THE UGLY
The run defense: The Seahawks gave up 190 yards on the ground to New York, which marks their second-highest total of rushing yards surrendered in 2020. Giants running back Wayne Gallman, who entered the season as the team’s third-stringer, put up 135 yards on 16 carries for an eye-popping average of 8.4 YPC. Journeyman Alfred Morris proved effective as a red-zone back, scoring the Giants’ only two touchdowns. Much has been said about the struggles of Seattle’s pass defense, which generally led teams to attack the Seahawks through the air; New York elected to expose weaknesses in Seattle’s run defense instead, doing so with impressive results. Notably, defensive end Carlos Dunlap was highly limited in the game due to his foot injury last week – if the loss of one player is all it takes to drastically reduce the front seven’s effectiveness, the Seahawks could face some serious issues in the regular-season home stretch.
The offense: Russell Wilson was not the only offensive player who struggled against the Giants. His pass-catchers had issues holding onto the ball – Tyler Lockett fumbled, D.K. Metcalf dropped a pass after making an impressive leap, and Chris Carson displayed a couple of issues (letting the ball bounce off of his facemask for an interception and later dropping a short toss from Wilson because he turned his head early). Guard Mike Iupati surrendered a sack in the first quarter to New York linebacker Tae Crowder by helping center Ethan Pocic with his block, leaving a lane wide open for the rusher to take Wilson down for a loss of 11 yards. Right tackle Jamarco Jones, who was filling in for the injured Brandon Shell, suffered a groin injury and was replaced by Chad Wheeler, who proved unable to hold down that side of the line. Overall, the normally-potent Seahawks offense seemed listless all afternoon, not even scoring a touchdown until the middle of the fourth quarter. This marks their second straight slow start, which is worrisome for a team in a division that changes hands nearly every week.
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