Seahawks’ offense stumbles in stunning 17-12 loss to New York Giants
Dec 6, 2020, 1:58 PM | Updated: 9:17 pm
The Seahawks’ game Sunday against the New York Giants did not go as planned.
Not even close.
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The Seahawks’ offense that was Seattle’s biggest strength earlier in the season struggled all day, and while the surging defense tied its season-best performance in points allowed, the New York Giants left Lumen Field with a stunning 17-12 win over Seattle.
The Seahawks fall to 8-4 with the loss, while the Giants move to 5-7 despite having to turn to backup quarterback Colt McCoy for the game with starter Daniel Jones injured.
The loss cost the Seahawks sole possession of first place in the NFC West. The Los Angeles Rams wrapped up a 38-28 win over the Arizona Cardinals shortly after Seattle’s loss. The Rams, who are 8-4 like Seattle, currently hold a tiebreaker advantage due to a win earlier in the season over the Hawks, though Seattle can even the season series and nullify that tiebreaker when the two teams meet one more time in Week 16.
Seattle led 5-0 at halftime after getting a field goal on its first series of the game and a safety late in the second half, but New York took the lead when a 60-yard run by Wayne Gallman led to an Alfred Morris rushing touchdown and two-point conversion pass, and the Giants never trailed again.
.@waynegallman turns on the jets and goes 60 yards! #TogetherBlue
📺: #NYGvsSEA on FOX
📱: NFL app // Yahoo Sports app: https://t.co/5w0t6mAzQq pic.twitter.com/gEtjacJ9u0— NFL (@NFL) December 6, 2020
Running back Chris Carson caught a 28-yard touchdown from Russell Wilson in the fourth quarter to cut New York’s lead to one possession, but when the Seahawks got the ball back, their drive ended when Wilson was sacked on third down and had a Hail Mary attempt on fourth-and-18 from Seattle’s 46 fall incomplete.
Quandre Diggs had an interception while Jordyn Brooks and Jamal Adams each had 11 combined tackles in a fourth straight strong defensive performance for Seattle. Adams and Benson Mayowa each had a sack, tackle for loss and QB hit, as well.
Wilson 27 of 43 passes for 263 yards, a touchdown and an interception. He also lost a fumble.
.@Giants defense forces another turnover 💪 #TogetherBlue
📺: #NYGvsSEA on FOX
📱: NFL app // Yahoo Sports app: https://t.co/5w0t6mAzQq pic.twitter.com/oMcRSX11Ts— NFL (@NFL) December 6, 2020
DK Metcalf led Seattle receivers with 80 yards on five receptions, while Tyler Lockett had six catches for 63 yards despite leaving the game in the first quarter to be checked out for a possible concussion.
Carson had 65 yards on 13 rushes plus three receptions for 45 yards.
New York’s offense was led by running back Wayne Gallman, who had 135 yards on 16 carries.
Wilson was sacked five times by the Giants, with Leonard Williams credited for half of the total.
Seattle will host the other New York team, the 0-12 Jets, next Sunday at Lumen Field.
Here’s a quarter by quarter look at the Seahawks’ loss.
First quarter
Seahawks 3, Giants 0
The story of the first quarter was Tyler Lockett.
First, it was Lockett showing on Seattle’s opening drive what he was able to do against the Giants’ defense. But things took a turn in the Seahawks’ second series as he left the game after a scary play where he took a knee to the top of his helmet and potentially twisted his ankle, leaving him questionable to return.
Lockett had two receptions for 30 yards and Chris Carson added 27 yards on three carries, two of which went for 11 yards, to set up a 31-yard field goal by Jason Myers on Seattle’s fist possession. With the kick, Myers improved to a perfect 16 for 16 on 3-point tries this season.
The Seahawks’ defense had a strong start, forcing the Giants to punt before they got a first down, and that was even with a neutral zone infraction by Jarran Reed on third-and-8.
Seattle had to punt itself after getting the ball back, and Lockett suffered his injury after making a 6-yard catch to open the series.
The defense was good again in its second opportunity, though. Benson Mayowa got to Colt McCoy, the backup Giants quarterback playing in place of the injured Daniel Jones, for the first Seahawks sack of the day, and Seattle made a red zone stop when Ryan Neal broke up a pass intended for Evan Engram and Quandre Diggs picked off the tip. Diggs followed up with an eye-opening 32-yard return on what was his fourth interception of the season and second in as many games.
There goes @qdiggs6, still on his feet for the interception! 💨
Watch #NYGvsSEA on FOX. pic.twitter.com/UeLwHbMk9J
— Seattle Seahawks (@Seahawks) December 6, 2020
SEA – Jason Myers 31 FG, 11:55
Second quarter
Seahawks 5, Giants 0
The Seahawks’ offense struggled to score in the first half so much that Seattle’s special teams nearly matched it for points put on the board.
