Surprising Giants, Seahawks clash
SEATTLE — Forgive Brian Daboll if he’s essentially walking around with ear plugs and blinders on, doing his best during the week to try to avoid the avalanche of attention being placed on the New York Giants.
Even if that focus is a good thing in this case.
“I can only speak of the games. The games have been great,” the Giants head coach said. “I get in my car and drive home and drive here. I don’t really do anything else.”
The Giants (6-1) are among the hottest teams in the NFL, riding a four-game winning streak into today’s matchup against the equally surprising Seattle Seahawks. The Giants streak is tied for the second-longest active streak in the league, while Seattle (4-3) has won its last two to move into first place in the NFC West.
Both Seattle and New York were expected to be among the dregs of the NFC this season — the Giants because of a new coaching staff taking over a franchise that won just four games in 2021; the Seahawks because they traded a franchise quarterback with no obvious replacement at the position.
But something happened on the way to those preconceived notions.
New York has found an uncanny way to win a bunch of close games thanks to smart decisions by quarterback Daniel Jones and a dynamic season to date from running back Saquon Barkley. And Seattle discovered it already had its quarterback replacement in Geno Smith, who is among the best in the league through seven games.
The game is the only matchup this week featuring both teams having winning records. If that statement had been made before the season, some good money could have been made betting on the unlikelihood of that being the case.
“It’s been an interesting year. I think there a lot of surprises around the league as far as the play and the way the ball bounces and wins and losses,” Seattle tight end Will Dissly said. “We kind of know who we are, and we are excited.”
The Giants and Seahawks are among the two best teams in the NFL at running the ball. For New York, it has been a lot of Barkley leading the way.
He leads the NFL in yards from scrimmage and is second in yards rushing through seven weeks. But they’ve had the added element of Jones running the ball, including a career-high 107 yards last week against Jacksonville, and Seattle has struggled at times stopping running quarterbacks this season. The Giants rank second in the league in rushing.
On the other side, there’s been no falloff with rookie Kenneth Walker III stepping in after Rashaad Penny was lost for the season due to injury. Walker rushed for 167 yards and two touchdowns last week against the Chargers and is averaging more than 6 yards per carry the past two weeks.