Oct 30, 2022; Seattle, Washington, USA; New York Giants running back Saquon Barkley (26) adjusts his helmet during pregame warmups against the Seattle Seahawks at Lumen Field. Mandatory Credit: Joe Nicholson-USA TODAY Sports
NFL: New York Giants at Seattle Seahawks
On a rainy afternoon in Seattle, the Giants could not overcome Geno Smith and the Seahawks as the G-Men fell 27-13.
Richie James’ muffed punt with 6:04 left in the game was the biggest difference as Seattle was able to run away scoring a TD as a result of that turnover to make it a 14-point lead with 5:22 in the game. Daniel Jones had the opportunity to build some momentum, but he and the Giants’ offense was stopped at the SEA 29 with 2:32 left to end any chances of a last-minute comeback. It was a pretty even first half to start things on a rainy day with D.K. Metcalf and Saquon Barkley trading TDs from inside the 3-yard line. D.K. went for 55 yards and the TD on 6 catches (10 targets). While Metcalf’s TD was the result of a 15-play drive, Saquon got his chance after Adoree’ Jackson forced and recovered a fumble off the hands of Tyler Lockett. Jason Myers gave the Seahawks a 10-7 lead at the end of the half after Richie James muffed a punt.
Graham Gano answered Myers to start the half and the two kickers traded FGs until they got to 13-13 in the 4th quarter. Seattle began to make clutch plays down the stretch to secure their seat atop the NFC West. Lockett was able to make up for his fumble with a brilliant route that ended up in a 33-yard TD catch from Geno Smith to put Seattle up 20-13. He finished with 5 catches on 8 targets for 63 yards and that score. Geno, the former QB for the Giants, threw for 212 yards and 2 TDs, completing 23 of his 34 passes. After the game, Smith dedicated the win to a former coach and GM of his when he was in New York. “I spent one year with the Giants. That year, to me, was like a blur. I don’t have any remorse towards anyone there. In fact, to me, this game was for (former Giants coach) Ben McAdoo and (former GM) Jerry Reese. They believed in me. As far as any other thing, I don’t really care for it.”
After Richie James muffed his second punt of the day, Kenneth Walker III broke a couple of tackles and barged his way into the endzone on a 16-yard TD run that made it 27-13. Although he only ran for 51 yards on 18 carries, he made the most out of his day and outshined Saquon Barkley, who previously led the NFL in rushing yards before the contest began. Barkley had 53 rushing yards on 20 carries along with 3 catches on 5 targets for only 12 yards. There was not anything spicy about his game that day, and you can thank the Seattle defense for bottling up their rushing attack. ““You’ve got to give credit to Seattle. They did a really good job. That was it. They made plays. They made more plays than us. We’ve just to be a little bit better,” Barkley said after the loss.
Daniel Jones couldn’t muster anything on the ground either, rushing for only 20 yards on 6 carries. He did throw for 176 yards on 17 completions, but he missed 14 throws and did not make any noise for Big Blue offensively. Darius Slayton was the biggest contributor from what’s left of the WR room, catching 5 of 6 targets for 66 yards. The rookie, Wan’Dale Robinson, was not used as often as many envisioned, catching only 2 of 3 targets for a mere 15 yards. Tanner Hudson was the starting TE and went for 58 receiving yards on 3 catches (5 targets).
Head coach Brian Daboll will take this 6-2 Giants squad into a much needed bye week to evaluate their first 8 weeks as they prepare for the next 8 weeks to come. With the loss and the Cowboys win, Big Blue falls to 3rd place in the NFC East as Dallas currently owns the tiebreaker. The Giants will come back to action on Sunday, November 13th at the Meadowlands as they welcome the Houston Texans.
