So you are coming off your bye week and two victories, facing a team flying cross-country following a slaughter in which its defense was shredded for a record-tying seven touchdown passes.
“You wouldn’t be human if your eyes didn’t light up a little bit,” Giants wide receiver Victor Cruz said about Sunday’s game with the Raiders at MetLife Stadium.
Still, the 2-6 Giants are approaching the 3-5 Raiders as if they are equal parts Steel Curtain and Doomsday Defense.
Forget Oakland defensively being ranked 23rd in passing yards and last in completion percentage. So what if only the Bills and Vikings have given up more passing touchdowns than the Raiders? Oakland has surrendered 17, seven from the Eagles’ Nick Foles last week.
“Last week was a fluke,” wide receiver Rueben Randle said. “They’re not that bad. It happens in this league where you have one of those days.”
That day had to feel like a month for the Raiders, who were thrashed, 49-20, while surrendering 414 passing yards.
“I thought Philadelphia played a superb game, that’s what I looked at,” Giants coach Tom Coughlin said Thursday. “Certainly, we take full advantage of every opportunity to look at tape, but I kind of put that one aside.”
The Giants have watched film, studied and dissected it to seek any advantage. They are fully aware the Raiders defense will be downright ornery, trying to prove they’re not a bunch of passing patsies.
“We take advantage of what’s there to be taken advantage of, but you can’t overlook anybody. You’ve got to look at it like they’re going to come out with a chip on their shoulder,” wide receiver Hakeem Nicks said.
“There’s obviously holes in any defense, obviously situations we can take advantage of and we see some of those things. Hopefully we can take advantage of them,” Cruz said. “They’re going to come out with a little more intensity, a little more energy just because of the way they lost and they want to avenge that and they want to prove to the league that’s not the type of team they are.”
Giants offensive coordinator Kevin Gilbride insisted it was more a case of the Eagles being that good than the Raiders being that bad.
“To be quite honest, they [Eagles] were very impressive,” Gilbride said. “[The Raiders] have got a very extensive and complex blitz package that we’re going to have to be as sharp as we’ve been all year in order to deal with it. … They do a nice job. They really do.”
One guy eagerly anticipating Sunday is tight end Brandon Myers, the former Raider who came to the Giants as a free agent after Oakland made no attempt to keep him. He knows the Raiders and said seven passing touchdowns is an abomination.
“If you look back to previous games, their defense is pretty stout. … It might have been one of those things where when things started going bad, they went bad. You can’t look at last week and think that’s how they’re going to play,” said Myers, who admitted the game “absolutely” will be emotional.
“I know a lot of people over there. Obviously you want to step up and play well,” Myers said. “And after what happened last week, they’ll be ready.”