Try as the G-Men might, they just couldn’t out-tank the Silver & Black.
Despite having key pieces inactive to counter the Las Vegas Raiders putting elite tight end Brock Bowers and defensive end Maxx Crosby on injured reserve, the New York Giants derailed the Silver & Black express in a convincing and easy 34-10 victory on Sunday.
But that defeat was no skin of the Raiders’ backs.
The lopsided blowout loss was just one of many in a moribund 2025 campaign under head coach Pete Carroll and trailing 17-3
at halftime was merely the status quo. Additionally, while the visiting New York snapped a nine-game skid, there’s a large portion of Raider Nation that’s elated Las Vegas’ losing streak increased to 10-straight games. Because in this “Stinker Bowl” between two 2-13 teams, to the victor the spoils did not go.
Dropping to 2-14, the Raiders leap to the No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft and have the prize within arm’s reach. Improving to 3-13 overall, the Giants move down to the No. 2 pick. The two bottom dwelling NFL teams can flip flop depending on what happens in the regular season finale: The Raiders could fall to the second overall pick with a win over the Kansas City Chiefs while the Giants can move back up to the top spot by losing to the Dallas Cowboys plus a Raiders defeat.
From a 2025 season standpoint, this rendition of the Raiders are woefully inept. It’s to the point where you can’t even accuse Carroll and Co. of deliberately tanking due to the fact the team’s overall play has been that bad. It’s not “going through the motions”, that’s just how Las Vegas plays under Carroll and his coaching staff. So F- minus there.
Geno Smith was his usual self throwing two untimely interceptions while getting sacked thrice. That duo of picks gives the veteran quarterback the league lead with 17 interceptions. Oh, and he got hurt suffering what Carroll described as a high-ankle sprain.
“Geno has a high ankle sprain and he’ll get checked out in the morning with the MRIs and all that,” Carroll noted in his postgame press conference. “I don’t know what that means, but that’s pretty hard to bounce back from, so that might knock him out next week.”
However, the future is very much in sight for these ragamuffin Raiders and another hapless loss in a season full of them results in a premium top selection. Thus A-plus in that regard. And one more loss means the top overall selection and, presumably, a potential solution to the long-standing quarterback quandary.
Do the Raiders ever need one.
That Spotrac tweet is all well and true. But answering the quarterback conundrum goes a long way into becoming a competitive football team. And the No. 1 overall pick should — emphasis on should — get the Raiders a quarterback prospect in April.
Let’s hit the quick slants as fast as New York Giants cornerback and return man Deonte Banks torched the Las Vegas Raiders kickoff coverage unit for a 95-yard house call at the tail end of the third quarter:
—A week after having an explosive outing, Raiders rookie running back Ashton Jeanty was quite pedestrian with 16 carries for 60 yards (no touchdowns) and two receptions for 13 yards. Jeanty sits at 888 rushing yards and is 112 yards shy of the 1,000-yard mark.
—Raiders tight end Michael Mayer filled in admirably with a team-leading nine catches for 89 yards in the losing effort. He paced the team with 10 targets. Here’s to hoping the number of targets and catches become a thing in 2026.
—Raiders linebacker Devin White continues his stat hound ways with a game-high eight total tackles (four solo). Without Crosby, Las Vegas pass rush was miniscule at best as rookie defensive tackle Tonka Hemingway and defensive end Malcolm Koonce each racked up a sack.
—Las Vegas finished 3-for-13 on third down conversions but 4-for-5 on fourth down attempts. But in terms of total yards, the Giants finished with 343 to the Raiders’ 231. Of that total output, 155 were rushing yards as the Raiders allowed three rushing touchdowns. Giants quarterback Jaxson Dart had two of them (nine carries for 48 yards).
Quotes of Note
“I have no comment to make about that at all. We’re getting along great, we’re communicating really well, we’ll see what happens.”
—Las Vegas Raiders head coach Pete Carroll on his confidence level that the front office would like to have him return as head coach next season
“Yeah, I mean, the things that we were playing for were for each other. To a man in that room and having each other’s back and playing as hard as we can for each other. You get into a football locker room, it’s a family. Sometimes you have to go through the ups and downs, but you understand, you keep on plugging away, keep on putting in the hard work, and then you’ll get the result you want.”
—New York Giants interim head coach Mike Kafka on the Giants and Las Vegas Raiders playing for the No. 1 overall pick in the 2026 NFL Draft
Up Next
The Raiders close out the 2025 campaign with one last home date with the Kansas City Chiefs next Sunday afternoon. The equally ailing Chiefs walk into the season-ending AFC West tilt with a 6-10 overall mark and have a solid shot of drafting a Top 10 prospect this April. But unlike the Las Vegas, Kansas City showed signs of life in it’s Week 17 outing: A 20-13 loss to the AFC West champion Denver Broncos (13-3 overall).
