The New York Giants (2-6) will take on the Las Vegas Raiders (3-5) this Sunday afternoon at Allegiant Stadium in their ninth game of the 2023 regular season.
Opening the week, the Giants were 3-point home underdogs but given the chaos in Las Vegas, that line has dipped to +1.5 as of this writing.
How does the Giants Wire staff see this Week 9 battle shaking out? Here’s a look at our picks and score predictions:
Dan Benton: Raiders 16, Giants 10
Before the madness in Las Vegas, I had the Raiders beating the Giants by a relatively narrow margin. Now that everything has been completely shaken up, I am more inclined to believe the Giants can go on the road and pick up their third win of the season. However, I’ve had faith in them previously and they’ve managed to find new and gut-wrenchingly inventive ways to lose and there’s no reason to believe that suddenly stops now. Another new low point for Big Blue.
John Fennelly: Giants 20, Raiders 13
The Darren Waller revenge game will not take place as Waller has been ruled out with a hamstring injury. The Giants could have both OTs (Andrew Thomas, Evan Neal) back and the Raiders’ best defensive player (game-wrecking DE Maxx Crosby) has been limited all week with knee and ankle issues.
We’re expecting a game UNDER the projected total points (37.0) with two struggling offenses, one behind a QB returning after a month from injury (Daniel Jones) and the other behind a backup in Aidan O’Connell, who will be making his second NFL start. We also have one head coach (Antonio Pierce) making his NFL debut and the other (Brian Daboll) being second-guessed left and right.
The Giants can win this game if their defense continues to play at the level they’ve played the last three games. They’ve allowed an NFL-low 11.3 PPG over that period while the Raiders have only averaged 15.7 PPG on offense.
Tyler Henry: Giants 24, Raiders 14
Daniel Jones and Saquon Barkley are back on the field together for the first time since Week 2. The Giants’ defense is playing their best football all year long.
The bigger reason I think the Giants take care of business on Sunday is because of the Raiders. They are off of a short week with an interim head coach, a new offensive coordinator, and a rookie quarterback. Wink Martindale’s defense will look to take advantage of the rookie quarterback and I think the defense will shine once again.
I see the Giants pulling away late in the 4th to go up by 10 and never look back.
This game is a matchup between two bad teams, but I just think after the major changes in the Raiders organization this week, it’s going to take some time for them to make the necessary adjustments to compete.
Kevin Hickey: Giants 20, Raiders 13
The return of Daniel Jones will be enough to get the Giants a win this week as they can actually use the passing attack to some extent. Saquon Barkley finds the end zone while Jalin Hyatt catches a long touchdown pass. The defense is able to stifle rookie Aiden O’Connell enough to pull out a road win.
Jeevan Kirkland: Giants 23, Raiders 17
In Daniel Jones’ first game back, he squared off against a rookie backup quarterback and a franchise that has just blown everything up.
The Raiders were already struggling before the trade deadline but now that they were unable to make any big moves they have blown everything up, firing their general manager, head coach, and offensive coordinator.
The Giants’ defense should be able to feast against the rookie quarterback and struggling offense, giving Jones and Saquon Barkley plenty of opportunities to score against a leaky Raiders defense.
The Giants should be able to control this game from start to finish.
Serena Burks: Giants 20, Raiders 14
The Raiders are trying to turn their season around after firing their head coach and benching Jimmy G. The Giants finally get DJ back, but have a void to fill where Leonard Williams lined up. There are a lot of unknowns in this game, and while the Raiders are favored, I think the Giants have a solid opportunity to win on Sunday.
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