The New York Giants aren’t good enough to play dumb. And you’d be dumb to bet against the Seattle Seahawks making the playoffs — since the toughest stretch of their 2022 schedule is now behind them.
The Seahawks are 5-3 and alone atop the NFC West because they played like a totally different team on defense than they did the first month of the season. And because the Giants imploded in ways they haven’t all year.
It was an ugly, weird game in a way we should have expected, considering the teams involved. And the way this NFL season has gone, it’s entirely possible the teams involved will meet again at the very same venue in 11 weeks.
Seattle Seahawks Suffocate New York Giants
The Seahawks’ defense was terrible the first five weeks of the season. It was fantastic Sunday. Seattle sacked Daniel Jones five times and limited the Giants to 3.5 yards per play to win for the third straight week.
The Seahawks have allowed just 45 points during that three-game stretch after giving up 154 in the first five weeks.
This might have been Clint Hurtt’s best work yet. The Seahawks DC out-coached Brian Daboll, who had overseen a mostly efficient offense through the season’s first seven weeks.
But the No. 1 reason the Giants are 6-2 instead of 7-1? Richie James forgot how to hang onto the football. James fumbled two punt returns Sunday — turnovers that the Seahawks converted into 10 points. James now has eight fumbles in 175 career touches (including special teams) — an unacceptable rate.
Daboll can fix that problem easily enough. Simply find a more dependable option to catch punts going forward. His issues on offense, meanwhile, are a bit more concerning.
The Giants still haven’t scored 28 or more all year, and when teams sell out to stop Saquon Barkley, Daniel Jones needs to make them pay.
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Jones did not Sunday. He completed just 55% of his passes with 5.7 yards per attempt. The Giants need to get him some help on the outside ahead of Tuesday’s trade deadline.
The Seahawks should also be buyers. They’re now 61% to make the playoffs, per FiveThirtyEight, and if they beat the 49ers in Week 15, will probably win the division for the second time in three seasons.
The Seahawks’ remaining opponents have a combined winning percentage of .441 — meaning Seattle has the fourth-easiest remaining strength of schedule in the NFC.
The most encouraging part of the Seahawks’ performance? They won comfortably despite a so-so day from their offense. The Giants held them to 277 yards and 3 of 13 on third downs.
But that didn’t matter because the Seahawks’ defense was fantastic, with eight tackles for loss, eight quarterback hits, and six pass breakups (including three by Mike Jackson).
“They’re hanging together and they’re playing together and they know that they can improve,” Seahawks coach Pete Carroll said. “… Nobody’s satisfied at all. It’s a great feeling. We’re in good position in the division to make some noise.”