Last Updated on November 3, 2010 10:48 pm by Anthony Rome
Giants vs. Seahawks Preview
SEATTLE, WA – The New York Giants come out of their bye week with plenty of momentum. They’ll need it to overcome some daunting numbers in their next game.
The Giants face the fellow first-place Seattle Seahawks on Sunday looking to end a four-game road skid in the series, while trying to continue improving a dismal record after their annual regular-season week off.
Oddsmakers from online sports book BroburySports.com have made the Giants 6.5-point spread favorites for Sunday’s game against the Seahawks. Current NFL Public Betting Information shows that 67% of more than the 2,132 bets for this game have been placed on the Giants –6.5.
New York (5-2) has won four straight to take over the top spot in the NFC East, putting a rough start in the rearview mirror with a streak marked by dominant defense and versatile offense. The Giants defeated Dallas 41-35 on Oct. 25, limiting the Cowboys to 254 yards and knocking quarterback Tony Romo out with a broken collarbone.
The Giants had three sacks to give them 24 on the season – tied for third in the NFL. They’ve allowed 68 points in the last four games after giving up 85 in the first three, and are second in the league in total defense at 263.3 yards per game.
Given their history after the bye, though, continuing their roll could be a tall order. New York is 6-15 following the week off, although it has been better recently, winning its last two post-bye games to move to 3-3 under coach Tom Coughlin.
“Well, that’s always the challenge, not just to come back where you were, but to come back and escalate the quality of your performance, lift your game to another level, which is the constant message,” Coughlin said.
One area where the Giants need to escalate their quality of performance is taking care of the ball. New York had five turnovers against Dallas and is third in the league with 19 giveaways.
While Eli Manning is among the NFL leaders with 14 touchdown passes, he is tied for first with 11 interceptions, with at least seven coming on tips by his receivers. The Giants have lost 10 fumbles in seven games.
“We can’t afford five interceptions and turnovers and those things will lose games for us with some of those tight games when things aren’t going as smoothly,” said Manning, who led the Giants to a season-high 497 total yards versus the Cowboys and threw for 306 yards and four TDs, but also three INTs.
New York’s resurgent running game led by Ahmad Bradshaw and Brandon Jacobs totaled 200 yards, posing an additional challenge for a Seattle defense that’s 26th in the league with 368.3 yards allowed per game. While the Seahawks have been more effective against the run, allowing 100.6 yards on the ground, they’re giving up 267.7 through the air – 29th in the NFL.
None of that, though, may matter at raucous Qwest Field. Seattle (4-3) is 3-0 there on the season and has outscored opponents 80-36 in the deafening stadium, which is known for causing false-start penalties by visiting offenses. New York, which had 14 combined false starts in the last two meetings there in 2005 and ’06, has never won at the venue and has dropped four straight trips to Seattle since a 32-0 victory in 1981.
Making matters worse for the turnover-prone Giants, the Seahawks have a plus-eight turnover margin at home and have forced 12 of their 13 takeaways there.
Manning played in the last two matchups in Seattle, throwing for 619 yards and five touchdowns but also tossing four interceptions. The Giants lost 42-30 in the most recent visit Sept. 24, 2006.
The Seahawks will need their home-field advantage, having limped back to Seattle after a 33-3 loss at Oakland last week. The team lost five starters to injury, including quarterback Matt Hasselbeck, who suffered a concussion and will have to pass the league-mandated tests to play Sunday.
“It sounds like it was pretty slight concussion that should be OK,” said coach Pete Carroll, whose team leads the NFC West by one-half game. “But he still has to go through the process to make sure he’s all right, but we think he’ll play.”
Hasselbeck was sacked eight times – the most allowed by the Seahawks since 1992 – and hit another seven. That may not bode well against the ferocious Giants pass rush, which has knocked five quarterbacks out of games with injuries this year.
“We get right and come back on Wednesday and get back to work with an enormous challenge coming up this weekend here at Qwest,” Carroll said Tuesday.
A major blow for Seattle came in the form of a season-ending right knee injury to defensive end Red Bryant, who had been anchoring the team’s improved play against the run.
The Giants won the last game between the teams 44-6 in 2008, avoiding a third straight loss in the series. New York has taken eight of 13 all-time matchups.
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