Giants ride Geno into Oakland
OAKLAND » For the New York Giants, a season that started with so much promise has turned to utter disappointment and the franchise has already started planning for 2018 even though there’s still a month left in this regular season.
The season has gone only marginally better for Oakland, but in the mediocre AFC that’s still enough to keep the Raiders in contention.
The Raiders (5- 6) head into Sunday’s matchup with the Giants (2-9) that features two of the league’s biggest flops this season just one game out of first place in the AFC West thanks to a major slump by Kansas City.
“We’re just scratching and clawing and trying to do everything we can to get the next win,” coach Jack Del Rio said. “Our margin for error has really been eliminated.”
The Giants have little to play
for and have already started planning for the future this week by benching two-time Super Bowlwinning quarterback Eli Manning after 210 consecutive starts in order to get the opportunity to take a look at Geno Smith on Sunday and rookie Davis Webb down the road.
It’s a decision that was extremely unpopular in New York among fans who remember Manning’s Super Bowl success and former players upset about the treatment of one of the franchise’s most important players.
“The decision is bigger than me. It’s for the organization and the future of the organization, making sure we have a clear evaluation of the other two quarterbacks on the roster,” coach Ben McAdoo said.
“Sometimes you have to be the punching bag, and right now I’m the punching bag. That goes with the territory. I have thick skin and I can handle it.”
The decision to bench Manning for a quarterback who flamed out with the New York Jets and has started just one game the past three seasons had some critics saying the Giants were tanking the rest of the season to get a better draft pick.
That’s a charge that coowner John Mara found insulting.
“I would never allow that here,” he said. “We’re going to try to win the games. We’re just going to have to try to do it with a different guy at quarterback.
Here are some other things to watch:
WHERE ARE THE WIDEOUTS?: The Raiders will likely be without both starting receivers this week with Michael Crabtree serving a one-game suspension for fighting last week with Denver’s Aqib Talib and Amari Cooper likely sidelined by a concussion and sprained ankle.
Things are even worse for the Giants, who have already lost starters Odell Beckham Jr. and Brandon Marshall to season-ending injuries
TOP TARGET: The absence of Crabtree and Cooper gave backups Cordarrelle Patterson and Johnny Holton a chance to shine in last week’s win over Denver and both delivered big plays.
But against the Giants, the main target in the passing game could be tight end Jared Cook, who is tied for the team lead with Cooper and Crabtree with 42 catches. The Giants have struggled all season to guard tight ends, allowing an NFL-worst 10 TD catches so far this season.
MIGRAINES GONE: Smith apparently will be getting slot receiver Sterling Shepard back for Sunday’s game. He missed the past two games with migraines. He had had migraines as a child but this recent one would not go away.
“I would wake up thinking like it would be better and I was stuck there for 10 days straight. It was like being stuck in a hangover, plus a headache.” Shepard is second on the team with 38 catches for 475 yards and a touchdown despite missing four games.
NEW- LOOK D: The Raiders fired defensive coordinator Ken Norton Jr. last week and replaced him as play- caller with John Pagano. It paid off with Oakland recording a season-high five sacks and getting its first interception of the season. But the Raiders did allow two TD drives in the fourth quarter and Trevor Siemian replaced an ineffective Paxton Lynch.
“The defense looks like it simplified what they’re doing, playing a little faster,” McAdoo said.
MARA BASHING: The Giants’ decision to bench two- time Super Bowl MVP Eli Manning drew some criticism from outgoing New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie. The longtime Dallas Cowboys fans ripped Mara, who serves as co- owner of the team with Steve Tisch.
“I think the manner in which this was handled and the manner in which Eli Manning is being treated by the Giants’ organization is disgraceful,” Christie said Wednesday.
“I think Mr. Mara should be ashamed of himself for having signed off on this. We already know their general manager and their coach are incompetent and we don’t expect any better from them. But the fans here pay a lot of money for tickets at MetLife Stadium and I would expect better of the Mara family.” FLORHAM PARK, N. J. » Robby Anderson was just a scrawny 11-year- old when he started showing signs of being a speedy playmaker with a knack for making tough catches.
