Giants lose to the Seahawks 24-3

"It was a rainy night the last time the fans at MetLife Stadium got to see the Giants play, and it didn't turn out well for the Giants or the fans as the Cowboys left town with a 40-0 win. Well the weather was much better tonight, but that old Carpenters song came into my mind. 'Rainy days and Monday's always get me down', and this was a Monday night game. We didn't know if Saquon Barkley would be able to play, or if it would be wise or make sense for him to play, up until close to game time. It turned out that Barkley was inactive, as well as left tackle Andrew Thomas, but we knew that already.
Things started out well for the Giants with Daniel Jones connecting on every pass, and along with Matt Breida and Wan'Dale Robinson, running for yardage up until he was sacked at the Seattle 37-yard line. Soon facing a 4th-and-1 from the 27-yard line, the Giants decided to go for it. I thought that was a bad idea as I wanted to see the Giants score some first drive sure points with an easy field goal. Even making the fourth down there was no guarantee of getting a touchdown after that.
It turned out that I was right, even though I didn't want to be, as the Giants ended the drive with a failed "tush push" play as they call it. This also happened to be the turning point of the game even if I didn't know it then, as rookie center John Michael Schmitz and tight end Daniel Bellinger were both injured on that play and ended up out for the game. The Giants offensive line has been weak without Thomas, and now blocking and pass protection just took another hit.
The Seahawks took over, and on their very first play, running back Ken Walker fell over linebacker Bobby Okereke, got up and ran 73 yards to the endzone for a touchdown. Thankfully on review, they ruled that Walker's elbow had touched the ground. It was a close call that took the touchdown away, and a few plays later, edge rusher Kayvon Thibodeaux came up with a third-down sack on quarterback Geno Smith to end their drive. It was disheartening to see our running back Eric Gray muffed the punt, but it was recovered by the Giants. Jones got things off to a good start, scrambling for 16 yards, but was sacked two plays later, and when the Giants punted, they couldn't keep the ball from going into the endzone, so the Seahawks got to start at their 20-yard line. So far the Giants were doing poorly on offense and special teams, and the defense had caught a lucky break when a Seattle touchdown was reversed.
Things mostly stayed along that pattern, and the Seahawks scored first with a touchdown. Though the Giants later scored on a 55-yard field goal by Graham Gano, the Seahawks added another touchdown, and had a 14-3 lead at the half. Even that Giants field goal drive was marred by a trick play where Jones lateraled to Parris Campbell, who was attempting a throw when he was sacked and lost 8 yards. They couldn't make it up, and luckily Gano can kick 55-yarders or the Giants would have been scoreless.
The second half had no Giants comeback surprises for the fans, and if anything showed how bad the offensive line can be, with Jones scrambling for his life while taking sacks and throwing interceptions, one of which was returned for a touchdown. Suddenly, the special teams unit looks to have issues as well, committing six penalties. Throw in some poor play calling, and I don't know what to say except what has happened to my Giants?"

"If you want to win games or at least look respectable losing them, you have to score points. The Giants have scored only 46 points in four games. If they didn't manage to bunch 31 into one of those games, they wouldn't have any wins on the season. Because of how the schedule worked out the Giants had 11 days to prepare for the visiting Seattle Seahawks. During that time they knew that Andrew Thomas and Saquon Barkley likely would be held out. There was plenty of time to practice and make adjustments for an opposing team that was tough up front, especially against the run, but was also giving up an average of 328 passing yards a game.
By the end of the first half, and true to form, Jones took three sacks, but still completed nearly all his 21 passes for 121 yards while averaging 7.1 yards a throw. As expected, the running game was going nowhere except for Jones four scrambles. Jones lost two offensive players early on, and that became a major factor throughout this game.
With the pass protection he was getting, Jones seemed hesitant on making deep throws. Jones longest pass was to running back Matt Breida for 22 yards in the second quarter on their only scoring drive of the game. Breida catching all the 5 passes thrown to him for 48 yards was the leading receiver of the game. Wan'Dale Robinson was also 5 for 5 for 40 yards, and he ran the ball once for a 7 yard gain.
The Giants best chance for a comeback was in the third quarter when the Seahawks missed on a field goal, giving the Giants good field position. Jones scrambled a number of times on the drive, including running 10 yards on a 4th-and-1. On a 2nd-and-goal from the Seattle 5-yard line things came to an end, when he threw an interception that cornerback Devon Witherspoon ran back for a 97 yard touchdown. The score was 21-3 at that point, and things didn't get better in the fourth quarter when Jones deep pass to Parris Campbell was intercepted by safety Quandre Diggs.
The Seahawks had the ball on the Giants side of the field. They added another field goal. On the Giants next possession Jones was sacked twice more before they punted. Next time, backup quarterback Tyrod Taylor was in for two plays to end the game. Jones finished up completing 27 of 34 passes for 203 yards while taking 10 sacks. The Miami Dolphins and Buffalo Bills are up next in the next two weeks, and right now the Giants don't look like they'll be up to the task. That's especially true if Thomas and some of the newly injured players on offense are not in the mix. Barkley would be missed as well, and without him tonight it was not a running back, but Jones who led the team with 66 rushing yards on 10 carries."

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