despite playing with a painful heal injury that he suffered last week against the Kansas City Chiefs. The commanding early lead allowed Manning to leave the game in the first half and rest his foot. Manning finished the game 8-of-10 for 173 yards, two touchdowns, 0 interceptions and a perfect 158.3 quarterback rating.
“(The foot) felt great,” said Manning after the game. “It felt great during the game. I felt that I could do everything, run the offense. I didn’t tell Coach Gilbride or Coughlin, ‘hey don’t run this, or don’t do that.’ I felt like I could do everything we had to do. Hopefully it feels great tomorrow morning. We will see and I don’t have any doubt that it won’t, so hopefully I will be able to get back to practice all next week and work on getting better.”
The Giants dominated the game more than just on the scoreboard. The Giants out-gained the Raiders in first downs (27 to 7), total net yards (483 to 124), net yards rushing (220 to 60), net yards passing (263 to 64), and time of possession (36:04 to 23:56).
“(The Giants) were a good team,” said Raiders CB Nnamdi Asomugha. “You watch them on film and you know they’re good, but it’s different when you come out and they’re actually hitting everything like that. So I mean they were exactly the type of stuff that we saw on film. A good team, balanced on offense, and they’re going to push you on defense.”
The Giants had seven possessions in the first half. The results were:
- 14-play, 77-yard drive that resulted in a 1-yard, 4th-and-goal touchdown run by HB Ahmad Bradshaw.
- 3-play, 79-yard drive that resulted in a 19-yard touchdown run by Bradshaw. A huge play on the drive was a 43-yard pass from Manning to WR Steve Smith.
- 5-play, 94-yard drive that resulted in a 30-yard touchdown pass from Manning to WR Mario Manningham. The big play on the drive was a 55-yard screen pass from Manning to Bradshaw on 3rd-and-24.
- 3-play, 13-yard drive that resulted in a 9-yard touchdown pass from Manning to WR Hakeem Nicks.
- 4-play, 17-yard drive that ended with a punt.
- 6-play, 48-yard drive that ended with a punt.
- 3-play, 13-yard drive that ended with a 25-yard field goal.
Meanwhile, the Giants’ defense dominated, holding the Raiders to 68 yards and five first downs in the first half. The defense set up the Giants’ offense at the Oakland 13-yard line after CB Terrell Thomas sacked the Raiders quarterback and forced a fumble that DE Justin Tuck recovered. The defense also set up the Giants’ late first-half field goal when Tuck sacked the quarterback and forced another fumble that DE Osi Umenyiora recovered. The only points allowed in the game by the defense was a 3-play, 15-yard drive that ended with a 5-yard touchdown run after WR Sinorice Moss muffed a punt and the Raiders recovered.
The Giants led 31-7 at the half.
In the second half, the Giants had four offensive possessions, the results being:
- 6-play, 39-yard drive that resulted in a 12-yard touchdown run by QB David Carr.
- 4-play, 4-yard drive that ended with a 33-yard field goal.
- 11-play, 56-yard drive that ended with a 37-yard field goal.
- 9-play, 42-yard drive that ended with a punt.
The Raiders were shut out in the second half. The defense also set up the 33-yard field goal when DE Mathias Kiwanuka sacked the Raiders quarterback and forced a fumble that LB Antonio Pierce recovered.
“This defense is really coming together,” said Tuck. “I like our progress. Every week we seem to get a little better. We try to work on things that maybe last week we didn’t do as well and we come out the next week and try to correct it. That’s the mark of a special unit. If we keep doing that week in and week out, we will put ourselves in a really good position.”
Post-Game Notes: Inactive for the Giants were TE Kevin Boss (ankle), HB Danny Ware (elbow), WR Ramses Barden, OC Adam Koets, DT Chris Canty (calf), LB Michael Boley (knee), LB Bryan Kehl (finger), and CB and Aaron Ross (hamstring).
Offensively, QB David Carr was 9-of-14 for 90 yards, 0 touchdowns passing, 1 touchdown running, and 0 interceptions. HB Ahmad Bradshaw rushed for 110 and two touchdowns on 11 carries; HB Brandon Jacobs rushed for 67 yards on 21 carries. The leading pass receivers for the Giants were WR Hakeem Nicks (4 catches for 49 yards and a touchdown), WR Steve Smith (3 catches for 70 yards), and TE Darcy Johnson (3 catches for 26 yards). Quarterbacks Eli Manning and David Carr were not sacked.
Defensively, the Giants accrued six sacks: DE Justin Tuck (2), DE Mathias Kiwanuka, DE Dave Tollefson, CB Terrell Thomas, and S Michael Johnson. Tuck, DE Osi Umenyiora, and LB Antonio Pierce also recovered fumbles. Seven Raider drives ended with punts, three with fumbles that were recovered by the Giants.
Former Giants Dave Jennings, Brian Kelley, John Mendenhall, Bob Tucker, and Doug Van Horn were honorary team captains for the game.
