The Middletown Press (Middletown, CT)
Giant punchless in defeat
EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. — Russell Wilson threw three second-half touchdown passes and the Seattle Seahawks limited the New York Giants’ receiver-depleted offense to 177 yards in a 24-7 win on Sunday.
Wilson hit Doug Baldwin with a go-ahead 22-yard touchdown pass midway through the third quarter. He put the game away with a 38-yard TD throw to Paul Richardson on a play that had to be reviewed because of simultaneous possession and he closed out the scoring with a 1-yard toss to Jimmy Graham with 2:14 to go.
The Seahawks (4-2) limited the Giants (1-6) to 46 yards rushing, 14 first downs and just 24:34 in time of possession. The defense only forced one turnover, but the fumble by Eli Manning led to the Richardson touchdown.
“The score was 7-3 and we were calm,” Wilson said. “No panic. For us, we just had to stay the course. We’ve been here before. The defense was lights out tonight. Credit to them and what they were able to do. For us, we just had to make plays. We were moving the ball down the field. We just weren’t finding the end zone.”
The points came in the second half and once Seattle was ahead it was unlikely that the Giants would find a way to rally against its defense.
The Giants, who stunned Denver on Sunday night for their first win, were only in this game because their defense made plays and limited Seattle to a field goal in the first half despite being on the field for more than 20 minutes.
The unit set up the Giants’ touchdown with a forced fumble and a 32-yard return by Landon Collins to the Seahawks 17. It set up a 5-yard TD toss from Manning to Evan Engram, the only receiver who could get open on a consistent basis.
Blair Walsh kicked a 39-yard field goal late in the first half to get the Seahawks within 7-3.
Seattle took the lead with a four-play 59-yard drive that featured passes of 29 yards to Graham and 23 yards to Richardson by Wilson, who was 27 of 39 for 334 yards.
The Giants had a chance to tie the game early in the fourth quarter, but a 47yard field goal by Aldrick Rosas was wide right.
Seattle was forced to punt on its next series, but they got the ball back quickly when Jarran Reed sacked Manning and forced a fumble that Frank Clark recovered at the Giants 37.
On the first play, Wilson pitched the ball to J.D. McKissic and took a return lateral. He tossed a pass to the left corner of the end zone and Richardson and Collins made a simultaneous catch. It was ruled a touchdown and the review didn’t change it.
“What an exciting play,” Wilson said. “It was a great call by (Darrell) Bevell. I tossed it to J.D. and he throws it back to me. I just let Paul do his thing, one on one.
Graham, who had dropped a touchdown pass on the first play of the second quarter, caught one late.
Despite being outgained 222-42 and having the ball just over nine minutes, the Giants led 7-3 at the half.
Manning’s TD pass to Engram (six catches for 60 yards) came two plays after rookie defensive end Avery Moss knocked the ball out of Thomas Rawls’ hands and safety Collins returned it 32 yards to the Seahawks 17. Manning finished 19 of
39 for 134 yards.
“The defense played their tails off today,” said Giants running back Orleans Darkwa, who led the team with 35 yards rushing. “As an offense, we have to put points on the board, simple and plain. With the bye week coming up we have to figure out what we do well and what we do bad and improve from there.”
GOING EAST
Seattle is now 5-0 at MetLife Stadium, including their Super Bowl victory over Denver. They have beaten the Giants three times — 36-25 in 2011 and 23-0 in 2013 — and knocked off the Jets last year 27-17.