Two Eagles rivals look to bounce back in Week 9: Matchups, predictions for both games

Giants offense vs. Raiders defense

Daniel Jones is going to be the starting quarterback for this game, so at least that’s good for the Giants. Unfortunately, they have also lost their oft-injured tight end Darren Waller to another hamstring injury.

Waller has led the Giants' offense in receiving, so losing him is going to be massive. That means even more will need to be placed on the plate of running back Saquon Barkley.

Saquon ran the ball 36 times last week. That’s a career-high for him and this is his sixth season in the NFL. That's bad enough, but knowing he did so on MetLife Stadium's artificial turf makes things even worse. You know every tackle was extra painful.

If you're wondering why he was limited for the first two days of practice this week with a designated “ankle” injury, look no further than that. He’s off the injury report now, but you can’t just ignore his missed practice time. That could bear fruit in the game.

The Raiders defense has been really good. Defensive end Maxx Crosby has been playing out of his mind and wrecking games. The main issue with Vegas' performance has been how much time they’ve had to spend on the field.

With their offense playing so poorly, they saw minimal rest. They were often back on the field as quickly as they left. It was tiring to watch. It definitely had to be more tiring to have to be the guys that were doing so. 

Every Raiders game plays out the same way. They are physically and mentally dominated. Such was the case versus the Detroit Lions. They only lost by 12 points though.

It doesn’t make a lot of sense. It is however reality. It's something they'll have to deal with. 

Prediction: Giants +2

Look. This game is ugly and disgusting, but the fact of the matter is that the Giants' defense can keep this game close. The Raiders organization being in chaos helps them. Still, they seem to prefer the chaos over Josh McDaniels’ disgraceful reign, and that alone says a ton.