For as bad as the Giants have been this year, their defensive line has been pretty good. And defensive coordinator Wink Martindale is known for bringing the heat on opposing quarterbacks.
The duo of Kayvon Thibodeaux and Dexter Lawrence have a combined 11.5 sacks and 24 QB hits. But on Sunday in Vegas they combined for zero in both categories.
The entire starting five for the Raiders played every snap in the game. Those five from left to right were LT Kolton Miller, LG Dylan Parham, C Andre James, RG Greg Van Roten, and RT Jermaine Eluemunor.
New interim head coach Antonio Pierce — who spent the latter half of his ten-year NFL career as a player with the Giants — was determined to make sure these guys were put in the best position to help the Raiders offense function at a high level.
“I was in every meeting with the Oline this week. I was their best friend,” said Pierce, with a smile. “I was encouraging them, I was trying to learn the terminology obviously, coming from the other side of the ball the last two years and not really focusing on their terminology, their techniques, their fundamentals and how they coach and talk. But being over there just to give words of encouragement because that’s a good group. And they’re a tight knit group. And I think that was showcased last night. If you really go back and watch the game, watch where guys come off the ball to the second level. It was impressive. They set the tone the first drive of the game. They are the reason why we’re going to move forward and keep moving forward is because of those guys.”
Along with allowing zero sacks in the game and just one QB hit on rookie Aidan O’Connell, the line opened up holes for Josh Jacobs all game long. It led to Jacobs having his best game of the season, and for a moment late in the game going over 100 yards (before a tackle for loss put him back to 98 yards).
Jacobs setting the tone along with the ability for O’Connell to survey the field and find his receivers went a long way to helping the offense score 30 points when they hadn’t broken 20 points in the previous eight games this season.