His Little League quarterbacks back home in Florida would toss the football down the field and Anderson would usually come up with a reception that left defensive backs shaking their heads.
“It was will and want-to, you know?” Anderson said.
He’s doing much of the same 13 years later for the New York Jets, quickly developing into a go-to guy in just his second season. Anderson has a team-leading seven touchdown catches, including at least one in each of his last five games.
“He’s pretty special in the way that he can go get it,” offensive coordinator John Morton said. “He’s got another gear to go get that ball. That’s a plus in this league.”
Anderson’s TD streak is the longest in the NFL right now, and one that has begun to put him in conversations about the league’s top scoring threats. Anderson is striving to not just be mentioned with the likes of Pittsburgh’s Antonio Brown, Atlanta’s Julio Jones and Houston’s DeAndre Hopkins, but to firmly establish himself as one of the best receivers in the game.
“It feels good,” Anderson said. “But where I’m hoping to go and where I’m trying
Look who’s back, and just in time to spice up a showdown between slumping squads.
Darrelle Revis is expected to make his debut with the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday, and it will fittingly come against the New York Jets at MetLife Stadium.
“It’s just exciting to have this opportunity to return back to football,” Revis said. “I think the reason for me returning is the fire I have, the fuel I have to continue to play this game at a high level. My role is to help win.”
The seven-time Pro Bowl cornerback established himself as one of the best at his position during his first tenure with the Jets, which began in 2007 and ended with a bitter divorce in 2013 when he was traded to Tampa Bay. Revis spent the next season in New England before returning to New York in 2015.
But he wasn’t nearly as dominant as his “Revis Is- to go, that’s what I want to get used to, is being talked about with those guys.”
Not bad for a guy who went undrafted out of Temple last year and was hardly a lock to make the Jets’ opening roster as a rookie despite leading the league in preseason yards receiving
One reason he waspassed over in the draft could have been his slight frame, which might have raised concerns over whether he could handle the rigors of the pro game. He’s 6-foot- 3 and just 190 pounds, but Anderson said that he’s gained 10 pounds since last season, when it appeared more physical defensive backs could have their way with him.
That isn’t the case this year, as Anderson routinely fights for balls and refuses to be pushed around. He credits cornerback Morris Claiborne for challenging him at practice to become a better receiver.
“I think he’s turned himself into a pretty good football player,” coach Todd Bowles said. “You know he can run and you know he can catch the ball, but I think people miss the little things he does: his work ethic, his blocking has .improved, his understanding of the game has improved, his route running has improved.”
With 41 catches this season, Anderson is just one away from matching his rookie total. His 714 yards receiving easily eclipse the 587 he had a year ago.
“Even looking at film from last year, I don’t really even feel like the same player I was last year,” Anderson said. “I feel like I’m more explosive. I just feel like I’m on a whole other level than I was last year. With my game, coming off the line, my releases, all of that.
“I really feel like I’ve really improved and I hope to look back next year and say the same thing from this year.”
He has 16 receptions of 20 or more yards, which ties him for third in the NFL behind only Brown (20) and Hopkins (18). Six of Anderson’s seven TD catches have been for more than 20 yards.
There was the 54-yarder last Sunday against Carolina when Josh McCown rolled to his right, pointed to Anderson downfield and the receiver blazed past a defender and caught the pass over his shoulder for his second touchdown of the game.
The first, though, was even more impressive. With James Bradberry and Mike Adams blanketing him in double coverage, Anderson snared McCown’s perfectly placed pass in the back of the end zone for a 33-yard TD .
“That was unbelievable, more the catch than anything,” Morton said. “Robby has an unbelievable canny about him tracking the ball at another gear down the field. I haven’t been around a lot of players that can track a ball like him.”
His eye-popping catches and increased production have garnered Pro Bowl talk. He even campaigned for fans to vote for him after his second TD last week.
“Will y’all vote for me for the Pro Bowl, man? Please?” Anderson said while looking into the television cameras.