Seahawks Week 5 Preview: New York Giants
Time to go to the pumpkin patch
There may be no better opponent to lick your wounds and return to excellence than the New York Giants. After giving up 42 points last week, Seattle needs to play a smart, crisp game on the defensive end. With Malik Nabers out and Devin Singletary doubtful, the Seahawks have no excuses. While I don’t want to spoil my prediction that comes at the end of this article, I am not alone in thinking that Seattle should roll. If you search any Giants blog, you will find Giants fans/writers predicting at least a 10 point win for the Hawks.
Bill Simmons and Cousin Sal annually talk about a week in the NFL where you should go to the pumpkin patch. A week where the schedule is so bad that you may not want to watch and you can gain some good will with significant others by volunteering a trip to the pumpkin patch. For Seahawk fans, this is the week. Even if the Seahawks suck, you won’t want to watch it. You will be so mad that Wan’Dale Robinson and Jalin Hyatt are getting yards. You will be pissed that Danny Dimes is out here carving the Hawks up. Or the Hawks roll, you are happy, and you listen on the radio.
Go get a pumpkin this Sunday.
Giants Offense
Projected Starters (with PPF position rank)
QB Daniel Jones (21st/34 QB)
RB Devin Singletary (43rd/56 RB)
WR Wan’Dale Robinson (50th/115 WR)
WR Jalin Hyatt
WR Darius Slayton (92nd/115 WR)
TE Theo Johnson (65th/69 TE)
LT Andrew Thomas (20th/75 T)
LG Jon Runyan (50th/69 G)
C John Michael Schmitz Jr. (20th/34 C)
RG Greg Von Roten (61st/69 G)
RT Jermaine Eluemunor (57th/75 T)
In the Trenches
When looking at the Pro Football Focus grades for those five offensive linemen, it shouldn’t surprise you that the Giants have the second worst run blocking unit in the NFL. Andrew Thomas is a good tackle, but the rest of the Giants personnel are pretty rough. In 2023, the Giants featured one of the worst offensive lines in football. The addition of Jon Runyan was meant to improve that group, but Runyan was the 73rd best guard a year ago and isn’t much better this year. With Leonard Williams, Boye Mafe and Uchenna Nwosu back for the Seahawks on the defensive line, I would expect a disruptive performance from Seattle. The Seahawks will likely rotate Williams, Boye, Nwosu, Jarran Reed, Johnathan Hankins, Dre’Mont Jones, Derick Hall, Myles Adams and Mike Morris in this game. That is a pretty good group and should have their way with the Giants offensive line.
Giants Playmakers
The one and only playmaker on the New York football Giants is out this week. Rookie Malik Nabers is an absolute stud. He currently leads the NFL in receptions (35), ranks second in receiving yards (386) and is tied for third in TDs (3). He is only the third rookie in the Super Bowl era to have 30+ receptions in his first four games. And sadly for those attending the game and for Giants fans, Nabers is out with a concussion.
That leaves no one on the Giants roster as a playmaker. Seriously. I am not saying there aren’t players who can gain some yards, get some catches and do something here or there. But the names Wan’Dale Robinson and Devin Singletary simply do not scare the Seahawks. (Note: Devin Singletary is doubtful for the game. It gets worse for the G-men).
Matchups to Watch
What is left to watch? No Nabers. Likely no Singletary. I guess the match up to watch is the Seahawks secondary against the Giants passing game. With Jared Goff going 18/18 in week 4, Seattle has reason to be upset and ready to play this week. It will be problematic if Daniel Jones gets off to a good start with the lack of weapons in their passing game. I will be watching early if Riq Woolen and Devon Witherspoon get back to their dominant ways or if the Giants get momentum with completion after completion (even if they aren’t for many yards). The potential absence of Julian Love scares me a bit too as he is clearly the communicator on the back end.
