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Giants (1-2) Seahawks (2-1)
Last Sunday the Seattle Seahawks were honoring
their Super Bowl championship team from 10 years ago, and the fans got into it.
The Seahawks were trailing Carolina 13-12 at the half, and with the assist of
some noise, the Panthers committed eight false start penalties. The Seahawks won
their game 37-27.
The Giants took a one sided 30-12 loss to the 49ers in the
Thursday night game in San Francisco. They played the Seahawks last October in
Seattle. It was a 13-13 tie in the fourth quarter, but the Giants were quiet while
Seahawks scored two touchdowns to secure a 27-13 win.
Seattle Seahawks
Russell Wilson was the
starting quarterback for the Seahawks for ten years. During that time the team
was in the playoffs in all but two. The first time the Seahawks missed out on
the playoffs was when they had a 9-7 record in 2017. The second time was 2021
and the 7-10 finish was their first losing season in ten years. Wilson had complained
at previous times that he wasn't getting enough protection and taking too many
hits. Going into 2021, Wilson had been sacked 394 times in his nine seasons, and
at least 40 times in every season since 2013.
In 2021 Wilson missed 3 games
with an injury, and had taken 33 sacks. Backup quarterback Geno Smith took 13,
for a team total of 46 on the year. Wilson wanted more of a say in personnel matters,
and the way things turned out, the team and Wilson parted ways. Wilson agreed
to waive his no-trade provision, and the Denver Broncos agreed to the Seahawks
terms involving their starting quarterback Drew Lock, and draft picks in order
to acquire Wilson. Smith beat out Lock for the 2022 starting job and guided the
team to a 9-8 record and a wildcard spot. They ended up losing to the San Francisco
49ers 41-23. Seattle Seahawks
Offense
Much the same as Smith was 'discovered' by his own team, running back Kenneth
Walker III was the backup to Rashaad Penny when Penny was injured in the fifth
game last year. Walker went on to lead the team in carries, yards, and with 9
rushing touchdowns. Penny has moved on to the Eagles, and Walker is the lead back
now. He has carried the ball 47 times for 204 yards, and already has 4 touchdowns.
Walker also leads the team with 13 first downs, and is being used by Seattle more
as a receiver than he was called on to be last year. Walker has caught 8 of 10
passes for 73 yards, and 4 more first downs.
The current top receiver on the
team, as he's been the past two seasons as well, is DK Metcalf, who's caught 15
passes for 234 yards and 1 touchdown. Tyler Lockett and Metcalf have been close
with most of their numbers, catches, yards, and touchdowns, since Metcalf came
onto the scene in 2019. Their consistent durability, and ability to add yards
after the catch is one of the reasons they both passed the 1000 yard mark last
year. Seattle Seahawks
Defense
Their passing defense ranked 13th
last year, and their rushing defense was 30th. So far in three games those numbers
have swung the other way, passing 31st and rushing 6th, as they are allowing just
over 79 rushing yards a game. They were in a groove last week, allowing just 44
rushing yards playing against Carolina's Miles Sanders and his group. Their improvement
in that area is not good news for the Giants if top running back Saquon Barkley
is still sidelined.
The Seahawks needed a better pass rush, and they signed
on outside linebacker Uchenna Nwosu. It was a good move, and the team finished
up tied for 7th in sacks last year with 45. Nwosu and Darrell Taylor were responsible
for 19 of those sacks, 9.5 each. In the Giants last meeting with the Seahawks,
Nwosu logged 2 of the 5 sacks they put on Daniel Jones.
The Seahawks upfront
pressure is good, and they are looking forward to the return of safety Jamal Adams
who suffered a knee injury in the season opener last year. With the coverage of
the current group, the Seahawks are giving up an average of 328 passing yards
a game. If Jones does get some time to pass, it should be noted that four players
in the secondary, Julian Love S, Quandre Diggs S, Tre Brown CB. and Coby Bryant
CB were listed as questionable earlier on. Currently, cornerback Artie Burns is
out, Bryant is doubtful, and the safetys are off the list. NY
Giants Offense
The Giants have been shuffling
the offensive line since the start of the season, and they have been up against
some tough opposition. The only consistency has been rookie John Michael Schmitz
at center,and Evan Neal at right tackle. They say that Daniel Jones has been pressured
on 46.7 percent of his dropbacks, which is the highest rate in the league. Because
of the schedule, the offense has had some extra time to see what they'll be up
against this week when they face the Seahawks. Maybe that small edge will show
up in this game, as Jones could use a little extra time to hit his group of receivers.
They
could do a bit better as well. Darren Waller caught only 3 of the 7 passes Jones
threw his way, and he knocked one up in the air for an interception. Parris Campbell
was next up, targeted 6 times, and while he caught all of them, there were no
yards after the catch and he totaled only 24 yards.
Considering how poor
the rushing attack looked last game playing without Saquon Barkley, you might
expect to see Jones hanging on to the ball more for some designed runs. Using
his legs for yardage could afford running back Matt Breida better opportunities
to break out, as the Seattle defense has to be sure before they commit. Giants
Defense
The Giants put in some extra work
this week to improve the poor tackling issue. Last week against the 49ers, the
defense had 16 missed tackles. None of that helps when you are trying to get the
other team off the field, and you're giving up third and long plays. Linebacker
Micah McFadden has been playing well, and he had 10 tackles against the 49ers,
and 4 were tackles for loss. There may be opportunities this week for Leonard
Williams, Dexter Lawrence, Kavyon Thibodeaux, and Azeez Ojulari as Seattle's offensive
line has been dealing with some issues.
The defense did come up with their
first two sacks of the season last game, but still no turnovers. They will have
to play sharp against wide receiver DK Metcalf. He's been the most productive
when Geno Smith looks his way, catching 15 of 19 passes for an impressive total
of 234 yards and one touchdown. Smith's connection with Tyler Lockett hasn't been
as smooth so far. Lockett's caught 13 of 21 for 103 yards, but he has caught 2
of Smith's 4 passing touchdowns. Overall
Was Ben McAdoo right when he benched Eli Manning
for Geno Smith back in 2017? Both McAdoo and Smith ended up off the team after
that, and maybe it was the timing that was the real problem. If things had turned
out different, who knows. Maybe in 2019 Smith would have still been with the Giants
when they were deciding to draft Daniel Jones. For this game the Giants, who are
coming off a week earlier Thursday night game, have had the benefit of an extended
amount of time to prepare.
Their coaches and all the players had the opportunity
to watch the Seahawks play in their Sunday game with Carolina as it happened,
with feelings as to how they might handle some of the plays. Obviously both teams
routinely review game films, but some clips may now make more of an impression,
and some thoughts might sink in harder. NFC
East Games
Sunday at 1:00pm Commanders
(2-1) at Eagles (3-0).
Sunday at 4:25pm Patriots (1-2) at Cowboys (2-1).
Monday
at 8:15pm Giants (1-2) at Seahawks (2-1)
The Eagles and Cowboys are the NFC
East teams favored to win in these games.
Check out.
Giants
On The Air. Listen to the Radio Broadcasts.
TeamGiants on Twitter.
Next Games
Oct
8 Giants at Dolphins
Oct 15 Giants at Bills
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