George bombs Raiders to victory
Oakland Raiders’ QB Jeff George is having a career-year despite the Raiders’ struggles as a team. They are now 2-8 with their victory over the New Orleans Saints on Sunday, 33-13, but they have had an All-Pro season from George. He continues to put up unbelievable numbers in the passing game.
On Sunday, it was George’s big play ability that propelled the Raiders to victory. George threw two dynamic TD passes. One was an 80-yard bomb to WR James Jett, and the other was a 57-yarder to RB Napolean Kaufman. In the game, George threw for 258 yards on just 15 of 26 passing with the 2 TDs.
On the season, George is the leading passer in the AFC. He has completed 56.6% of his passes for 2,727 yards and 21 TD passes. The amazing part of his performance is that he has only thrown one interception all season. He has a 103 passing rating and that is second to only Steve Young in the entire NFL.
The Raiders also got a huge performance from RB Kaufman on the ground. Once the Raiders got the lead, Kaufman went to work. He rushed 28 times for 153 yards on the day.
As for the Saints, they have been one of the most surprising teams of the 1997 season. Most experts picked the Saints to finish at the bottom of the NFC West and no one thought they would be contending for the division title let alone a Wildcard position. However, despite their surprising start, the Saints fell back to Earth on Sunday.
QB Heath Shuler threw for 228 yards in the game, but he threw another interception. That gives Shuler 18 INTs on the season. The Saints’ defense has been the strength of the team, but they gave up 409 yards to the Raiders with 164 of it coming on the ground.
Next week, the Saints (6-3) will take on another surprising team in the Superdome…the Seattle Seahawks. As for the 2-8 Raiders, they will play on Sunday Night Football next week against the San Diego Chargers at Qualcomm Stadium in San Diego.