The New York Giants fell to the Seattle Seahawks, 27-13, on Sunday, ending their four-game winning streak.
The loss was somewhat deflating in that the Giants didn’t play well across the board and, for the first time this season, the coaches had no late-game remedies.
Here are some things we learned in Week 8.
It's just one game
The Giants lost for the second time this season and fans are drawing some spooky comparisons to years past.
In 1986, the Giants lost just two games all season — to Dallas and Seattle — the two teams who have beaten them so far this year.
Of course, there is a lot of football yet to be played but it is Halloween and we are big fans of the unexplained.
Fans should not dwell on the loss too much. It was bound to happen. The Giants head into their bye week with a 6-2 record and a chance to do something they’ve been trying to do all year — get healthy.
“Keep your head up, get a good week at practice,” head coach Brian Daboll told his team. “Things happened this game we have to eliminate from happening. Come Monday, we’ll make corrections, we’ll have the bye week, come back ready to go.”
Short on manpower
We knew heading into this game the Giants were short on playmakers. Injuries have cut into their roster too deeply again this year and they are being forced to put trust in players that aren’t up to the task.
The passing game is not up to snuff. Daniel Jones was 17-of-31 for 176 yards and no touchdowns. The leading receiver was Darius Slayton (5 receptions, 66 yards) as the offense sputtered.
The trade deadline is Tuesday and the Giants just might have to use some future draft capital to beef up their receiving corps.
Poor game plan to start
The Giants came into the game with one of the NFL’s top rushing attacks and were facing a very generous Seattle run defense. Yet, they opened the game with six straight pass plays and failed to make a single first down, going three-and-out on both possessions.
Sometimes you just have to go with your strength and stop trying to outsmart the other guy every time. Had the Giants established the running game early on perhaps the result would have been different on Sunday.
It’s one of the few mistakes the Giants’ coaching staff has made this season.
Killer turnovers
It’s not a revelation by any stretch that you can’t turn the ball over and expect to win in this league.
On Sunday, punt returner Richie James Jr. fumbled twice in Giants’ territory giving the Seahawks excellent field position both times. Seattle cashed those in for an extra 10 points.
Ball security hadn’t been an issue for the Giants all year until Sunday, so we’ll see how the coaches handle it going forward.
