Giants humiliate Seahawks 41-7

By Kshell

When Pete Carroll took over the Seahawks he knew there would be some growing pains. Carroll never figured though it would ever get this bad especially at home. The New York Giants(6-2) made a strong statement they are the best team in the NFC as they gave the Seahawks(4-4) their worst loss in Qwest Field history. The Giants made life tough on Charlie Whitehurst who not only was making his first career start in the NFL but had never even thrown a pass in an NFL game.

The Giants thoroughly kicked the Seahawks tails in on Sunday. The game was never once in doubt. After forcing a three and out on the Seahawks the Giants took over on offense. Right away Seahawks fans knew they were facing a different Eli Manning. The Giants were driving but when Eli hit Kevin Boss from Western Oregon for a 10 yard gain he had fumbled which the Seahawks recovered. The Seahawks then did nothing and had to punt the ball back to the Giants.

The first of many bad penalties hurt Seattle as they down the punt on the 26 but cause of a five yard penalty the Giants elected to have Seattle re-kick the ball. Jon Ryan then shanked the punt and the Giants had the ball on their own 48. On third and 9 the Giants received a 16 yard penalty which extended their drive. The Giants got on the board when Ahmad Bradshaw ran it in from two yards out. The Seahawks again failed to get a first down and were forced to punt and Jon Ryan again had a bad punt.

The Giants again caught a break when facing a third and eight they received a five yard holding penalty from the Seahawks. That play resulted in a first down which Manning took advantage of. Manning went deep to Hakeem Nicks from 46 yards out for the touchdown to give the Giants a 14-0 lead. On the ensuing kickoff the Seahawks muffed the kickoff and the Giants recovered and ran it back to the Seahawks four yard line. That is when Bradshaw ran it in for another touchdown from four yards out. The Giants had led 21-0.

The only bright spot in the game for the Seahawks happened on the following kickoff. Leon Washington almost busted a touchdown and return the short kickoff 57 yards to the Giants 32 trying to make up for his earlier fumble. The Seahawks started to use the run game as Marshawn Lynch busted a five yard run, then had the greatest seven yard run you'll ever see carrying Giants defenders down the Giants 21 yard line. The Giants had committed a penalty giving the Seahawks the ball on the 11 yard line. Then Justin had a loss of one, the Seahawks committed another penalty giving them second and 16 from the 17 yard line. Charlie Whitehurst then hit Mike Williams in the hands but the ball bounced off his hands for an interception which was returned 28 yards.

The Giants had dominated the Seahawks in the first quarter outgaining the Seahawks 151-15 in the first quarter. The Giants had ran 17 plays to the Seahawks 13 plays. The Giants would continue the domination in the second quarter. The Giants after that interception would go on an 11 play 73 yard drive which would take up 5:31 in time of possession which was capped by Manning hitting the other Steve Smith from six yards out to give the Giants a 28-0 lead.

The Seahawks after a solid drive which saw them run nine plays would end with Whitehurst throwing a bad interception intended to Mike Williams. Whitehurst was ineffective to say the least in his first career start. The Giants would then go on a 10 play 86 yard drive that would take up 4:11 in time of possession ending with Manning throwing his third touchdown pass of the day to Kevin Boss from Western Oregon from five yards out to give the Giants a 35-0 halftime lead. The Giants dominated the first half as the Seahawks exited to their locker room hearing nothing but boo's from the 12th man. The Giants had outgained the Seahawks 309-71. The Giants had ran 39 plays to the Seahawks 27 plays. The Giants held the ball for 18 minutes and 10 seconds in the first half. While the Seahawks had the ball 11 minutes and 50 seconds.

The Giants would continue their domination into the third quarter. The Giants would finally punt on their first possession the only punt all game long for them. After another Seahawks three and out the Giants drove down the field for a field goal giving them a 38-0 lead. After the Seahawks went three and out again the Giants went on a 15 play 78 yard drive and held the ball for 8:29 and settled for another field goal giving them a 41-0 lead. The Giants ran 23 plays in the fourth quarter to the Seahawks 6. The Giants outgained Seattle that quarter 107-7. After three quarters the Giants had outgained the Seahawks 416-78. Pete Carroll was always on the right side of those contests while at USC never has he been blown out like this.

