The Seahawks travel across the nation and beat down on the New York Giants 24-3 on Monday Night Football.
It only took four weeks, but the Seattle Seahawks had their first primetime outing at MetLife Stadium against the New York Giants.
The trip from the Emerald City to the Meadowlands treated the Seahawks to a comfortable 24-3 victory.
A win on Monday Night Football keeps Seattle ahead in the win column, as it heads into its bye week with a 3-1 record — good enough for second place in the NFC West.
Heading into their week five bye, the Seahawks have gathered plenty of momentum geared behind a three-game winning streak.
A headline entering this game was the return of Seattle’s star safety Jamal Adams. After missing the last 385 days, Adams made his return. Unfortunately for Adams, his day was cut short after suffering a concussion just nine plays into his season debut. Adams opened up about the difficult journey back from his torn quadricep, so I can’t help but feel bad after witnessing his early exit.
Nonetheless, the game continued. After stuffing the Giants on fourth down on the game’s opening drive, Kenneth Walker III was inches away from scoring one the most improbable touchdowns — if it wasn’t for his elbow touching the ground.
After a couple more penalty-filled drives, Seahawks’ Mario Edwards Jr. strip-sacks Daniel Jones, resulting in Seattle possession in the red zone. Two plays and seven yards later, Geno Smith found DK Metcalf in the back of the endzone for the game’s first score.
Defensively, the Seahawks remained sound, rallying for a season-high 11 sacks — tied for the most in franchise history — and three forced turnovers.
Just three games into his young career, Devon Witherspoon’s energy and confidence are highly reminiscent of Richard Sherman. Witherspoon had his name all over Monday night’s game with his first two NFL sacks, seven tackles and a 97-yard pick-six for his first career interception. He has my early vote for Defensive Rookie of the Year.
Riq Woolen, also returned from injury and was his usual self, locking up everything on his side of the field. Nevertheless, there is still a lot to desire in Seattle’s defense, as nagging injuries in the secondary have lingered.
Injuries continue to be a weekly storyline in Seattle and week four was no different. Alongside Adams, Smith hobbled after he took a near-late hit running to the sideline. Though Smith finished out a drive, backup quarterback Drew Lock stepped in to finish out the half. Lock, who was impressive during the preseason, led a 75-yard drive capped by a Walker rushing touchdown. Smith then returned to start the second half.
Regardless of who’s at quarterback, my complaints still stand with how rookie receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba is utilized. I understand JSN is a major threat with the ball in his hands, so trying to set up screens makes sense in theory, but they have yet to work. Allowing him to use his elite route running to get open and make plays after the catch is the direction they should be looking.
On the other hand, there are no complaints about Metcalf’s usage. Last year, Seattle would struggle to find Metcalf early in games, leaving him cold and frustrated, but through four games, getting the ball to Metcalf early seems to be a point of emphasis.
I would also like to highlight how well the offensive line protected Smith, giving him the time to make the necessary plays; but the defense stole the show with their big play ability.
Next up for Seattle is the wonderful bye-week, but then a trip to Cincinnati for a matchup against the befuddled Bengals follows shortly after.
Contact Eric Hayrapetian at Eric.hayrapetian@gmail.com
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