Power of Love not enough as Seahawks lose to Giants, 29-20
By Jake Parr, edited by Charles Hamaker
Seattle, WA - Coming off last week’s road loss to the Detroit Lions on Monday Night Football, the Seattle Seahawks picked up where they left off, dropping week five’s home game against the New York Giants. The Seahawks were rudderless on offense, scoring just a single touchdown in the fourth quarter. The defensive line, which was dominant to start the season, laid down for the Giants, allowing New York quarterback Daniel Jones to take his time marching the ball down the field. But it was the offensive line that laid down literally, leading to a blocked field goal attempt in the fourth quarter which put an end to a late rally attempt and guaranteeing Seattle’s first home loss of 2024.
New York Giants quarterback Daniel Jones had his way with the Seattle Seahawks defense in his teams road win on Sunday, October 6th, 2024 at Lumen Field. (Photo by Joe Nicholson/USA Today Sports)
A Rudderless Attack
The Seahawks’ offense seemed stuck in the mud from the opening kickoff, when they were quickly stopped by the Giants. Seattle went 3-11 on third down conversions, and managed to pick up just 17 first downs across the entire game. The Seahawks generated 333 yards on offense, but only scored a touchdown once and only had possession for about a third of the game. All of this is in contrast to last week’s game against the Detroit Lions. Even though that game was a difficult 42-29 loss, the Hawks still managed to rack up 516 offensive yards and 38 first downs. Despite trailing for the entirety of that game, they at least scraped and fought and clawed for every point they could squeeze out of the Lions’ defense.
But today, they let the Giants set the pace. With six minutes left in the game and, down by two scores, Seattle needed a quick scoring drive to get back into the game. Ryan Grubb’s offensive unit marched down the field 95 yards for the touchdown, but it took four minutes off the clock, giving the Giants the ball with just two minutes to play. The defensive unit did their job and got a quick stop, giving Geno Smith the ball back with 1:40 to play. Smith found a wide opening along the right side of the field, and scrambled for 32 yards to the Giants 34 yard line. The Hawks could only muster up a further six yards, bringing up a 4th & 4 field goal try for Jason Myers to tie the game and send it to overtime. Chris Stoll, Seattle’s long snapper, and left guard Laken Tomlinson were held down by the Giants blocking unit. This left a hole for Isaiah Simmons of the Giants to leap over the line and block the kick. It was recovered by Bryce Ford-Wheaton, who carried it all the way back for a touchdown, effectively ending the game.
New York Giants running back Tyrone Tracy Jr. ran all over the Seattle Seahawks defense in his teams road win on Sunday, October 6th, 2024 at Lumen Field. (Photo by Steven Bisig/Imagn Images)
Defense lets drawbridge down for Jones
With defensive tackle Byron Murphy II still down with a hamstring injury, Seattle’s defensive line is still hampered and missing the aggression that made it so successful early in the season. They were unable to stop New York’s run game, giving up 175 yards on the ground. 129 of those came from Giants running back Tyrone Tracy Jr., who had 18 carries on the day. A further 38 of those rushing yards were earned by the legs of Daniel Jones who ran several draw plays, keeping Seattle’s D-Line guessing.
The secondary wasn’t much better, allowing Jones to pass for 257 yards and giving up a passer rating of over 100 for the second week in a row. Jones’ favorite target, Darius Slayton racked up 122 yards himself on eight receptions, finishing one carry in the end zone. That score was off a 30 yard bomb that came almost immediately after Slayton picked up 41 yards on a basket catch that landed cleanly in his hands despite Seattle CB Tre Brown all over him.
Similar to last week, the Seahawks’ best defensive moment came early in the game. On the Giants’ first drive, they marched 79 yards down field on a plodding, mechanical 10 minute series. On third down at the one yard line, Seattle safety Julian Love, who came to the Seahawks last year from the Giants in free agency, recognized New York’s play and gestured to Tyrel Dodson to fill a hole on the right side, anticipating a run. Dodson did exactly that, enabling him and Jerome Baker to stop Eric Gray for no gain. On the next play, the Giants handed it off to Gray again who tried to leap over the pile of bodies in the middle. But he was hit hard in the air, and the ball slipped out of his hands before he crossed the line. Seattle safety Rayshawn Jenkins scooped up the fumble and ran it 102 yards the other way for the longest fumble return in Seahawks history. The only downside is that until the fourth quarter that was the only touchdown the Seahawks scored.
Seattle Seahawks safety Rayshawn Jenkins (Wearing #2) recovered a fumble from New York Giants running back Eric Gray in the first quarter, returning it 102 yards for a touchdown on Sunday, October 6th, 2024 at Lumen Field. (Photo by Joe Nicholson/USA Today Sports)
Seahawks need to fight back
For the second week in a row we’ve seen the Hawks’ offense struggle when they don’t control the game. This is an offense that we know can work. Geno Smith, DK Metcalf, and Kenneth Walker III are superstars for a reason. But in this game they let the Giants beat them. We saw a flash of excellence in that fourth quarter. For just a moment - six minutes of game time - we saw what the Seahawks could be. They put together a 95 yard touchdown drive in four minutes without using a single timeout. They followed that up with a defensive 3-and-out that gave them a shot at the win. And if not for the Giants employing a creative field goal blocking scheme that isn’t technically defensive holding, the Seahawks would have forced overtime. The Seahawks need to play the entirety of next week’s game like they did in those final six minutes today.
What’s next?
Seattle’s next game will come sooner than the Hawks may like, as they will have to defend Lumen Field this Thursday from a division rival in the San Francisco 49ers. The 49ers are fresh off a 24-23 loss to the Arizona Cardinals earlier today, and will be looking for some redemption against a different bird-themed team. Kickoff will be at 5:15PM Pacific Time and will be broadcast live on Prime Video, and can also be found on the radio at Seattle Sports 710AM & KIRO Newsradio 97.3 FM. It’s an important matchup for the Seahawks, as they’re coming off a second straight loss and will learn more and more about themselves under this new coaching staff. Their lead atop the NFC West has shrunk down to just one game, and the 49ers will surely be looking to get themselves back on the winning track as well despite being without star running back Christian McCaffrey for another week.
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Check out our previous Seattle Seahawks articles here.
Check out our previous articles written by Jake Parr here, and his Lookout Landing articles here.
Thumbnail photo by Joe Nicholson/USA Today Sports
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