New York Giants Make the Grade in 17-12 Win Over Seattle Seahawks | Report Card
Wow!
That’s not so much that the Giants found a way to beat the Seattle Seahawks 17-12 in what turned out to be a low-scoring game to become the first member of the four-team NFC East to beat a team with a winning record this year, as it is how the Giants went about it.
And if how they went about it is familiar to those who remember the Bill Parcells teams of the 1980s and the Tom Coughlin earlier years, then good eye. The 2020 team went after their latest challenge deploying a mix of old-school football principles that Parcells and Coughlin lived and died by: Power rushing and great defense.
It’s a tried and true formula, and it worked to perfection, as noted in the mostly passing grades from this week’s game.
Rushing Offense: A
Power football. I can’t say it enough. The Giants running game, stymied in the first half to the tune of 32 rushing yards on 11 carries, went heavy in the second half after they had enough of Seahawks safety Jamal Adams wrecking things at every turn, and the results were phenomenal.
Five of the Giants longest plays from scrimmage were running pays, highlighted by the beautiful 60-yard run by Wayne Gallman. He benefitted from second-level blocking from tight end Kaden Smith (part of that heavy package) and receiver Darius Slayton.
Closer to the line of scrimmage, how bout Shane Lemieux lining up at fullback—not a new look but one used a little more frequently this week—and paving the way for Eli Penny, who by the way continues to see an uptick in his snaps?
The Giants running game not only moved the chains, but it also kept Russell Wilson and that Seahawks offense off the field, and that alone helped in a significant way. The final tally? A season-high 190 rushing yards on 31 carries and two touchdowns against a top-5 run defense.
Passing Offense: B
The passing offense took a back seat to the run game, attempting just 22 passes, but you can’t go by the numbers in this case. Quarterback Colt McCoy, playing for the inactive Daniel Jones, did what he needed to do, which is not lose the game, and he didn’t appear to make any glaring errors.
Two of his biggest throws for which he’ll probably not get the credit he deserves came on the Giants' final drive of the game.
The first came on a 3rd-and-5, which if McCoy doesn’t hit Evan Engram for the first down, the Seahawks get the ball back with a little over four minutes to go—plenty of time to take the lead.
Likewise, McCoy's second huge throw made on that drive was converting a 2nd-and-7 to Darius Slayton for 14 yards. Again, if that throw isn’t made, the Giants have third and long, and who knows what happens next.
McCoy and company couldn’t quite run out the clock as their drive stalled on another 3rd and 5, but by the time the Seahawks got the ball back, they had 1:48 left in the game--sufficient time, yes, but not a lot of room for error.
Run Defense: A
Another of my biggest concerns about this game was how the Giants would fare against running back Chris Carson, a load of a challenge who didn’t get much mention last week.
Ah, but the Giants had a plan for him as well, and Carson was held to just 65 yards on 13 carries. Ditto Russell Wilson, who didn’t hurt the Giants with his legs either. Wilson finished with 45 yards on seven carries, and the Giants' run defense wasn’t giving up any of the inside rushing lanes.
And how about safety Jabrill Peppers, who looks right at home down in the box. Peppers guards his area with the ferociousness of a man on a mission, and he added to a string of fine performances this season with a five-tackle day that included a sack, a tackle for a loss, a quarterback hit, and two passes defensed. Peppers has played some of his best ball down this stretch, and did I mention that he hasn’t missed a tackle in his last three games?
Pass Defense: A+
If Leonard Williams doesn’t get NFC Defensive Player of the Week Honors, something is wrong with the voting process. Williams was both a terror against the run and the pass, but especially against the pass where he accounted for five of the Giants total quarterback hits and 2.5 of the team's five sacks, hitting a new career-high in sacks along the way.
And how about cornerback James Bradberry and the job he did on D.K. Metcalf? Metcalf’s longest catch of the day was 21 yards, but otherwise, Bradberry did an outstanding job keeping him quiet. On the other side, Isaac Yiadom, who is my early pick for “Most Improved Player of the Year” on this team, held his own against Tyler Lockett, the other half the Seattle 1-2 punch in its passing game.
Special Teams: D
For the second week in a row, the Giants special teams nearly cost the Giants a close game. The biggest blunder was the blocked punt on a ball that thankfully rolled out of the end zone for a safety. If that ball gets recovered by the Seahawks, it becomes a 10-0 game at the half instead of a 5-0 game—big difference.
And then, to make matters worse, Riley Dixon’s free-kick was returned 32 yards by D.J. Reed in yet another coverage breakdown by the unit.
Want more? Levine Toilolo was called for a false start on a punt coverage in the third quarter; Graham Gano missed his first PAT of the year, and Dixon couldn’t quite pin the Seahawks deep in their territory late in the game when he over kicked the ball, and it went for a touchback.
Gano’s 48-yard field goal, his 25th straight, saves this unit from a complete failing grade, but make no mistake about it: this was a poor overall showing by a unit that’s otherwise been a team strength.
Coaching: A+
Raise your hand if you had concerns of Seattle looking to clamp down on the Giants' successful running game from the last several weeks and force backup quarterback Colt McCoy to beat them. Yeah, I did too, but oh, those crafty Giants coaches.
After having the run game smothered in the first half, the Giants coaching staff did something previous staff didn’t do much. They adjusted.
And the adjustment they came out with was to run a lot of heavy personnel sets, which made the difference and, more importantly, helped them stick to their initial plan of letting the ground game carry the load this week to take some of the onus off the passing game.
Defensively, what can you say about Patrick Graham that hasn’t already been said? Graham’s game plans have consistently confused even the most experienced quarterbacks, who think they know what they’re seeing only to be fooled by something else.
And what else can you say about schemes and play calls that allow guys like Niko Lalos, Cam Brown, and Tae Crowder, to name a few, who came up with big plays?
We’re not talking household names here, but darn it all, these guys have sure been playing like household names of late thanks to Graham’s genius. And isn’t that what the very modest and humbled Graham wants for his players?
Lastly, shout out to Joe Judge for making the “hard decision” in telling Daniel Jones, “No, you are not playing this week.” In his post-game press conference, Judge spoke about how Jones lobbied to play despite his hamstring issue.
But Judge decided to leave Jones inactive rather than bend to his starting quarterback’s wishes. Hey, sometimes you have to make those decisions, and kudos to Judge for doing what was best for both the player, whom they’re going to need down this stretch and the team.
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