Giants Defense
Projected Starters (with PPF position rank)
DE Rakeem Nunez-Roches (94th/124 DL)
NT Dexter Lawrence (2nd/124 DL)
DE Elijah Chatman (83rd/124 DL)
OLB Brian Burns (14th/111 DE)
LB Bobby Okereke (20th/72 LB)
LB Micah McFadden (2nd/72 LB)
OLB Kayvon Thibodeaux (84th/111 DE)
CB Cor’Dale Flott (69th/97 CB)
S Tyler Nubin (22nd/76 S)
S Jason Pinnock (31st/76 S)
CB Deonte Banks (92nd/97 CB)
In the Trenches
It is unlikely that most Seahawk fans have heard of Nunez-Roches or Chatman on the defensive line. It is very likely that Seahawk fans have heard of Dexter Lawrence. If you haven’t, you should know his name. This group of three, plus outside help from Brian Burns and Kayvon Thibodeaux, makes for an interesting group in the trenches. The Giants rank 20th in run defense and 21st in tackling, according to Pro Football Focus. The have a decent pass rush. In many ways, the front seems average. However, the Giants were very good up front in week three against the Cleveland Browns. Chatman recorded his first NFL sack and was part of a group that had 36 hurries against Deshaun Watson. Weirdly, neither the Cowboys or the Browns really tried to establish a running game. In week two, the Commanders did run the ball as Washington put up 215 rushing yards at 6.1 yards per carry. It is likely that the Hawks will have some success running the ball, which would be nice to see.
Giants Playmakers
Dexter Lawrence is a dude. Only Cam Hayward of the Pittsburgh Steelers has a better grade than Lawrence this year. He is good against the run. He is good rushing the passer. He is just flat out really good. And of course, the Seahawks interior offensive line is problematic. Lawrence should be the top of the list for “don’t let this guy win the game by himself”. To make things worse, someone told Dexter Lawrence that the Cowboys had the better of him last week. Here was Lawrence’s response in the New York Post:
“You’re not going to sit here and hype up somebody that called for help all f—ing game,’’ Lawrence told The Post Wednesday after practice. “You’re not going sit here and write a bad assessment, you need to learn football, whoever writes this, learn football and that’s that. That’s all I was saying. Don’t hype it up.”
“I know that whoever [put that] out there did not watch the game properly. That is what I know. And tweet that and write that and say I said it just like that. You’re not about to tell me, this dude, watching tape, this dude blocked me. That’s it.’’
Brian Burns is a really good linebacker/edge rusher and Kayvon Thibodeaux is talented as well. But I am worried about an angry Dexter Lawrence.
Match ups to Watch
Clearly the Seahawks want to throw the ball down the field and involved their dynamic trio of Tyler Lockett, Jaxon Smith-Njigba and DK Metcalf. And for good reason. Geno Smith is playing excellent football and the Seahawks opponents thus far have subpar secondaries. This comes into play again this Sunday. Entering this week, cornerback Deonte Banks has given up more receiving touchdowns than any other player in the NFL and the fifth most yards. He has been torched by Justin Jefferson, Amari Cooper and Ceedee Lamb. It doesn’t get much better on the other side with Cor’Dale Flott. The Hawks should be able to throw to their receivers against the Giants corners. If they can’t, it will be because Lawrence and others are getting to Geno too quickly. That makes the Connor Williams, Anthony Bradford, Christian Haynes, and Laken Tomlinson interior match up with New York even more important.
Prediction
Mike Macdonald seems like a coach who hates to be out coached. He takes it personally and it drives him. Ben Johnson out schemed Macdonald on Monday night. Even on a short week, the Seahawks defense rebounds with a great effort including an interception or fumble return for a touchdown.
Seahawks 31 (-6.5), Giants 10
NFL Picks
Record through three weeks (including Hawks predictions): 10-11-2 (wins-losses-push)
In addition to predicting the Seahawks result each week, I will pick five more NFL games for your reading pleasure. All I do is go 3-3 each week so I am going to try to get smarter and not work harder. Let’s take a look at the public money and go against the public. Vegas knows best.
Browns (+3) at Commanders
If you learned anything through the first four weeks, it is to fade me on Commanders games. I have been wrong every week. But 91% of public money is on the Commanders to win. The Browns have a good defense and maybe Daniels comes back down to earth. Give me the field goal.
Panthers (+4) at Bears
Red Rocket time! Andy Dalton goes into Chicago and puts up two passing touchdowns. Maybe even explore a money line pick here.
Colts (+3) at Jaguars
Is Joe Flacco one of the greatest quarterbacks of all time? Maybe. Colts have a good team and the Jaguars do not.
Cardinals (+7) at 49ers
The Cardinals really burned me last week and continue to confuse everyone. They have enough offense to stay within a touchdown in this game.
Bills at Texans (-1.5)
This game is going to be really fun. Give me one home teams this week and a dumb Josh Allen interception to seal the game.
Hello Brian. Thank you for the article as always. I enjoyed reading it. Quick question please - when you say "Week 5", what exactly do you mean?