Instant Reaction: 710 ESPN Seattle on Seahawks’ 24-7 win over Giants

As we do after each Seahawks game, we have collected the initial thoughts of 710 ESPN Seattle’s voices on the 24-7 victory over the Giants on Sunday. Read their thoughts below, and tune in to 710 ESPN Seattle on Monday for complete coverage of the Seahawks’ win.

Mike Salk of Brock and Salk

The Seahawks controlled and dominated the Giants in all three phases of the game. It wasn’t the prettiest offensive performance, but their defense was as good as it gets – dominating the running and passing game, forcing Eli Manning to throw the ball near the line of scrimmage, and tackling as well as any team in the league. Sure, the red zone woes, bad drops and untimely penalties are frustrating. But they were cleaned up in the second half (as they often are) and the defense was allowed to be the star. Play that kind of defense and they’ll be… just fine.

Tom Wassell of Bob, Groz and Tom

The Giants just don’t have any players on offense. None. Seattle’s defense – especially Bobby Wagner – allowed nothing all day with the exception of a few nice catch-and-runs by Evan Engram. The only chance New York had was to create turnovers and hope for the best. That almost happened. But even as the Seahawks’ offense seemed to be penalizing themselves into the Hudson River, Landon Collins was no match for Doug Baldwin all day long. As I said on Thursday, if the Giants brought too much pressure, Russell Wilson would make them pay by scrambling around. He did. Time after time, he made them miss, giving Baldwin a chance to get open. At times he made it look easy. And how about this sequence: Giants have the chance to take the lead early in the fourth quarter, but a holding call moves them back, and that’s followed by a missed field goal that would have tied it. Giants get the ball back, Eli fumbles and one play later, Russell hits Paul Richardson for ANOTHER FAIL MARY. The football gods were laughing at me today.

Bob Stelton of Bob, Groz and Tom

It was a dreadful, sloppy first half for the ‘Hawks. Penalties, dropped passes and a turnover made it look like it was going to be a very long afternoon. The second half was a completely different story. The offense found a rhythm. Wilson to Baldwin was clicking on all cylinders. And Jimmy Graham and Thomas Rawls, who both had very rough first halves, played the way we knew they were capable of after halftime. Both came up with timely, meaningful impact plays. The defense had its best all-around performance of the year. It gave up just seven points, and that was only after the Giants recovered a Rawls fumble deep in ‘Hawks territory. Outside of that, they were dominating! This was a game the Seahawks needed to – and were expected to – win against an injury-riddled Giants team. Mission accomplished!

Gee Scott

This was a huge win for the Seahawks and sets the table for the next four games. Russell Wilson was fantastic. Seeing him stay in the pocket lets us all know that he is starting to trust his line a lot more. The defense was steady Eddie like always, and the special teams were on point. The Seahawks spend the next two weeks at home, and y’all know how they get down at the crib (that’s home y’all). Sitting at 4-2 is a great place to be.

Jim Moore of Danny, Dave and Moore

Forget all of the mistakes they made in the first half – the Seahawks dominated the Giants for 60 minutes, and in the fourth quarter they finally iced a game that should have been put away much earlier. I don’t care if the Giants’ offense was decimated by injuries; they still beat the Broncos in Denver last Sunday 23-10. The Seahawks’ defense played so well that I’ll bet it would have suffocated the Giants even if Brandon Marshall and Odell Beckham Jr. played. Even when the Seahawks trailed 7-3 at halftime, you knew they would come back in the second half because they doubled the Giants in time of possession. You could also tell they were the better team, and fatigue figured to hurt the Giants’ defense in the second half. I was also encouraged by Thomas Rawls and Eddie Lacy, both of whom looked explosive to me, or at least more energized than they’ve been this season. A road win is a good win in the NFL no matter how you get it, and now the Seahawks play their next two at home against Houston and Washington.