The Seahawks have been in their fair share of shootouts this season, but playoff teams have to be able to win ugly, too. Fans got good news on that score today at Lumen Field. The Giants came into Seattle and gave a good fight, but in the end the Seahawks came out on top, 27-13.
Buy Seahawks TicketsHere are five takeaways from an impressive, defense-first victory over New York.
1
Seattle's run defense has done a total 180
This run defense improvement by Seattle is officially for real. If you needed any more evidence, take a look at how they contained Saquon Barkley in this game. He came into this week leading the NFL in yards from scrimmage but the Seahawks bottled him up. Barkley only managed 53 yards on 20 carries (2.7 per attempt). New York had just 78 yards total on the ground, after coming in averaging 173 rushing yards per week. For a unit that was getting ruined on the ground every game early in the year, it’s incredible to see such a complete turnaround.
2
Daniel Jones didn't have a chance
Thanks to a combination of tight coverage and pressure, Daniel Jones had nowhere to go with the ball. He went 17/31 for 176 yards, no touchdowns and a 71.4 passer rating. In the end Jones was sacked five times and only averaged 5.7 yards per attempt. Special credit should go to Bruce Irvin and Uchenna Nwosu up front and Ryan Neal on the back end.
3
Geno Smith was under fire
Most of the year the offensive line has done a good job of keeping Geno Smith clean in the pocket. Today that was not the case. The Giants defensive line dominated in the trenches and roughed Smith up, getting 10 quarterback hits and three sacks. Considering the circumstances, Geno did pretty well. He went 23/34 for 212 yards, two touchdowns and a passer rating of 104.
4
Tyler Lockett's redemption
This was about as bad as we’ve seen Tyler Lockett play in his career. To start, Lockett fumbled at his own two-yard line, then he stepped out of bounds on a play he normally makes in the end zone and then just flat out dropped what should have been an easy go-ahead touchdown in the third quarter. However, as he always seems to do, Lockett came back and made some clutch plays – including a go-ahead 33-yard touchdown catch in the final stanza.
5
Pete Carroll, analytics champion?
Another encouraging sign for the Seahawks was another instance of Pete Carroll going against type this year. He started by drafting top athletes at premium positions, then started letting Geno Smith throw the ball on first down. Now, he’s even going for it on fourth down. He did it twice on a critical drive today and his aggression was rewarded a DK Metcalf touchdown. Time will tell if Carroll is really embracing the math or if this was a one-off.
