Raiders top Giants in Antonio Pierce's head coaching debut
Antonio Pierce guided the Las Vegas Raiders to a victory in his head coaching debut on Sunday against his former team, the New York Giants.
Josh Jacobs rushed for 98 yards and two touchdowns, rookie Aidan O'Connell passed for 209 yards and Antonio Pierce won in his debut as Las Vegas' interim coach as the Raiders routed the New York Giants 30-6 on Sunday.
Maxx Crosby had three of the Raiders’ eight sacks. Las Vegas held the Giants to 275 yards in the Raiders' largest margin of victory since beating the Denver Broncos 37-12 on Nov. 15, 2020.
Giants quarterback Daniel Jones left one play into the second quarter with a right knee injury. Tommy DeVito played the rest of the game and passed for 175 yards and a touchdown. Saquon Barkley rushed for 90 yards on 16 carries.
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This was the Raiders' first game since coach Josh McDaniels, offensive coordinator Mick Lombardi and general manager Dave Ziegler were fired early in the week and quarterback Jimmy Garoppolo was benched.
The result couldn't have gone much better for the Raiders, who led 24-0 by halftime, which tied for their sixth-largest advantage when not allowing a point.
The team played tight under McDaniels' rigid control, but there was a noticeable ease in the locker room this week under Pierce, the former Giants linebacker. The question was whether that would translate on the field.
It did, and from the beginning when Las Vegas went down the field and scored on a 17-yard jet sweep by wide receiver Jakobi Meyers.
By halftime, the Raiders (4-5) already had scored a season high in points and Jacobs had already rushed for a season-best 86 yards. Las Vegas' previous high was 21 points three weeks ago against the New England Patriots, with the final two coming on a safety. The Raiders' offense ended a nine-game skid without scoring at least 20 points.
Jacobs, who last season led the NFL in rushing, nearly ended a 13-game streak without a 100-yard performance. He was at 101 yards before losing 3 yards on his final carry.
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O'Connell was given the start this week over the ineffective Garoppolo and Brian Hoyer, and Pierce said it would be his job going forward. The QB commonly referred to as AOC completed 16 of 25 passes.
For the Giants, the game couldn't have gone much worse. They entered last in the league in total, scoring and passing offense.
New York's offense still hasn't scored a touchdown in the first quarter, and it didn't reach the end zone in this game until early in the fourth quarter and then after trailing 27-0.
At 2-7, the Giants already have as many losses as all of last season when they went 9-7-1 and made the playoffs.
Interceptions by Amik Robertson and Nate Hobbs led to the final 10 points of the half for the Raiders to all but end any doubt about the outcome. Las Vegas outgained New York 240-108 in the opening 30 minutes.
INJURIES
Raiders RT Thayer Munford (neck) and LBs Divine Deablo (ankle) and Luke Masterson (concussion) did not play. ... Las Vegas CB Marcus Peters left with a knee injury. ... Giants OTs Andrew Thomas (hamstring) and Evan Neal (ankle) returned after missing time. Thomas hadn't played since the season opener, and Neal missed the previous two games. Neal, however, left in the fourth quarter with an ankle injury. ... New York CB Adoree’ Jackson suffered a concussion.
UP NEXT
Giants: The second of a three-game road trip continues against the NFC East-rival Dallas Cowboys next Sunday.
Raiders: Another New York team visits when the Jets arrive for the Sunday night game.