NFL fans and analysts across the country were stunned when the Seattle Seahawks lost 17-12 to a woeful New York Giants team that had just four wins coming into their Week 13 matchup. Many blamed coach Pete Carroll’s clock management, offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer’s playcalling, Seattle’s lack of defensive pressure, or any combination of factors for the unexpected outcome.
Seahawks cornerback Shaquill Griffin has a simpler explanation.
“We came in taking the team lightly, you know, just being totally honest,” he said to reporters on Thursday. “We eased up off the gas a little bit… we let that game get the best of us.”
Griffin’s candidness about the team’s mental lapse was both surprising and refreshing to hear in an age where many athletes and coaches prefer to praise the opponent’s performance rather than admit their own shortcomings. The Giants, noted Griffin, were already in good position for a playoff spot, having won three straight games to lead the NFC East coming into last Sunday’s matchup. “We couldn’t take them lightly,” he admitted, “and we did.”
A major focus on practice this week, Griffin said, is getting the squad back on track with the Seahawks’ tradition of treating every game like a championship game (“In this league, you can lose to anybody.”) Still, it stings to fall to a team with four fewer wins than yourself, especially if you are as heavily favored as the Seahawks were.
“That team was not supposed to beat us,” said Griffin. “They were not supposed to win that game, and we have to live with that.”
The 0-12 Jets, who will face Seattle on Sunday, Dec. 13, are also not predicted to win – how do the Seahawks ensure that they will not fall into the same trap as they did against the Giants?
“We talk about it, we fix it, and we move forward from it,” Griffin assured the media. “One game at a time, treating every team the same.”
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