The Morning After: Seahawks dominate Giants in every aspect
The Seahawks travelled to New Jersey this past Sunday to their home away from home, MetLife Stadium. The Seahawks have an impressive win record here as well as their 2013 Super Bowl victory, something I’m sure no Hawks dan will ever forget.
The Seahawks were coming off a bye week, something that historically causes early pains getting into a much important rhythm. This Sunday, however, was a little different.
Sure, you’d be forgiven for saying the Seahawks had another slow first half, after all they put up a total of 3 points thanks to Blair Walsh in the second quarter. But looking into it a bit more the Seahawks were, for the most part, sustaining drives, running relatively effectively and getting the ball to the receivers. They didn’t struggle too much on third down and overall, looked far superior to weeks past. Thomas Rawls fumbled the football giving the Giants great field position which resulted in their only points of the game. Jimmy Graham also had a few key drops including a wide open drop that would have gone for 30-40 yards if not more. He did catch a fade in the end zone (on the third attempt no less) for the second game in a row though, so at least the coaches are creating favourable matchups where he makes his money, the end zone.
Russell Wilson had a day for himself, throwing for 321 yards, 3 touchdowns and only a single sack from a dominant Giants front 7. A good indicator of how he performs against a solid defense and the positive curve that he tends to go in as the season progresses. Barring injury, he will get better, and that’s scary.
With LG Luke Joeckel out for 4-5 weeks following knee surgery, reps were split between Mark Glowinski and rookie Ethan Pocic. Both looked solid and comfortable in the position with Ethan Pocic having 100% efficiency in pass protection, granted he didn’t play a full game but that’s very reassuring moving forward, I think he wins the job full time moving forwards. Our O-line may be poor, but they’re improving consistently every single week, I’ll go into it in a future post in more detail, but I believe we will have a middle of the pack line by the end of December, and that’s all we need with our ‘turn nothing into something’ quarterback.
Tyler Lockett seemed to be used more as well which is great to see given his season ending injury last year. He does still have a thick knee brace on game days but is at roughly 90% speed. Offensive Coordinator Darrell Bevell created some very Tavon Austin-esque plays for him including her sweeps and various routes over the middle that proved successful as well. He also caught a deep ball in the end zone which was called back on a phantom pass interference call.
Despite the offenses impressive showing, it was the defense that shined the brightest. Giving up a total of 7 points and a paltry 177 total yards.
They were causing non stop three-and-outs and totally shut down the Giants run game. Jarran Reed had a great day on the defensive line, the more this guy plays the more he is earning his second round draft position, playing alongside Sheldon Richardson has improved his game no end, he’s no longer dealing with double-teams and even hurrying the quarterback, he is not going to be cheap to re-up in 2 and a half years!
Rookie cornerback Shaquill Griffin continued to impress opposite Richard Sherman leading the team in passes defended with 3. Anyone that plays opposite Sherm is going to see more than their fair share of targets but Griffin has proven himself each and every week to be developing far beyond what is expected of him in his first year. He’s clearly soaking in the experience that the Seahawks offer to young DB’s, in team meetings he sits in between none other than Richard Sherman and head coach Pete Carroll, the king of DB trainers. You can easily see an argument that he’s the second best corner the Seahawks have had. If he’s not the second he’s certainly the third behind Brandon Browner and will no doubt have a better career when it’s all said and done.
It’s no mistake or surprise that the Seahawks defense leads the NFL in points allowed per game (15.7) followed closely by the Jacksonville Jaguars (pardon?).
The team will be staying in the Pacific North West for 2 weeks as they face the Houston Texans in week 8 and the Washington Redskins in week 9. 6 of their next 10 games are at home so us fans have every reason to feel optimistic heading into the second half of the season.
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