It took until Week 10, but finally things are going right for the Giants. They’re coming off a bye and carrying a two-game winning streak into Sunday afternoon’s matchup against the Raiders at MetLife Stadium. There are plenty of reasons to believe the Giants (2-6) are in for another good weekend; here are three of them.
Brown’s back in town
Softening the bad news of David Wilson’s season being over is the activation of Andre Brown from the injured reserve. The running back broke his leg in the preseason, but was projected to be a big goal-line contributor in the running game. He scored eight touchdowns last season in just 10 games and averaged 5.3 yards per carry. The combination of Brown and Peyton Hillis might be enough to turn around the fortunes of a team that has averaged 69.9 rushing yards per contest.
Awful Oakland
At times, the Raiders (3-5) show promise. Last week’s 49-20 loss on their home field to the Eagles was not one of them. The defense allowed itself to be embarrassed by quarterback Nick Foles, who tossed seven touchdown passes. It didn’t help that starting running back Darren McFadden left the game early due to injury. He’s unlikely to make an appearance against the Giants. As well as the going has been for Big Blue, it seems equally bad for Oakland.
Packin’
the sacks
The Giants pass rush appears to be snapping out of its season-long stupor. The team has as many sacks (five) during the current two-game winning streak as it did during the season-opening six-game skid. Their most recent victory, 15-7 against the Eagles in Week 8, included four sacks. They’re still last in the NFL in that department, but they are trending upward. Considering that Oakland’s Terrelle Pryor is the seventh most-sacked quarterback in the league, the Giants figure to keep it going.
