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Giants (5-2)
vs Seahawks (4-3)
Last week the Seahawks, and especially quarterback Matt Hasselbeck, were beaten
down in a 33-3 loss to the Oakland Raiders. The Seahawks
totaled just 162 yards of offense, were 1-of-16 on third downs and they allowed
eight sacks on Hasselbeck who was forced out of the game with signs of a concussion.
The Giants are on a roll coming off their recent win over the Cowboys
and are rested up after a bye week. Now they head out to the West Coast to take
on the Seahawks who don't really need to see another team that excels on putting
pressure on a quarterback. Seattle
Seahawks.
They won only 4 games in 2008, a season which
started off with the head coach announcing his retirement. Mike Holmgren was capping
off 10 years with the Seahawks and Jim Mora was the head-coach-in-waiting. They
didn't wait long to get rid of Jim Mora after he won just 5 games in 2009. Pete
Carroll is in charge now and if you look over the coaching staff, just about every
position has changed hands except for Gus Bradley the defensive coordinator, his
line coach and his defensive assistant. Those three have prior experience but
have been with this team only since 2009. Players have been turned over also,
with well over half the 53 active players being new to the team, and more were
added just this week. So far it's been working, at least comparing it to the previous
two years and the Seahawks are undefeated with a 3-0 record at home where they
will be facing the Giants this week. Seahawks
Offense.
Matt Hasselbeck
was sacked five times in Seattle's win over Arizona before being slammed for a
season-high eight last week in Oakland. So what are the odds that the Giants weren't
game planning for backup and future-planned-star quarterback Charlie Whitehurst
to make some sort of appearance? As things turned out Hasselback is still suffering
the results of a concussion and Whitehurst will make his first NFL start to lead
an offense that as far as NFL rankings go
is not very impressive. They are 28th in points scored, 30th in yards per game,
25th in passing yards and 27th in rushing yards. Running back Shaun Alexander
had an MVP season in 2005 for the Seahawks, but he's just a fond memory now and
so is their running game. Because of new injuries, once again they will be reshuffling
an offensive line that's responsible for protecting the quarterback. Seahawks
Defense.
Like the offense, the defense
has been hit with injuries and they tend to give up yards but have been stingy
in giving up points. Injuries keep on coming. Now defensive end Red Bryant is
out for the season and defensive tackle Colin Cole will miss this game. Defensive
end Chris Clemons leads the team with 5 1/2 sacks but he missed some practice
this week. Strong safety Lawyer Milloy has been around a long time and he leads
Seattle with 40 tackles and has three sacks. Middle linebacker Lofa Tatupu keeps
everyone on track and the Seahawks are 10th in the league in rushing defense.
Seattle - Special Teams.
Kicker Olindo Mare is solid and rarely misses field goals. Punter Jon Ryan is
tied for first in the NFL with 19 punts inside the 20-yard line. The Seahawks
rank 1st in the NFL on kickoff returns and 7th on punt returns. Former Jet Leon
Washington leads the NFL with his 33.7-yard kickoff return average and he had
touchdowns of 101 and 99 yards vs. San Diego. Rookie Golden Tate is averaging
11.5 yards on his 14 punt returns and Washington will step into his spot if he's
unable to play on Sunday. Giants
Bye Week.
The Giants have won their last four
games, and getting a bye at week 8 of the season is just about perfect. Have one
way too early, say the Cowboys after just 3 games and your team is pretty healthy
and doesn't know what to really work on. Now you're left with a real long 13 game
season and pretty worn down even if you do make the playoffs. Get a bye week too
late and you never got a decent break to get healthy or fix problems you've been
struggling with (possibly a Green Bay team after a long 9 game start). Anyway,
the Giants got their break at the right time and maybe an edge to improve on their
poor record of being 5-16 in games immediately following a bye. Giants
Offense.
This offense can be explosive
at times, but also has a tendency to make mistakes. Noisy Qwest Field inspires
opposing teams to make mistakes even if they don't have that tendency. It doesn't
help that Eli Manning enjoys nice long chats with his offensive before each and
every snap. Changing things up at the line gets real tricky with the clock running
down and with everyone staring back at you with a blank expression. Hopefully
the receivers are better at interpreting foot stomps and hand signals than they
are at letting balls bounce off their hands. Veteran center Shaun O'Hara won't
hear Manning at all since he's out for this game after playing in the last two.
Ahmad Bradshaw and Brandon Jacobs were getting it together before the bye week
but the Seahawks defensive strength is stopping the run. Giants
Defense.
They are tied for third in the
league with 24 sacks though no other unit has knocked five quarterbacks out of
the game. Hopefully the bye week off won't have cooled their jets. It's unlikely
that a Seattle running game would suddenly develop against a unit that has given
up less than 65 rushing yards in three straight games. It's more likely that they'll
be overaggressive against an inexperienced quarterback who can scramble or be
taken in by some well thought out plays. They will have to watch out for wide
receiver Mike Williams and tight end John Carlson who have 53 catches between
them. Safety Deon Grant played for the Seahawks for 3 years and is having a good
year for the Giants with 26 tackles, one sack, five passes defensed and 2 interceptions.
Giants - Special Teams.
Matt Dodge has improved and over the last three games he has seven punts of 50
or more yards. That included a 69-yarder that was returned 93 yards for a touchdown
when the coverage team didn't handle things. That is a big weakness going up against
a Seattle unit which is playing exceptionally well. Giants kick
returner Darius Reynaud could use some better blocking, but he might not play
as he's listed as questionable. Will Blackmon
may step in but he's new to the team and their coverage schemes Best
to worst.
No team
in the NFL is undefeated at this point in the season. Only
one team still has not won a game, the Buffalo Bills (0-7) in the AFC. The Bills
will play a home game against the Bears (4-3) and are not favored to win their
game. NFC East.
The Giants play the Seahawks in the late Sunday afternoon game at the same time
the Eagles (4-3) will be hosting the Colts (5-2). The Cowboys (1-6) will play
8:30 Sunday night at Green Bay (5-3) and Washington is on a bye. The Giants and
Eagles are favored to win their games, The Cowboys are not. 
Check
out.
The Team Giants Store,
and see some of the really unique items we put together.
There are some items
you certainly haven't seen elsewhere, and each sale helps out our site.
Notes.
Giants are 3-3 under coach Tom Coughlin in post-bye games, having won the last
two.
2009 - Giants 34-31 at home over Atlanta, 2008 Giants 44-6 at home over
Seattle. Giants had 14 combined false
starts in their last two games in Seattle in 2005 and 2006. Giants
WR Steve Smith and CB Terrell Thomas were both coached by Pete Carroll at USC. Giants
TE Kevin Boss expects about 80-100 friends and family to be at the game, making
a four-hour trip from his hometown of Philmouth, Oregon. Giants
Tom Coughlin visited Rutgers player Eric LeGrand at Hackensack UMC over the bye
week.
Eric LeGrand suffered a spinal cord injury in an Oct. 16 game against
Army that has left him paralyzed. Seahawks
Mike Williams was out of football for two years before Pete Carroll, his former
coach at USC, brought him to Seattle. Williams leads the team with 33 catches. Seahawks
Chris Clemons's 5 1/2 sacks is more than any Seahawks player had in 2009. Seahawks
have allowed only 8 passing touchdowns, the fifth fewest in the NFL. Seahawks
kicker Olindo Mare missed two field goals in Oakland after making team record
of 30 straight. Seahawks Qwest Field,
which opened in 2002, is louder than any other NFL stadium. Seahawks
and Giants are atop of their respective divisions.
Next
Games
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- Giants at Seattle
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