Don’t let the scoreboard fool you. The New York Giants were thoroughly dominated by the Seattle Seahawks in a 24-7 loss on Sunday evening at MetLife Stadium.
The shorthanded Giants offense was incompetent against the Seahawks defense as they could only muster 177 total yards.
Eli Manning’s passing offense didn’t generate a thing as he passed for 134 yards on 39 attempts.
By comparison, the Seahawks put up 425 yards of total offense.
Russell Wilson passed for 334 yards with three touchdowns against a Giants defense that was simply worn out because the offense was unable to keep them off the field for an extended period of time.
While the Giants offense accrued just nine total yards in the first quarter, the defense was spectacular, coming up with three goal-line stops on the same drive that was extended by a pair of penalties on two separate third-and-goals.
Working the ball down to the one-yard-line on their third set of downs, the Seahawks went for it on 4th-and-1, but Russell Wilson was unable to find Jimmy Graham on a quick screen.
The defense continued to make plays while the offense sputtered when rookie Avery Moss jarred the ball loose from Thomas Rawls in Giants territory. The fumble was picked up by Landon Collins, who returned it to the Seahawks’ 17-yard-line.
Two plays later, Manning hit rookie tight end Evan Engram for a five-yard touchdown to give New York an unlikely lead considering the offense was outgained 112-35 with 11:51 left in the second quarter.
The Seahawks continued to dominate possession, running 41 plays in the first half while picking up 15 first downs compared to the Giants’ 4, yet they could only muster a field goal with 46 seconds left in the second quarter to get on the scoreboard.
They were finally able to break through the Giants defense with 7:30 left in the third quarter when Russell Wilson lobbed a 22-yard dime to Doug Baldwin in the middle of the field, where the Giants didn’t opt to put a safety on a 2nd-and-22.
New York managed to piece together a nine-play drive to get within field goal range to tie the game, but Aldrick Rosas missed a 47-yard attempt just 42 seconds into the fourth quarter.
It got even worse when Manning fumbled away the ball when he was sacked by Jarran Reed, giving the Seahawks possession near midfield.
On the ensuing play, Wilson connected with Paul Richardson for a controversial 38-yard touchdown as both the receiver and the Giants safety Collins had simultaneous possession of the ball in the end zone.
They put the game away with two minutes left when Wilson tossed his third touchdown of the game to Jimmy Graham to make the score look a little more realistic after the clinic they put on.
