Seahawks 24, Giants 3: Monday Night Smackdown

The Seahawks defense absolutely embarrassed Daniel Jones and the Giants at Metlife Stadium.

The Seattle Seahawks (3-1) defense had been much-maligned to start the season, but they unleashed fury on the hapless New York Giants (1-3) and thrashed them 24-3 at Metlife Stadium. Daniel Jones was sacked a whopping 11 times, threw two interceptions and lost a fumble.

Devon Witherspoon had an epic night, and I mean an epic night. The No. 5 overall pick had 7 tackles, 2 sacks, 1 pass defensed, and a back-breaking pick-six on Jones that shut the door on a Giants comeback. Bobby Wagner, Jordyn Brooks, and Uchenna Nwosu each had two sacks, and the Giants offense had just 248 yards of total offense.

The damper on things was the early concussion to Jamal Adams following his return from his quad injury. Several other Seahawks suffered injuries, including quarterback Geno Smith, who at least returned in the 2nd half after hurting his knee in the 2nd quarter. We’ll definitely be keeping tabs on the post-game injury report but that bye week is welcome.

Seattle looked dreadful for the most part against the Los Angeles Rams on opening day, and have since rattled off three straight wins.

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1st Quarter

The Seahawks won the coin toss and started on defense for the first time this season. New York established the running game with Matt Breida, and found themselves at midfield pretty quickly. Jamal Adams, who missed a chance to sack Daniel Jones on his first blitz, announced his return with this vicious hit on Parris Campbell. New York still converted a 3rd down with Jones finding an open receiver to the Seattle 36.

Adams was unfortunately helped off the field after Jones scrambled and as Jamal went low, Jones kneed him in the head inadvertently and probably concussed him. Two plays later, the Giants went for it on 4th and 1 at Seattle’s 28 and Daniel Jones was STUFFED on the sneak by Bobby Wagner and Jordyn Brooks.

Seattle’s first play… I cannot properly articulate what just happened. Kenneth Walker got the carry, was tackled for a loss in the backfield by Bobby Okereke… or so everyone thought. Walker just kept running because the whistle never blew. The initial play was a 73-yard touchdown, but it was overturned upon review. Instead of a TD, a three-and-out for the Seahawks.

The Giants got a 16-yard run from Jones on a scramble, then Devon Witherspoon introduced himself to the quarterback.

The Seahawks got the ball back, picked up a first down on a play-action pass to Noah Fant, and uh… flag, flag, more flags. They had flags on four consecutive snaps (one of them offsetting a pass interference), and found themselves at 1st and 25. Seattle battled back to 3rd and 8, converted with Geno to DK Metcalf, except Metcalf stepped out of bounds so it’s officially incomplete. Weirdest. Quarter. Ever.

But we weren’t done! Daniel Jones got strip-sacked by Mario Edwards after initial pressure from Uchenna Nwosu. Jordyn Brooks got the recovery and ran it back inside the 10. DK Metcalf brilliantly snagged a pass in the end zone from Geno Smith to end the quarter!

2nd Quarter

The Giants once again mustered up just a single first down before shutting down, much to the annoyance of the crowd. Seattle not only punted it back, but Geno Smith got rolled up on after catching a pass that was batted right back to him. Isaiah Simmons landed on him making a tackle that started inbounds and ended well out of bounds, much to Geno’s dislike. He stayed in for a 3rd down screen that was nearly picked off by Kayvon Thibodeaux.

Seattle had the Giants backed up at their own 2, but some big plays to Matt Breida in the passing game helped push New York into Seahawks territory. Devon Witherspoon was wreaking havoc in the backfield, punishing Giants players with some heavy hits. His 8-yard TFL forced the Giants into kicking a field goal, which Graham Gano made from 55.

With Geno still getting his knee looked at, Drew Lock entered the game for his first regular season snaps as a Seahawk. He got Seattle to right near midfield, then on 3rd and 10 he rolled from pressure and found Noah Fant, who rumbled down the sidelines and somehow didn’t step out of bounds. Fant broke tackles and got all the way to the 1-yard line, after the initial touchdown signal was reversed! Kenneth Walker punched it in from a yard out.

The Giants went three-and-out and Jones was lucky not to have a pick thrown to Riq Woolen. Seattle went three-and-out but Michael Dickson got run into and the Giants didn’t even get the ball back.

3rd Quarter

Geno Smith came back out to start the 2nd half, and the offense was finally humming both through the air and on the ground. However, faced with 4th and 1 in the red zone, the rollout to Zach Charbonnet was behind him and knocked away at the last minute for a turnover on downs. The Giants crowd was electric for one of the few times all game, but the annoyance returned with two sacks and another three-and-out. A big punt return by DeeJay Dallas plus a hold on New York set the Seahawks up in Giant territory right away. Unfortunately, they only gained 5 yards and Jason Myers missed wide left from 53.

Seattle let the Giants hang around so much and the offense finally got into the red zone. After a failed 3rd and 3 run, the Giants went for it on 4th and 1 again instead of kicking a short field goal to cut it to 14-6. Boye Mafe lost contain and Jones got to the 5. Two plays later, Jones threw a pick-6 to Devon Witherspoon! 97 yards to the house!

4th Quarter

The sack party continued on poor Daniel Jones, who was nearly gotten by Devon Witherspoon for a third time, and actually sacked by Bobby Wagner for a second time and Uchenna Nwosu for the first time. Seattle went three-and-out, but the Giants gave it back on a Quandre Diggs pick. Jason Myers kicked a field goal, Jones got sacked some more, and that wrapped it all up.

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Scoring Summary

1st Quarter: DK Metcalf 6-yard touchdown pass from Geno Smith – SEA 7, NYG 0

2nd Quarter: Graham Gano 55-yard field goal – SEA 7, NYG 3

2nd Quarter: Kenneth Walker III 1-yard touchdown run – SEA 14, NYG 3

3rd Quarter: Devon Witherspoon 97-yard interception return – SEA 21, NYG 3

4th Quarter: Jason Myers 34-yard field goal – SEA 24, NYG 3

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Box Score

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Seahawks Injury Report

S Jamal Adams suffered a concussion in the 1st quarter on the opening drive of the game and did not return.

G Phil Haynes limped off the field in the 1st quarter on Seattle’s second possession and was replaced by Anthony Bradford. Haynes was ruled out with a calf injury.

QB Geno Smith had a knee injury in the 2nd quarter. Drew Lock replaced him but Geno returned in the 2nd half.

LG Damien Lewis was carted off with an ankle injury in the 2nd quarter. He did not return.

DT Jarran Reed suffered a shin injury in the 4th quarter and was carted off. He didn’t return but that’s probably because it was already a blowout.

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Next Week’s Opponent

The Seahawks have a bye week, then they head back on the road on Sunday, October 16 against the Cincinnati Bengals (1-3) at 10 AM PT on CBS.