OAKLAND – As the Giants hoped to beat the Raiders and clinch the NFC East title here last night, Kerry Collins was the strong-armed impediment standing in the way. Collins remains angry with the way the Giants paved the road for his departure prior to the 2004 season; finishing up a dreadful season in the Bay Area, he wanted to go out with an impressive showing against his former team.
He did that, though he did not “exact a little revenge,” as he had hoped. Collins fired away, completing 26 of 48 passes for 331 yards and three touchdowns, but he received virtually no help from his running game (25 yards) as the Giants escaped McAfee Coliseum with a 30-21 victory to clinch the NFC East title.
Collins gave his terrible team (4-12) a chance, firing two scoring passes to Randy Moss (7-116) and one to Doug Gabriel (8-100). The Raiders trailed by nine points with 3:44 remaining when, for some reason they stopped relying on Collins. On first-and-goal from the Giants 1-yard line, Collins stood by as the Giants stuffed Zack Crockett on three consecutive plays. Collins was stopped on a fourth-down quarterback sneak.
“Playing against the Giants was a big deal to me,” said Collins, who chatted with many of his former teammates on the field prior to the game. “I have formed many brotherhoods with many of the players on that team.”
When the Giants released Collins there was widespread disgust among his teammates. It was Collins who helped spark a revitalization of the Giants’ offense; it was Collins who reinvented his career in his five years in New York, and it was Collins who helped lead the Giants to Super Bowl XXXV following the 2000 season.
Collins has had a rocky road in Oakland. Last season he started 13 games for a Raiders team that finished 5-11. Collins is 7-21 in his starts as a Raider and he’s hearing it from the fans at the Black Hole, who direct their frustration at him.
With a salary cap figure of about $12.9 million next season, there’s little chance of Collins returning at that price, and likely, not for any price. He’s due a roster bonus of $2.5 million in March, meaning he probably will be gone before that, considering the Raiders could shave about $9.2 million off their cap by letting Collins go.
