Why NY Giants Defense Should Be Able to Feast on Raiders Offense

Breaking down the Raiders offense and where it's most vulnerable ahead of the Week 17 matchup with the NY Giants.

Dec 21, 2025; Houston, Texas, USA; Las Vegas Raiders quarterback Geno Smith (7) reacts after throwing a touchdown pass against the Houston Texans during the second quarter at NRG Stadium. | Troy Taormina-Imagn Images

The New York Giants have had one of their worst defenses in recent memory, especially considering the expectations entering the year.

But their next opponent, the Las Vegas Raiders, has a pretty bad offense. One that has only scored more than 20 points once in the past seven weeks, that coming last week against the Houston Texans.

Let’s take a look at the Raiders' offense and where the Giants' defense might hold the advantage.

Personnel

The Geno Smith quarterback experiment in Las Vegas hasn’t gone according to plan in 2025, and he certainly hasn’t been able to find the success he once had with Pete Carroll in Seattle.

After the career resurgence he had in 2022, Smith now has back-to-back seasons with 15 interceptions, tied with Miami’s Tua Tagovailoa for the most in the league in 2025.

Smith is completing 67.1% of his passes, with 2,849 passing yards and 18 passing touchdowns, although last week against the Texans was one of his more efficient performances of the season.

The inefficient passing is especially alarming considering Smith has been one of the more conservative starters in the league with an average depth of target of just 6.9 yards per attempt, the second-lowest among qualifiers.

In the 2025 NFL Draft, the Raiders used the sixth overall pick to add Boise State’s Ashton Jeanty to their roster, and it was met with much of the same criticism the Giants faced when drafting Saquon Barkley.

Drafting a running back early without the offensive line to support the selection makes what is usually a “plug-and-play” selection now have some pushback.

Jeanty has 828 rushing yards and five rushing touchdowns this year, with 703 of his yards coming after contact– that’s 84.9% of his yards.

To supplement the lack of rushing lanes, the Raiders have thrown to Jeanty often; his 50 receptions are tied for second on the team.

The Island of Misfit Toys–that is the Raiders' wide receiver room–features Tre Tucker, rookie Jack Bech, and veteran Tyler Lockett, all at varying points in their careers.

Tucker has a career-high in targets, catches, and touchdowns, but is being force-fed the ball near the line of scrimmage at points and hasn’t seen nearly as many explosive plays as he’s used to.

Bech has just recently entered the starting lineup and has found a bit of a rhythm with Smith, while Lockett is in the twilight of his career but has been a familiar face since joining the Raiders after his release by the Titans.

Tight end Brock Bowers is leading the Raiders in every receiving category after his record-breaking rookie year in 2024, but, like the rest of the offense, has seen a significant dip in production from last year to this. Bowers, however, has been placed on IR so he won't be a factor this weekend.

Playing through injury, Smith’s struggles, and the offensive line's struggles have all played a larger role in that dip than Bowers's struggles alone, however.

Dec 7, 2025; Paradise, Nevada, USA; Las Vegas Raiders tight end Brock Bowers (89) leaves the field following a game against the Denver Broncos at Allegiant Stadium. | Stephen R. Sylvanie-Imagn Images

Bowers’ running mate at tight end is Michael Mayer, the third-year man out of Notre Dame. Mayer is more of a blocking tight end than an actual receiving threat, but there are occasional games when he gets targeted a handful of times.

This Raiders offensive line might be the worst in the NFL, fielding from left to right: Stone Forsythe, Dylan Parham, Alex Cappa, Caleb Rogers, and DJ Glaze.

Giants fans may be familiar with Forsythe’s stint with the team earlier this year, as he struggled throughout the preseason. Now, he is the Raiders' starting left tackle, as Kolton Miller has missed most of the year with an injury.

Parham and Glaze are the only linemen who have played in all 15 games on the offensive side of the ball. Glaze has allowed the fourth-most pressures among tackles this season; Forsythe has allowed the eighth-most.

Scheme

The Raiders offense throws the ball at the fifth-highest rate in the NFL right now, with 61.9% of their plays being passing plays.

While the easy assumption is that the Raiders are often trailing, so they need to throw the ball, that would be incorrect. Even when leading or tied, the Raiders have thrown the ball at the second-highest rate in the NFL at 57.3%.

The real reason the Raiders throw the ball so much is their aforementioned terrible offensive line, which struggles in both pass protection and run blocking, making running plays essentially negative plays.

The Raiders are currently generating -.26 EPA/rush, the worst EPA/rush in the NFL, and twice as bad as the second-worst.

Despite the high pass rate, the Raiders run play-action on 25.6% of their passing plays, ranking 13th.

Numbers show that teams don’t need an effective rushing attack to benefit from play-action passing, although it certainly helps.

This Raiders offense will live out of 11- and 12-personnel, using those two groupings on over 90% of their offensive snaps. It’s especially unsurprising considering how effective both Bowers and Mayer have been this season for the offense.

In the run game, the Raiders will rely heavily on inside zone, including split zone, to try to create their push.

Overview

Dec 14, 2025; East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA; New York Giants linebacker Abdul Carter (51) and safety Tyler Nubin (27) celebrate a defensive stop during the first quarter against the Washington Commanders at MetLife Stadium. | Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

If there was ever a game where the Giants' defense should get on track, this would be the one.

Of course, the expectation is that the Giants' defense will somehow still give up 25+ points, as they’ve done in four of their last five games.

Still, this is one that the Giants' defensive front should be able to win in the trenches, with both Brian Burns and Abdul Carter being put in position to wreak havoc on Smith and Jeanty in the backfield.

Against the Vikings last week, we saw the secondary either make plays or be in position to make plays. There should be more of those opportunities to do so on Sunday.

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