BLUE STREAK
Giants upset Seahawks for fourth straight win
Jabrill Peppers (21) celebrates a crucial interception last night as the Giants pulled off a 17-12 shocker over the high-flying Seahawks in Seattle for Big Blue’s fourth consecutive win — and sole possession of first place.
Is this correct?
The Giants sunk to 1-7 at midseason and now sit at 5-7, in control of the NFC East, after the signature victory in the first year of the Joe Judge coaching regime. Jabrill Peppers explained the turnaround as no miracle, but rather, a course correction.
“We got a good group of guys,’’ the high-octane safety said, “and we got a damn good team here.’’
Can it be? Are the Giants actually damn good?
The Giants are no longer losing. Yes, their previous four victories were mostly close and taut, with no margin for error. That is the way it went Sunday in Seattle, but this was so very different, given the opponent.
This was a groundbreaking moment for Judge. He took his team on its longest road trip of the season to face Russell Wilson and the first-place Seahawks, a legit playoff team and Super Bowl contender in the NFC. The Giants were 10-point underdogs and had to go with backup Colt McCoy at quarterback.
The Giants found a way, incredibly. They took it to Wilson for 60 minutes, got just enough out of McCoy and plenty out of running back Wayne Gallman. Their defense showed up early, in the middle and late, and it all came together for a shocking 17-12 victory at Lumen Field.
“You don’t win a lot of games when you have zero points at halftime,’’ McCoy said.
No you do not, and the Giants did it by hearkening back to a long-lost franchise formula of power running and backbreaking defense. Their only two touchdowns were scored by 31-year-old Alfred Morris, unemployed until the Giants came calling in late September with a practice-squad invite.
At halftime, the Giants trailed 5-0 and looked as if they might not score a point all day. By the end of the game, McCoy was a winner as the replacement for injured Daniel Jones, and Patrick Graham, the Giants defensive coordinator, must be hailed for the way he put the elusive Wilson in a bottle and never let him out.
“We always joke around about how Pat is like a computer,’’ surging defensive lineman Leonard Williams said. “He’s just
like a genius when it comes to scheming.’’
The Giants own a four-game winning streak and strengthened their grip on first place. The Eagles (3-8-1) were thrashed in Green Bay and Washington (4-7) and the Cowboys (3-8) are heavy underdogs this week.
McCoy (13 of 22, 105 yards) did not win the game for the Giants. More importantly, he did not lose it. Gallman erupted for a career-high 135 rushing yards, part of a 190-yard ground game that got cooking (158 yards) in the second half. The Giants averaged an outrageous 7.9 yards on their 20 runs after halftime.
Wilson was 27-for-43 for 263 yards, one touchdown and one interception for the Seahawks (8-4). Game-breaking receiver DK Metcalf did not break open this game, with five receptions for 80 yards, with cornerback James Bradberry never far away.
Down five, Wilson got the ball back with 1:48 remaining and the Giants were without Blake Martinez, their do-everything inside linebacker, out with a l o we r - b a c k injury. Williams, completing a maestro (2.5 sacks) perfo r mance, d ro p p e d Wil s o n on third down. On fourthand-18, Wilson put one high into the air. Bradberry knocked the ball away and the Giants had their upset.
“We put them through a lot of stuff and I’m proud they get to receive some tangible results for their hard work,’’ Judge said.
McCoy admitted he needed to “calm down, take a breath’’ after a shaky f irst half — the first start in 14 months for the 34-year-old. He did, because the Giants ran it down the Seahawks’ throats. Gallman’s career-long 60-yard run set everything in motion and Morris finished things off with a 4-yard touchdown run. Ahead 6-5, the Giants went for two, and McCoy found Sterling Shepard to make it 8-5.
Wilson was pressured by rookie Carter Coughlin on fourth-and-1 for a key stop. The Giants took over on the Seattle 48-yard line and went to work, with Gallman on runs of 13 and 23 setting up McCoy’s play-fake to Morris for a wideopen 4-yard touchdown flip to increase the Giants lead to 14-5 after Graham Gano missed his first extra point of the season.
More defense: A drop by running back Chris Carson deflected into the air and rookie Darnay Holmes came away with an interception on the Seattle 39-yard line. Gano’s 48-yard field goal gave the Giants their 17-5 lead with 9:50 to go.
Wilson came back to find Carson for a 28-yard touchdown connection to bring t he Seahawks wit hi n 1 7-1 2 with 6: 09 remaining.
The S e a h awks go t no c l o s e r. The defense, on cue, made sure of that.
“We walked in here confident, I’m not going to lie to you,’’ Peppers said. “The team had a different swagger about them, a different juice … because we knew if we played our brand of football we could shock a lot of people.’’