GRADING THE RAIDERS
How the Raiders performed in a 23-16 loss to the Giants on Sunday at Metlife Stadium.
Offense
It could be B … for brutal. You’re looking Grade at the side of the ball that cost its team a game, led by three turnovers from quarterback Derek Carr (including a pick-six and a fumble from the Giants’ 13 with under 50 seconds remaining). The Raiders were also a woeful 1-for-6 in the red zone. Carr threw for 296 yards. The Raiders rushed for 117. But the miscues from their leader were too much to overcome. “That’s why we lost,” Carr said. “Please just talk about me turning the ball over. At the end of the day, we just need to be better. I have to be better. This one is on me.”
Defense
The Giants scored 23 points, but six came off the interception of Carr and Grade three more off a short field for New York following a second pick from the Raiders’ quarterback. That’s good enough defense to win. There were some second-half penalties on rookie cornerback Nate Hobbs, one on a drive culminating in a New York field goal. Yannick Ngakoue had two sacks, one that caused a fumble. He also had two tackles for loss. Denzel Perryman led the team with 10 tackles.
Special teams
You can’t miss a 25-yard field-goal attempt in the fourth quarter with your Grade team trailing 20-16. Daniel Carlson did. Color punter AJ Cole one tough hombre. He got blown up by the Giants’ Keion Crossen when helping to cover one punt but then returned for his second. You know it’s a bad day when the usually reliable Hunter Renfrow makes a bad decision by letting one punt drop and be downed deep inside Raiders territory and then fumbles when returning another (the Raiders recovered).
Coaching
They never got anything going offensively. While the red-zone woes Grade were mostly because of Carr’s inability to discover any sort of rhythm or feel, it still points in some manner to those on the sidelines. Gus Bradley’s defense was solid, but the Raiders also gave up a touchdown on an opponent’s first drive of a game for the third straight time.