new york giants
(Photo by Abbie Parr/Getty Images)

After trailing 5-0 at halftime, the New York Giants scored 17 unanswered points and notched their biggest victory of the year over Seattle.

Jason Leach

Once it was announced quarterback Daniel Jones would be inactive due to a strained hamstring and Colt McCoy would start, few gave the New York Giants any chance of beating the Seahawks.

Nonetheless, a second-half surge propelled Big Blue to its biggest win of the year — New York defeated the Seattle Seahawks 17-12.

When you win in Seattle — one of the toughest places to play in the NFL — with a backup quarterback, you’ve proven you can compete with any team in this league.

The win, of course, wasn’t easy.

The Seahawks kicked a field goal on the opening drive to take a 3-0 lead, and the Giants’ first-half possessions ended in a punt, interception, punt, another punt, and then a blocked punt that resulted in a safety to give the Seahawks a 5-0 halftime lead.

The offense couldn’t conjure anything up in the first half, but fortunately for the Giants, the defense made life miserable for Russell Wilson and the Seattle offense.

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After the two teams traded punts on the first two possessions of the second half, the Giants offense finally came to life thanks to a Wayne Gallman 60-yard run down the left sideline. The burst brought the Giants to the Seahawks 17-yard line.

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Two plays later, Alfred Morris scored his first touchdown of the year on a four-yard run. McCoy then connected with Sterling Shepard for a two-point conversion to put Big Blue up 8-5.

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The Giants defense continued its dominance by forcing a turnover on downs on the Seahawks’ following possession.

It would then take Big Blue just five plays and 48 yards to score its next touchdown; McCoy connected with Morris on a six-yard reception that extended the lead to 14-5 (Graham Gano’s subsequent extra-point attempt was wide left).

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Although it was just a nine-point game, the Giants’ lead felt secure. The defense continued to swarm Wilson and his wideouts. Any time the veteran quarterback hit a receiver, there was a defender right there to make the tackle.

Early in the fourth quarter, Wilson tried to complete a pass to running back Chris Carson, but the ball bounced off his hands and into the arms of Darnay Holmes for the rookie’s first career interception.

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Four plays later, Gano connected on a 48-yard field goal to extend the lead to 17-5.

Keeping a high-powered offense like the Seahawks out of the end zone is almost an impossible task, and Seattle finally crossed the plane with 6:09 remaining in the game on a Wilson 28-yard touchdown pass to Carson.

With the score 17-12, the Giants offense was almost able to sustain a long enough drive to conclude the game. McCoy completed passes to Evan Engram and Darius Slayton, both of which were for first downs. Nonetheless, his 3rd-and-5 pass attempt to Shepard at the two-minute warning fell incomplete.

This meant it would be up to the defense to seal the deal.

The Seahawks took over at their own 20-yard line with 1:48 remaining in the game. They made it to the Giants 46-yard line, but Wilson was sacked by Leonard Williams for an eight-yard loss on third down to push them back. Facing a 4th-and-18 with 48 seconds remaining, Wilson had no choice other than to heave a pass downfield. The pass, however, was broken up, and the Giants sealed the victory.

The win marks the Giants’ first four-game winning streak since 2016, and now the rest of the NFC must realize this team is vastly different than it was in the first month of the season. The Giants have emerged victorious in five out of their last seven games, and are now the clear favorites to win the NFC East.

Big Blue will look for its fifth straight win next week against the (6-6) Cardinals at MetLife Stadium.

Jason's first love was football while growing up in northern New Jersey. For the past three years, he has covered the New York Giants, as well as several boxing events along the East Coast.