GIANTS MAUL HAPLESS RAIDERS

New York Giants quarterback Eli Manning was hobbled by a painful bruised heel and played only one half of their game against the Oakland Raiders.  With the Raiders as bad as they are, however, that was almost overkill.  Manning led the Giants to touchdowns on their first four drives, and made his halftime exit with a 31-7 lead.  Backup David Carr did mop up work as the Giants went on to demolish the hapless Raiders by a 44-7 final score.  The Giants remained undefeated with the victory at 5-0, while Oakland dropped to 1-4.
 
NFL pointspreads have been unable to keep up with the Giants’ excellence so far this season, and they covered yet again this time as -15’ home chalk.  They’re now 5-0 against the spread to compliment their undefeated straightup record.  Oakland dropped to 2-3 against the number.  The 51 combined points scored went OVER the posted total of 38.  The Giants have gone UNDER in three of their five games, while the Raiders now have a 3-1-1 mark against NFL totals.

Even the lopsided final score doesn’t accurately convey the magnitude of the blowout.  The Giants piled up 27 first downs and 483 yards of total offense; the Raiders managed only 7 first downs and 124 yards of offense.  The Giants also dominated the time of possession battle, holding the ball for 36:04 to the Raiders’ 23:56.  The only statistical categories where Oakland prevailed were turnovers and penalties.

After the game, Giants’ defensive end Justin Tuck praised his quarterback for his toughness and leadership:

"We didn't expect anything less out of him. People were talking he might not play but we figured he was. It was good to see your starting quarterback be a tough guy like that and go out there and help his team win. That's the leader he's become."

Manning’s Oakland counterpart JaMarcus Russell had another horrendous game—he threw for only 100 yards and no touchdowns.  He didn’t have any interceptions this week, but he did lose three fumbles.  Not that he received any help from his offensive line, which did nothing to slow down the Giants’ fearsome pass rush.  Russell was sacked six times and hurried in the pocked on countless occasions.  Giants’ defensive end Mathias Kiwanuka was very charitable in his assessment of Russell’s performance:

"We thought it was an opportunity if we came out and got after him early, there would be a lot of chances. He has flashes of greatness but we wanted to make sure he didn't flash against us."

Recently acquired Raiders’ defensive end Richard Seymour summed up the team’s frustration:

"We couldn't stop anything. That's a bad feeling when you are out there and they are running whatever plays they want to. The third or fourth quarter I think they had their backups in the game and they were still doing whatever they wanted to offensively. There is no excuse for that and everybody has to look themselves in the mirror and say, 'I have to do a better job.'"

The Raiders will host the Philadelphia Eagles next Sunday and the New York Jets the following weekend.  They’ll head south on November 1 to play their hated rivals the San Diego Chargers.  The Giants will be on the road next Sunday, taking on the New Orleans Saints.  They’ll return home to face the Arizona Cardinals the following Sunday before playing the Eagles at Philadelphia on November 1.