Neal blocked a punt deep in Giants territory, and the ball just made it out of the back of the end zone before Seattle could fall on it, resulting in the Seahawks’ third safety of the year to push the team’s lead to 5-0.
Punt: blocked ❌ #Seahawks get the safety! 🙏
Watch #NYGvsSEA on FOX. pic.twitter.com/ocDFH5FZeq
— Seattle Seahawks (@Seahawks) December 6, 2020
The Seahawks’ defense continued to give the Giants and McCoy fits in the second quarter, but the offense proved to have trouble figuring out how to break through against New York – and even got in its own way.
After a Jamal Adams sack of McCoy pushed the All-Pro safety’s team-leading total to 7.5 on the year and helped force a Giants punt, Russell Wilson took the Seahawks inside New York territory only to lose the ball on a fumble. Not that the Giants could do much with it. They punted the ball after a tackle for loss by Shaquill Griffin factored into a three-and-out.
Seattle had what at first appeared to be one last shot to put a few more points on the board before halftime, but it had to start all the way back at its own 8 following the New York punt. And while DK Metcalf had receptions of 18 and 21 yards, the drive stalled with the Seahawks outside of field goal range, and punter Michael Dickson pinned the Giants inside their own 5 with less than a minute left on the clock. That led to Neal’s blocked punt, but Seattle once again couldn’t get into scoring position after getting the ball back an extra time following the safety.
While Seattle’s offense struggled, it at least got Lockett back. The star wide receiver returned the game after being checked out for a possible concussion in the first quarter.
SEA – Ryan Neal blocked punt out of end zone for safety, :33
Third quarter
Giants 14, Seahawks 5
The Seahawks don’t do normal games. That certainly was true on Sunday.
Somehow the Seahawks scored twice while pitching a shutout in the first half, yet ended up trailing after the Giants scored for the first time.
Seattle seemed to develop a pattern of having one big play on each offensive series then hitting a wall, which was the case on its first two drives in the third quarter. Chris Carson had an 11-yard run on the team’s opening possession after halftime, but three plays later the Seahawks punted. And on the next Seattle drive, DK Metcalf had a 14-yard catch on first down, only to be shortly followed by an incomplete pass attempt on fourth down for a turnover on downs.
On defense, meanwhile, the Seahawks were unable to keep up with the pace they set before halftime.
The Giants seemed to suddenly wake up late on their second possession of the third quarter. A 60-yard run by Wayne Gallman on second down was followed by runs of 13 and 4 yards by Alfred Morris to put New York in the end zone, and a two-point conversion pass from Colt McCoy to Sterling Shepard made it 8-5 Giants.
New York’s offense wasn’t done.
Gallman and Morris continued to shred the defense, and Morris caught a 6-yard touchdown to push the Giants’ lead to 14-5.
Making matters worse, New York’s Leonard Williams sacked Wilson for a 15-yard loss to put Seattle back behind its own 30-yard line just before the end of the quarter.
NYG – Alfred Morris 4 run (Sterling Shepard pass from Colt McCoy), 7:40
NYG – Morris 6 pass from McCoy (kick failed), 2:29
Fourth quarter
Giants 17, Seahawks 12
The Seahawks had a shot to win on their last drive, but it was not to be.
Wilson got Seattle near midfield in the final minute, but he was sacked on third down, forcing a fourth-and-18 from its own 46. He was pressure on the play and heaved up what was essentially a Hail Mary, and the ball was deflected just out of the reach of a sliding Tyler Lockett.
New York’s Graham Gano made a 48-yard field goal for the first score of the final quarter, giving the Giants an important two-score lead at the time.
Seattle was able to cut the deficit to five points with a 28-yard touchdown pass from Wilson to Carson to cap off a drive that helped out tremendously by a holding call on the Giants on a third-and-15 incompletion, giving Seattle a first down inside New York’s 30.
Touchdown, @Seahawks!@DangeRussWilson rolls left and hits @ccarson_32 to make it a five-point game.
📺: #NYGvsSEA on FOX
📱: NFL app // Yahoo Sports app: https://t.co/5w0t6mAzQq pic.twitter.com/enwq4Igy8q— NFL (@NFL) December 6, 2020
That proved to be Seattle’s last gasp, however, as it couldn’t score on its last drive following the defense forcing New York into a punt.
NYG – Graham Gano 48 FG, 9:55
SEA – Chris Carson 28 pass from Russell Wilson (Myers kick), 6:09
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