The Seahawks avoided their first home shutout since 1992 when Whitehurst hit Ben Obomanu for a 36 yard touchdown pass. That was Whitehurst first career touchdown pass in the NFL. The Giants would then go on a 19 yard drive chewing up over 13 minutes in clock before finally getting stopped. The Giants would win the game 41-7 handing the Seahawks their first home loss of the year. That was the Giants biggest road win since 1992 against the Redskins. The Giants outgained the Seahawks on the day 487-162 and held the ball for 42:34 and ran 79 plays to the Seahawks 37.

This game looked like a BCS college team playing a sub Division-1 school. It had that feel to it from the very start. Eli Manning would enjoy a great game passing 21 of 32 for 290 yards and three touchdowns with no interceptions. His quarterback rating was 125.8 on the day. The Giants also ran on the Seahawks with Brandon Jacobs running for 78 yards on 11 carries(7.1 YPC), Danny Ware rushing for 66 yards on 13 carries(5.1 YPC) and Ahmad Bradshaw 19 for 57 yards(3.0 YPC) and two touchdowns. Hakeem Nicks had six receptions for 128 yards and a touchdown.

While the Seahawks numbers were horrible Charlie Whitehurst might be holding a clipboard for another four years after this game. He defianetly didn't win the job from Matt Hasselbeck today in going 12 of 23 for 113 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions. He posted a quarterback rating of 44.3. The running game was iffy as Lynch had just 11 carries but 48 yards(4.4 YPC). Mike Williams who was a stud the last few weeks has been a no show again for the second straight week catching just two passes for 25 yards.

At the end of the day the Seahawks were shown first hand what it will take to be at the top of the NFC. The Seahawks are still tied for first place in the division and close the year out with four out of six at home. The Seahawks need to forget about these last two weeks which saw them outscored 74-10 which is unexcusable in the NFL. I knew this would be a transition and rebuilding season so I'm not losing faith in Pete Carroll yet.

Observations:

- Injuries are starting to pile up on the Seahawks as Brandon Mebane has missed the last four games. Red Bryant who was great at stuffing the run is done for the year. Matt Hasselbeck had to miss yesterdays game as well. Russell Okung looked great against the Bears but has now missed the last two weeks. The Seahawks need to get some of these guys back.

- What happened to John Carlson? Carlson had just two receptions for nine yards this game. Here are Carlson's numbers after starting off nicely the first three games. Against the Rams he had just one catch for 15 yards, against the Bears just two receptions for 21 yards, against the Cardinals just one reception for three yards, then against the Raiders he had three receptions for 47 yards(one was 35 yard catch) and now today two receptions for nine yards. Carlson has just 22 receptions on the year and 13 of those were in the first three weeks.

- Ever since the Chargers game teams aren't letting Leon Washington beat them anymore. As you saw against the Giants they were constantly squib kicking the ball to Washington so he couldn't beat them. That is a smart strategy because when he or Golden Tate aren't getting big returns the Seahawks aren't scoring points.

- The Seahawks should have signed Randy Moss. He may be over the hill but defenses have to respect him which opens up guys like Mike Williams underneath. Moss is a game changer on offense and the Seahawks don't have that. This offense has scored just two touchdowns in the last 12 quarters of football. The Seahawks offense has scored just four touchdowns in their last five games that won't win to many games.

- The Seahawks had a rude wake up call that no matter what they do this year they aren't ready for the big boys of the NFL. Unfortunetly they still have to play the Falcons and at New Orleans in the second half of the season. The Seahawks need to get healthy to have any chance at winning these games.

The goals for this year shouldn't change. This is a bad division that the Seahawks are still tied for first place in. The Seahawks are still a good home team who will be favored in three of their final four home games against. The Seahawks can still win the division get some false hope going forward. Get this young roster a playoff game or two experience would be huge. Pete Carroll is patching things up on this Seahawks roster and games like today certainly doesn't help but he is doing a good job. The Seahawks have a huge game this week down in Arizona win that game and they are back in position to win the NFC West for the fifth time in the last seven years.