The Seattle Seahawks (4-3) host the New York Giants (6-1) at Lumen Field on Sunday in a showdown of two of the league’s biggest surprise teams this season.
Here are five storylines to follow during the Week 8 game.
Battle of the 'unlikelies'
The Seahawks are the current leaders in the NFC West after seven weeks, a scenario no one saw coming. They are also the only team in the division with a winning record.
The Super Bowl champion Los Angeles Rams (3-3) and the 3-4 San Francisco 49ers and Arizona Cardinals are right their tails but the Seahawks remain unfazed by their unlikely success.
The Giants are in second place in the NFC East behind the 6-0 Philadelphia Eagles and ahead of the 5-2 Dallas Cowboys and 3-4 Washington Commanders.
The NFC East has a combined winning percentage of .741 (20-7) which is the highest by a single division after seven games since the NFL aligned to eight divisions of four in 2002.
FOX is featuring the Rams-49ers game in their national late window, but most football fans would probably rather see this game instead.
The walking wounded
The Seahawks and Giants are the two most injured teams in the NFL through the first two months of the season as per mangameslost.com.
Despite the many setbacks on the injury front, these two teams have managed to thrive.
In this this game, the Giants have ruled six players as out and three more as questionable. That is in addition to the nine players on IR and the three players they designated to return that they still need to activate.
Seattle also has nine players on IR and another one on PUP. In this game, they have one player out (linebacker Nick Bellore), one doubtful and seven others listed as questionable.
Geno
Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith is perhaps the story in the NFL this season. He won the starting job after the Russell Wilson trade and many questioned head coach Pete Carroll’s competency by naming Geno his starter with such conviction.
No one is questioning Carroll’s decision now. Smith is both an MVP candidate as well as a Comeback Player of the Year favorite.
Smith leads the NFL in completion percentage (73.5) which is also the fifth-highest completion percentage by a quarterback in a team’s first seven games of a season in NFL history.
He is also an ex-Giant with the notorious distinction of being the player who ended Eli Manning’s consecutive starting streak.
The Saquon train rolls on
Saquon Barkley said before the season that he was fully healthy and ready to take his rightful role among the league’s top backs again. He’s done that and more.
Through seven games, he leads the NFL in total yards from scrimmage with 906 and is second in the NFL in rushing with 726 yards, 14 behind Cleveland’s Nick Chubb.
Barkley has been dealing with a shoulder issue but is playing through it. This week, he faces a Seattle run defense that is allowing 149.7 yards per game on the ground, third-most in the NFL.
Kadarius Toney gone
The Giants already parted ways with embattled, oft-injured former first-round pick Kadarius Toney, shipping him off to Kansas City for a pair of 2023 draft picks.
Is there another move to be made here? General manager Joe Schoen won’t make another big splash this week as he likely wants to adhere to his Year 1 austerity plan. Plus, the Giants don’t have a ton of cap room to play with.
They have a little over $3.5 million in their coffers, so any move or moves would be minor ones. The Giants do need some reinforcements all over their roster as they shoot for a playoff spot but they will be limited.
