New York Giants Week 4: Examining the Seattle Seahawks Offense

Last week was one of the New York Giants’ least enjoyable performances since hiring Brian Daboll as head coach. Hopefully, there's nowhere to go but up from last week's clunker.

It won't be easy, though. Besides the fact that the Giants just don't do well under the lights, they're facing a Seattle Seahawks team that has put up 37 points in each of its last two games.

Let's take a look at that offense.

Personnel

The Seahawks offense has been a well-oiled machine to start the 2023 season, averaging 5.4 yards per play, good for 11th in the NFL. The team also averages 29 points per game, placing them fourth behind only the Miami Dolphins, Buffalo Bills, and San Francisco 49ers.

Quarterback Geno Smith’s career resurgence has continued in Seattle with yet another year of operating this offense to move the ball consistently downfield, take care of the football, and show up when his team needs him to.

On the year, Smith has the highest drop-adjusted completion percentage in the NFL amongst qualifiers with five or more dropbacks--accounting for drops, he would be completing 83.3% of his passes.

Smith has been lethal as a passer, and while he’s not throwing the ball deep downfield consistently, what he’s done is impressive in making good decisions with the football and being the field general.

Giants Need to Slow Down Seahawks RB Kenneth Walker III

In the run game, it’s been all Kenneth Walker III. There was expected to be more of a committee with rookie Zach Charbonnet, but to this point, Walker has played almost double the snaps of Charbonnet.

Walker’s been unable to rip off the explosive runs we saw from him last season, but that’s mostly due to an offensive line that’s been dealing with injuries all year. Last year, Walker picked up 43.2 percent of his total yardage from 15 yards or longer. This season, that number has dropped to just 25 percent.

Despite the fall-off in explosive plays, Walker has arguably been more consistent in his ability to churn forward and pick up decent gains on the ground. But as a pass-catcher, Walker has made his biggest strides, becoming a safety valve for Smith while also being asked to line up more out of the backfield and be involved in the passing game.

Mr. Reliable, Tyler Lockett continued to do Tyler Lockett things as he’s been the most targeted receiver in this offense, with DK Metcalf coming in as a close second. Lockett and Metcalf have combined this season for 28 catches, 337 yards, and three touchdowns, with 78 of those yards after the catch.

The Seahawks used a first-round pick on Jaxon Smith-Njigba out of Ohio State, but he’s been underwhelming as his usage confuses fans and media alike. Smith-Njigba was lauded for his route-running ability as a Buckeye, and to this point, he has been used as nothing more than a quick game weapon with nine catches for just 57 yards and an average depth of target of just 2.4 yards.

Noah Fant, Will Dissly, and Colby Parkinson have all been contributors at tight end for the Seahawks this season. Dissly was inactive for the team's Week 3 game against the Carolina Panthers but could return for Monday Night Football.

Noah Fant is a matchup nightmare at tight end and has been since he was with the Iowa Hawkeyes, although the struggle has been finding ways to consistently get him involved in the offense. He presents a similar athletic issue as Darren Waller, although Fant isn't as clean of a route runner and is a significantly better blocker.

The Seahawks are certainly hoping that Dissly will be available against the Giants as he’s established himself not only as the best blocking tight end on the roster but also as one of the best blockers at the position in the entire NFL.

The Seahawks will also potentially have starting offensive tackle Charles Cross back this week, giving the team a big boost on the offensive line.

Scheme

There are few teams that utilize the tight end the way that the Seahawks do, making it a crucial part of their gameplan and how creative they are with the package. Offensive line injuries have caused the Seahawks to use more tight ends in pass protection than usual, but they’ve found success operating that way.

The Seahawks' pre-snap motion has been a key part of their offense this season, and it’s been in the cards for some time, but they were never very comfortable with their receiving options to utilize it enough. Now they have Smith-Njigba to be that man, and his role is that of the jet sweep man and flat target, which we suppose is a poor excuse for why his average depth of target is so low.

Seattle is another team that has adopted the wide zone as their weapon of choice in the ground game, as offensive coordinator Shane Waldron was with the Los Angeles Rams under Sean McVay before taking the Seattle job. One wrinkle of Waldron’s is to run a "split zone."

In the split zone, there is a tight end on either side of the offensive line, and once the ball is snapped, he runs to the opposite side as a backside blocker. This allows him to not only seal any backside defenders off from making a play but also give the running back an additional cutback lane to look for.

In the passing game, the Seahawks like to keep the focal point relatively short but also work crossers and other intermediate in-breaking routes that keep the receiver moving in to allow them to push the ball a bit. Smith has been exceptional here, going 15/15 on passes 10-19 yards downfield this season.

When the Seahawks look to get their screen game going, Smith-Njigba is often the receiver they’ll use in hopes of creating yards after the catch. The screen isn’t a massive part of the offense, but they look for it a few times per game.

What This Means for the Giants

The Giants are a very aggressive defense--everybody knows and understands that. Against the Seahawks, it’s fine to be that aggressive, but the amount of missed tackles this team has had so far is unacceptable. Last week against the 49ers, the Giants had 16 missed tackles, and with an offense like the Seahawks that also wants to get in space, they can’t have a repeat performance.

The best way to demolish zone blocking is to clog the rushing lanes with interior defensive linemen, let the linebackers fill the remaining gaps, and then have safeties come up and make the tackle in the run game. Dexter Lawrence and Leonard Williams did their jobs on film consistently, but the players behind them did not.

The most frustrating part of this defensive system is that when things go poorly, they go REALLY poorly. Last week, although the pressure was getting home consistently, the coverage lacked and allowed short completions for yards after catch. I expect defensive coordinator Wink Martindale to continue to bring heat but slow it down slightly to avoid a repeat performance.

Final Thoughts

The running game isn’t the scary part of this Seahawks offense as long as the defensive front does its job.

The scary part is that Waldron is no newbie in developing a passing game to pick apart a defense. Right now, the Giants don’t have the secondary to operate Matindale’s defense at a high level, so they could fall victim again.

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