The NY Giants finally got over the hump and picked up a massive upset win in Seattle. There was much credit to be thrown around, we break it all down here.
The NY Giants picked up a signature win in Seattle, as they upset the Seahawks in Daniel Jones’ absence. New York won the game 17-12, despite being double-digit underdogs. Even ESPN’s entire crew got the pick wrong, every analyst took Seattle!
https://twitter.com/Giants/status/1335740418940657665/photo/1
This game is much credited to the defense’s success and overwhelming the entire Seahawks’ offense. Seattle mustered three first-half points on offense and were shut out on their first drive. The Giants’ front-seven came away with their best pass-rushing performance of the season racking up five sacks and 10 QB hits.
Seemingly everybody ate on defense today as the defense picked up sacks from all three units from the secondary, linebackers, and defensive line. Rookie Tae Crowder racked up his first career sack, Jabaal Sheard chipped in with half a sack, amongst others we’ll get into more in-depth.
It was a huge day for the Giants, as they picked up a season-high 190 yards on the ground. A pair of third-quarter drives buoyed by 60-yard and 23-yard runs by Wayne Gallman led to a 4-yard rushing touchdown followed by a 6-yard receiving touchdown from Alfred Morris (Morris’ first career receiving touchdown in his nine-year NFL career).
Colt McCoy played a solid and steady game as he managed the NY Giants offense to victory. It was his first win since 2014, a major feat by any means especially considering this week’s circumstances. A shoutout is due for #12 for putting together a clean performance and leading his team to victory.
New York will remain in 1st place in the NFC East this week no matter what until next Sunday. They travel back home where they’ll stay for the next two weeks, and it starts Week 14 with Arizona. Before that, let’s look at some key performers in the NY Giants’ thrilling win over Seattle.
Wayne Gallman & Alfred Morris Grade: A
The “Wayne Train” keeps chugging and Alfred Morris chips in for two scores of his own to power the Giants 2nd half offense to victory.
It was refreshing to see the Giants play some smashmouth 60-minute football where they simply outclassed and outmatched a team (especially a 10-point favorite). The “hogmollies”up front are starting to truly show their hogmolly attitude and nastiness.
Whether it was the tackles going hunting up the field to the second level or Shane Lemieux playing fullback and leading the way for some first downs, it’s an exciting group to watch all of a sudden. 190 rushing yards was their most since beating Washington last season.
Wayne Gallman led the way for the offense Sunday, racking up 135 yards and nearly half the team’s total yardage output. Gallman woke the New York offense up with his 60-yard scamper off the left tackle as he took off down the sideline bringing NY deep into Seattle territory.
After Morris filled in for clean-up duty, Gallman sparked the next drive again and picked up another 23 yards with a big run. Morris handled it from there, with McCoy utilizing a well-executed play-action rollout with Morris running into the flats for his first career catch for six.
Seemingly, the NY Giants rolled out the 2014 Washington Redskins offense as Colt McCoy and Alfred Morris provided enough to lead the team to a win. Morris’ back-to-back touchdowns in the 3rd quarter made the difference in this game. Colt McCoy also picked up a huge 2-point conversion on a perfect pass to Sterling Shepard.
While it wasn’t pretty and by no means easy, the Giants offense did enough to win the game. They responded much better after halftime and the Fightin’ Joe Judges showed plenty of fight in this game. They did enough in the game’s last minutes picking up some crucial yards and taking precious time off the clock. Everyone is anticipating a Daniel Jones return this week and hopefully, he will also rejuvenate the struggling passing game for Big Blue.
NY Giants’ Special Teams Grade: D
After being a rock-solid group all year, the NY Giants special teams are falling apart.
Luckily for New York, the defense bailed out both the offense and the special teams units in Seattle. Graham Gano missed an extra point, his first missed try of the year. The miss kept the lead at nine instead of 10 but thankfully Gano responded with a key 48-yard field goal in the 4th. This stretched the New York lead to 17-5. Gano’s excellent season has been great to watch, especially after sitting out last year. Nobody should even flinch at his one missed try as he’s been lights-out all year.
However, Thomas McGaughey must get his unit to improve their play or it might cost the team a game soon.
Back to back weeks now, the special teams have let up points. Last week it was the kickoff coverage team giving up a 103-yard kickoff return touchdown and this week saw Riley Dixon’s punt get blocked into the back of the end zone for a safety. The punt unit inexcusably let a man get through the line and come right through to block Dixon’s punt. Dixon came up a bit shaky after the play but never remained in the game.
McGaughey and Tom Quinn were lucky to see the Seahawks’ player(s) come up just a second too late, a microcosm of their team’s performance for the day.
Ironically, the safety *arguably* could have saved some points for the Giants as the punt likely would have netted the ‘Hawks very good field position. They would’ve been staring right at three points and a touchdown could’ve been very doable with the Seahawks big-play offense. Instead, they got a kick return that the Seahawks brought back to the Giants’ 48-yard line.
The NY Giants’ poor special teams play must stop as they are flirting uncomfortably close with risking this team some valuable wins. The group was a very sound, trustworthy group up until the Cincinnati game. For now, it’s difficult to watch the unit take the field to kick or punt.
NY Giants’ Team Co-MVP’s: Leonard Williams & Jabrill Peppers
Two of the NY Giants’ key 2019 trade acquisitions made their presence felt all game and led the team to victory.
Leonard Williams put on a dominant display Sunday.
The Big Cat caused nightmares for the entire Seattle offensive line. It didn’t matter if he was face-to-face with a tackle, bull-rushing the center, or blowing by guards, he was nearly unblockable Sunday. Games like this silence his reputation for taking plays off or not finishing plays. In the convincing win, Leo picked up 3 tackles with two for a loss along with two sacks and a crushing five QB hits on Russell Wilson.
With a performance like that, he just earned himself a nice increase to his next contract. With any luck, the NY Giants must find a way to keep Williams as he has been a top-5 interior defensive lineman all season long. He has been the team’s most consistent and dominant pass-rusher all year and his contract talks should be a priority for Big Blue this offseason.
Along with “Big Cat” Williams, Jabrill Peppers was yet again all over the field.
He was playing as a deep safety, lining up as a rover hybrid back, and plowing through the line of scrimmage being deployed in the box as a pseudo-linebacker. Jabrill laid some big hits and stopped some key plays in big spots. His energy is obvious and it seemingly invigorates this defense. Jabrill showed off his well-documented versatility Sunday with five tackles, one tackle for a loss, a sack off an impressive blitz, he had two pass deflections, and another QB hit to top it off.
These two players are just two amongst many stepping up on this NY Giants defense. The team is refusing to give up over 20 points and they are the most responsible part of the team’s four-game winning streak. Patrick Graham has his “no-name” group of players playing inspired, tough, and impactful defense that no offense should want to see right now. They’re getting productions and game-changing plays from rookies and young players to proven vets. It’s a special thing to watch.
This talented group is healthy, hungry, and full of different players with different skillsets. The contributions are coming from everywhere and the unit is responding with sacks, turnovers, and disruptions in the passing game via deflections and pressures/QB hits. The whole unit could have won MVP this week for their best game on defense in several years. They shut down a high octane, playmaking offense led by an MVP candidate and one of the game’s top QB’s. This defense left its mark in the Emerald City and they deservingly will be flying home Monday with a victory. Hats off to Leo, Jabrill, and the entire defense for this week’s MVP performance.