The New York Giants will head across the country to battle the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday in a matchup betweem two of the more surprising teams in the NFL.
The Giants are sporting a four-game winning streak after their win last week against the Jacksonville Jaguars. Meanwhile, the Seahawks have won their last two and sport a 2-1 record at home on the season.
The Giants come into Sunday as underdogs once again, as they have all season long.
As the Giants hope to improve to 7-1 on the season, here are some causes for concern going into Week 8:
Seahawks rushing game
The Giants faced off with some of the league’s better running backs earlier in the season and faired pretty well when they went up against Derrick Henry, Christian McCaffrey and Ezekiel Elliott.
However, they have been torched by the rushers they’ve faced over the last few weeks with Kenyon Drake in Week 6 and Travis Etienne in Week 7.
The Giants have given up the third-most rushing yards in the league despite the strong run stoppers of Dexter Lawrence and Leonard Williams. Williams did, of course, miss some time due to injury.
Hopefully they have a game plan to scheme against rookie Kenneth Walker, who has been surging with over 100 yards from scrimmage the last two weeks.
Tariq Woolen
Tariq Woolen is tied for the league lead in interceptions with four on the year. He also has two of the team’s seven fumble recoveries on the year as Seattle trails only the Giants in fumble recoveries.
The Giants record is almost unexplainable given the weapons they have on the offense. Daniel Jones has limited the turnovers so far this season and will hopefully continue that going into Sunday.
The Giants will likely rely on the run as they have all season long but in the passing game they should keep an eye on Woolen throughout the game.
The 12th Man
Over the last decade or so, the Seahawks have one of the best home-field advantages in the NFL — so much so that their stands have been proclaimed the “12th Man.”
After trading away star quarterback Russell Wilson, the Seahawks’ success this season is almost as surprising as the Giants. As anyone can tell from the rejuvenated MetLife stadium crowd this year, surprising seasons like this can do wonders to a fan base.
Even with the Giants being undefeated (3-0) on the road this year, playing in Seattle with the “12th Man” is always a concern for road teams.
