FOXSPORTS – The Seattle Seahawks had it all on display against the New York Giants, and not even a minor first-half blowup between receiver Doug Baldwin and assistant coach Tom Cable could get in their way.
Russell Wilson threw three second-half touchdown passes, the Seahawks limited the Giants’ receiver-depleted offense to season-low 177 yards and Seahawks overcame a first half in which they were their own worst enemy in posting a 24-7 win on Sunday.
It was a performance that seemed worthy of the Seattle in the 2013 Super Bowl season, except for the first half which the Giant lead.
Seattle saw veteran tight end Jimmy Graham drop a sure TD pass in the first quarter, had a fumble lead to the Giants touchdown in the second quarter and then had the bench tiff all happen in the opening half.
The ugliest incident was Baldwin shoving Tom Cable during a player huddle on the sideline.
After the game, Baldwin took full responsibility and apologized to Cable. He said he was frustrated how the offense was playing in the opening half.
Seattle coach Pete Carroll had told Cable to talk to the offense but Baldwin pushed him away because he wanted quarterback Russell Wilson to be the voice addressing the team’s offensive woes.
”I lost my cool, 100 percent my fault,” Baldwin said. ”At that moment I was really frustrated with the team as a whole, as an offense as a whole. Not the coaching staff but the players. It goes back to our X’s and O’s. We had the play calls. We just didn’t execute.”
The second half was all Seattle.
Wilson hit Doug Baldwin with a go-ahead 22-yard touchdown pass midway through the third quarter. He put the game away with a 38-yard TD throw to Paul Richardson on a flea-flicker play that had to be reviewed because of simultaneous possession and he closed out the scoring with a 1-yard toss to Graham with 2:14 to go.
The Seahawks (4-2) limited the Giants (1-6) to 46 yards rushing, 14 first downs and just 24:34 in time of possession. The defense only forced one turnover, but the fumble by Eli Manning led to Richardson’s touchdown.
”We came out here to win a ballgame and play some good football,” Carroll said. ”It took us a while to put it all together. Really liked the way our guys hung together when we were kicking ourselves around in the first half. The belief in both sides of the ball was solid. We knew we were going to turn this thing.”
Things we learned in the game:
GIANTS WOES: The Giants aren’t going to win many games if the offense plays like it did Sunday. There was no running game. Manning was under constant pressure and he had only one receiver who constantly got open – Evan Engram . The rookie had six catches for 60 yards and he was Manning’s target on 12 of his 19 pass attempts. The defense played well but wore down at the end.
WILSON: Wilson does not come East much but he can open eyes with his play. He was 27 of 39 for 334 yards. That might sound like he had all day to throw but the Giants sacked him once, hit him seven times and forced an intentional grounding penalty. His touchdown pass to Baldwin came on a blitz from the Giants defense that he read.
TRICKERY: The Seahawks don’t seem to use many gadget plays, but they brought one out on the Richardson touchdown catch.
Seattle got the ball at the Giants 37 after Jarran Reed sacked Manning and forced a fumble that Frank Clark recovered.
On the first play, Wilson pitched the ball to J.D. McKissic and took a return lateral. He tossed a pass to the left corner of the end zone and Richardson and Collins made a simultaneous catch. It was ruled a touchdown and the review didn’t change it.
”What an exciting play,” Wilson said. ”It was a great call by (Darrell) Bevell. I tossed it to J.D. and he throws it back to me. I just let Paul do his thing, one on one.
Referee Tony Corrente said the play was over once the players touched the ground with simultaneous possession.
GOING EAST: Seattle is now 5-0 at MetLife Stadium, including their Super Bowl victory over Denver. They have beaten the Giants three times – 36-25 in 2011 and 23-0 in 2013 – and knocked off the Jets last year 27-17.
INJURIES: The Giants came into the game with five starters inactive: defensive end Olivier Vernon, linebacker Jonathan Casillas, halfback Paul Perkins, receiver Sterling Shepard and center Weston Richburg. Middle linebacker B.J. Goodson (ankle) and right tackle Justin Pugh (back) had to leave the game.
”Well, we’ve got to keep grinding,” Manning said. ”Obviously, we’ve had a tough start, lost some key players, but they’re not going to make it easy for us, no team (will).
UP NEXT
Seahawks: Host Houston on Oct. 29.
