The New York Giants entered Seattle and dominated the Seahawks for much of the game. Despite the one-sided nature of the affair, Seattle still gave themselves a chance to win the game late in the fourth quarter. Sticking to the script of the afternoon, the Giants defense held strong and forced a field goal attempt from the Giants’ 28-yard line:
Isaiah Simmons played 60 defensive snaps through five games and zero against the Seattle Seahawks, yet Simmons still made his presence known with, what he deemed, the “craziest play of his career.”
The blocked field goal all but sealed the Giants’ victory. The Giants haven’t had performance like this in quite awhile. Complimentary football — 420 yards of offense; seven sacks on defense; and a special teams’ touchdown.
Giants’ offense
Both Giants’ running backs had an impact in the game. Tyrone Tracy Jr. had an epic breakout. He rushed for 127 yards on 18 carries (7.2 YPC). Here are all of his carries from Week 5:
Here are three of his longest runs from Sunday’s win:
Tracy’s nuance as a runner was impressive. Brian Daboll specifically mentioned his ability to press the line of scrimmage, which forces the linebackers to declare and sets up cut-back lanes, especially against two-high shells. Here’s an example of what Daboll was referencing on Tracy’s 27-yard rush:
Gray started the game hot with three catches on the first drive, but he was relegated to a secondary role after his fumble. Gray converted the third-and-17 below and followed it up with an under center screen that went for a first down on the very next play:
The Giants’ blocking up front allowed the Giants to successfully run the football for 175 yards. The Giants attacked the two-high shell with a diverse rushing attack, including plenty of designed quarterback runs. Here are two pancake blocks from the Giants: Greg Van Roten and Theo Johnson.
The Giants used Power-O with the backside OG pulling in the second-half of the game. Jon Runyan Jr. was fantastic in this role; the Giants’ offensive line was sensational all night:
The Giants not only won through sheer force and numbers in the box, but also through design:
It was great to see Darius Slayton play so well. He caught eight of 11 passes for 122 yards with a touchdown. His slide release at the line of scrimmage was elite all night and it set up several of his one-on-one wins to the inside:
Below are several interesting plays by the Giants’ offense, including a few explosive pass plays and touchdown throws by Jones:
The Giants’ defense
New York allowed 102 yards on the deck, but 72 of those came on basically three scrambles by Geno Smith. Geno Smith adjusted to Shane Bowen’s pressure and man coverage by evading the blitz and using his legs to pick up yards. It almost proved to be devastating to the Giants, as Smith scampered for a 32 yard run late in the fourth quarter.
Still, the Giants escaped Seattle with the win, and seven sacks. Here are all the pressure earners from the Giants’ win:
It was another sack city game for the Giants’ defense, as they slammed Smith to the deck seven times. The Giants currently lead the league in sacks with 22 — one less than the 2015 Giants earned during that entire season. Kayvon Thibodeaux picked up a half-sack on this well-executed coffee-house stunt:
Thibodeaux fooled Charles Cross (67) into playing the T-E twist. Once Cross engaged Chatman, Thibodeaux ran around him to hit Geno Smith. Here are several other sacks from the Giants, including Brian Burns’ fourth-and-1 stop as an unblocked defender:
As seen above, Burns impacted this game in more ways than just the sack. Dexter Lawrence impacts every game he’s in; Lawrence is an absolute nightmare to deal with, and he earned three sacks yesterday:
Even when the Giants didn’t get home against Smith, they were harassing him and forcing him into negative plays:
The Giants didn’t need to defend much against the run. Kenneth Walker and Zach Charbonnet had only seven carries. Seattle hardly ran any play action, and the Giants forced passing situations to allow their pass-rush to thrive. Below are three elite run-defending plays from the Giants.
The Giants’ run defense and fits have been exceptional after they were thrashed for 215 yards on the ground in Week 2 against Washington. They held Cleveland to 65 yards on the ground, Dallas to 80 yards, and Seattle to 102 on the deck, 72 of which were Geno Smith scrambles.
The Giants secondary played well in Seattle. The young unit was smooth in their transitions and their pass-offs, and second-year cornerback Deonte Banks had the best game of his career against D.K. Metcalf, who finished with just four catches for 55 yards.
It wasn’t just Banks on Metcalf, although it mostly was; Cor’Dale Flott did an excellent job forcing a third-and-12 with the PBU below:
Above is one of two critical plays by Tae Banks. The forced fumble (below) on Metcalf was one of the more significant plays in the game. Seattle tied the score at 10-10 at the end of the first half, even though Giants controlled most of the game. New York opened the half with a quick punt, and Geno Smith connected with Tyler Lockett for 33 yards to start the second half.
Kenneth Walker III followed the long Lockett gain with his longest rush of seven yards. Seattle’s offense quickly found themselves at the Giants’ 31-yard line. Metcalf caught an easy spot route and attempted to get north before Banks punched the football away from the talented WR — which he tried to do every time Metcalf touched the football.
The Giants capitalized on the sudden change with a 40-yard strike to Slayton and a 30-yard touchdown pass a few plays later. This game could have gone entirely differently if Banks hadn’t punched the football out of Metcalf’s hands. Instead, the Giants take the seven-point lead after New York’s offense got explosive, allowing Bowen and the defense to dictate for five more sacks.
