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NY Giants NFC East favorites after upsetting Seahawks | Studs and duds

By Matt Lombardo

SEATTLE, WASHINGTON - DECEMBER 06: Leonard Williams #99 and Dalvin Tomlinson #94 of the New York Giants celebrate against the Seattle Seahawks in the game at Lumen Field on December 06, 2020 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Abbie Parr/Getty Images)
SEATTLE, WASHINGTON - DECEMBER 06: Leonard Williams #99 and Dalvin Tomlinson #94 of the New York Giants celebrate against the Seattle Seahawks in the game at Lumen Field on December 06, 2020 in Seattle, Washington. (Photo by Abbie Parr/Getty Images) /
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The NY Giants took command of the NFC East race, thanks to several dominant performances from key contributors in a 17-12 win over the Seattle Seahawks

The road to the NFC East Division championship now goes through the NY Giants, following Sunday’s unexpected and dominant 17-12 upset victory over the Seattle Seahawks.

After stepping off the cross-country flight to Seattle and onto the field, even without quarterback Daniel Jones, NY Giants safety Jabrill Peppers knew that Sunday had the chance to be special.

“As the season goes on, teams either descend or ascend and we wanted to make sure we were one of those ascending teams,” Peppers said. “We expect things as players, there’s a certain style, a certain brand that we expect and every one of us to play with. I think we’re doing a good job of bringing that.

Sunday, the Giants’ brand of hard-nosed, physical, and aggressive defense was the backbone of the Giants sticking it to one of the most gifted and experienced rosters in the NFL.

Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson was sacked five times, Seattle didn’t score an offensive touchdown until 6:15 remained, but by then the Giants had already been clinging to a 12-point lead.

Meanwhile, with Colt McCoy at quarterback for the injured Daniel Jones, the Giants’ ground attack gashed the Seahawks for 190 rushing yards.

In the process of authoring the definition of complementary football, against the backdrop of adversity due to Jones’ injury and difficulty of the opponent, entering as 10.5 point underdogs, the Giants emerged in the driver’s seat of the NFC East race.

The Giants will wake up in first place in the NFC East, and after tucking away an unexpected win over the Seahawks into their back pockets, might only need to beat the Cowboys in Week 17 to secure a playoff berth.

But, before looking too far ahead at what may still be before this team, here’s a look back at Sunday.

Here’s a look at the studs and duds from the Giants’ most impressive victories of the season, and one of 2020’s biggest NFL upsets:

RB – Wayne Gallman: STUD

Sunday was a career-strongest and perhaps career-defining performance for Gallman.

Surpassing 100 yards for the first time in his career, Gallman finished with 16 carries for 135 yards, while averaging a whopping 8.4 yards per attempt.

Gallman served as the Giants’ second-half battering arm, rattling off a 60-yard run that really set the tone for the final 30 minutes and put the offense in position for Colt McCoy to find Alfred Morris for New York’s first touchdown of the game.

“We new we had to come out and hit them first,” Gallman said. “Really, that was it. We knew we couldn’t just play around anymore. Just really just believing in ourselves going into the second half and really executing.”

With each week, Gallman’s punishing downhill running style becomes more of an asset for the Giants’ offense, and it will continue to be critical for as long as Colt McCoy is playing quarterback or Daniel Jones is limited.

Running the ball will be paramount to the Giants’ success down the stretch, but for Gallman, he has shown plenty capable of a feature-back role and every-down running back in recent weeks, which will make him a hot commodity this offseason.

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