Lex: Giants (6-2) Quick Takeaways From Loss To The Seahawks
The New York Giants (6-2) picked up their second season loss on Sunday, falling 27-13 on the road to the Seattle Seahawks (5-3). Unfortunately, the Giants couldn’t summon their fourth-quarter magic; ultimately, this was a forgettable game for the Giants.
The winning streak has ended at four games for the Giants, as the team traveled to Seattle and suffered a disappointing 27-13 loss to the Seahawks The offense couldn’t get things going, with more sluggish play from the unit being displayed, from start to finish in this one.
Now, the Giants will enter the bye week with a bit of a sour taste in their mouth. This was a winnable game for Big Blue, but inconsistent play on both sides of the ball haunted them, plus a terrible day for Richie James. Here are my takeaways from the action.
Giants’ Slow Start On Offense
Time and time again, we see the Giants fail to get things going offensively in the first quarter. This happened against Seattle, as the team began things with three consecutive three-and-outs. They didn’t record their first down until there were more than 11 minutes left in the second quarter.
Zero first downs in the first quarter? What was disappointing, too, was that Mike Kafka failed to get Saquon Barkley involved offensively in the first 15 minutes of action. Why in the world would you not want to feature the NFL’s leader in scrimmage yards?
This was a defensive battle early on, but the Seahawks could convert on two 4th-down plays early in the second quarter to set up a touchdown pass from Geno Smith to DK Metcalf. Head Coach Brian Daboll has to find a way to prevent these underwhelming game starts from being recorded. The team can’t be playing so flat like this.
Richie James Jr.: Two Costly Turnovers
Richie James Jr. should never return another punt for the Giants. Unfortunately for James, this was inarguably his worst game. James’ two fumbled punt returns set up two Seattle scores. The first fumble was bad enough, but then his second set up the Seahawks deep into NY territory late in the action.
Instead, James coughed up the ball, showcasing the terrible security of the ball. Moments later, Kenneth Walker III took a carry from Geno Smith and rumbled his way to the end zone for a back-breaking touchdown. That gave Seattle its 27-13 lead, and there was no miracle down the stretch for the Giants. That’s on James.
Giants Gridiron Affiliate Trophy Smack
Daniel Jones Wasn’t Good Enough
This is a game that Daniel Jones is going to want to have back. While special teams blunders (more below) haunted this team in the loss, Jones wasn’t good enough. Seattle’s defense is no slouch, but this was a game Jones needed to impress and silence all of his haters once and for all.
Last week, Jones tossed for 202 yards and a touchdown while adding 107 rushing yards and an additional score. He was named the NFC Offensive Player of the Week, and life was good for Danny Dimes. Everyone was hoping that another strong performance would be recorded, but that wasn’t the case here.
On the day, Jones finished with 176 passing yards and no touchdowns. He didn’t turn the ball over, but people will be talking about his terrible missed throw to Lawrence Cager in the first half. Cager was wide open deep down the field, and Jones launched it over Cager’s head. It would have been a huge gain, yet Jones blew it.
Giants Look To Recharge For The 2nd Half
Self-scouting over the bye week is like making in-game adjustments. You can’t wait until halftime to start thinking about them.
“You’re always self-evaluating yourself each week,” coach Brian Daboll said Monday afternoon, only ten hours after the team returned from its cross-country flight back from Seattle. “We have quality control coaches. We have analytics. Then the coaches do it. We try to do it on a week-to-week basis and try to improve on things that maybe we’re not doing as good of a job as we’d like to do. We try to build off some of the positive things. So, we’ll always continue to do that. But really, we’re in right now looking at this tape. And [with the] extra days, we’ll have some time to get on Houston and look at a few other things.”Brian Daboll – Giants
The Giants have reached the midway point of Daboll’s first year as head coach. The team went 3-1 in both the first and second quarters of the season for a 6-2 overall record, the franchise’s best through eight games since 2012.
“That’s why, this time right there, you kind of look everything holistically,” Daboll said. “But each week, you’re doing that. And that’s what Mondays are for and part of Tuesdays. I do that every week, whether it’s decisions throughout the game, revisit the game, go onto the next week, look at a ton of different stuff. I think you need to stay on top of that, it’s kind of like a game. You can’t wait until halftime to make some adjustments. You got to keep doing that throughout the game, and we’ve done a lot of that. I’ve done a lot of that since I started.”Brian Daboll – Giants
Following Sunday’s 27-13 loss to the Seahawks that snapped a four-game winning streak, the Giants will look to get back on track after the break.
“At this point in time during the season, I think everyone’s tired, coaching-wise. Everyone’s sore, playing-wise.” Daboll said. “It’s just the nature of this league, and you just keep on pushing through. I think you need to try to take advantage of a little bit of downtime to recuperate to get some rest and to come back fresh and ready to go for us this last half of the season where we have out bye.”Brian Daboll – Giants
“I just take it day by day. Those are in the past; put money in the bank so to speak. We’re sitting at 6-2. We have nine games left that are on the schedule, and we’ve got to take them one week at a time.”Brian Daboll – Giants
The larger takeaway is that by ending week eight at 6-2 and their division rivals, the Eagles, now 7-0, and the Cowboys also tied at 6-2, the Giants have no more room for error. And that’s… “The Lex Of It”
Recap the game with Giants Postgame Live streaming now on https://t.co/PxnieKqORN, Giants App, @GiantsTV, YouTube & @MSGNetworks Watch live: https://t.co/vJYqkAJK11 pic.twitter.com/1QKSrOjaGN — New York Giants (@Giants) October 30, 2022