We have your three keys to a New York Giants won over the Seattle Seahawks in Week 4's Monday Night Football matchup.
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00:00 Every game in an NFL season is a must-win situation.
00:04 But for the New York Giants, the must-win phrase
00:06 takes on a whole new meaning in their week four game
00:09 against the Seattle Seahawks on Monday night.
00:12 New York enters the contest one and two,
00:14 an unsurprising record given the competition they faced so far.
00:18 But what's been surprising is the poor level of football
00:21 that the Giants have put on tape on both sides of the ball.
00:25 The defense has struggled to tackle,
00:27 and the offense can't sustain drives
00:29 due in part to mistakes and poor pass protection.
00:33 The explosive offense we were all hoping to see this year
00:36 is ranked 31st in average point scores.
00:39 They're 14.3 average, just slightly above the Jets'
00:43 14.0 average.
00:45 And hey, don't look now, but the Giants,
00:47 who finished dead last in explosive plays of 20
00:49 or more yards last year with 28, are
00:52 ranked near the bottom of the league with just six
00:54 such plays.
00:56 With very difficult games coming up
00:57 against Miami and Buffalo, the Giants
01:00 need to start winning on Monday night football, where they
01:03 are 25, 46, and 1 all time, and win this week's
01:07 game against the Seattle Seahawks, which
01:09 would be a good start.
01:11 To that end, here are this week's three keys to the game.
01:15 Key number one, go pass happy.
01:18 Besides the fact that running back Saquon Barkley
01:21 is still dealing with a high ankle sprain,
01:24 if you want another reason to hold them out of the game,
01:27 consider that the Seahawks' run defense currently
01:29 ranks sixth in the league.
01:31 Their pass defense, well, if the Giants
01:34 are going to add to the Seahawks' defense's league,
01:37 leading 49 plays of 10 plus yards allowed,
01:40 they are going to have to go after the pass defense, which
01:43 currently ranks 31st in the league,
01:46 allowing an average of 328 yards per game,
01:49 and which also ranks 28th in yards per pass attempt,
01:53 completed with a 7.51 average.
01:57 The Seahawks are getting safety Jamal Adams back,
02:00 but they remain banged up in their secondary,
02:02 as corners Trey Brown and Artie Burns
02:04 have already been declared out, and corner Kobe Bryant
02:08 is doubtful.
02:09 This could potentially be a big game, by the way,
02:11 for receiver Wandale Robinson from the slot,
02:14 as the Seahawks' slot coverage has allowed opponents
02:17 to convert on 24 of 32 pass targets for 285 yards and one
02:22 touchdown this season.
02:24 Key number two, chart 'em.
02:27 That's the challenge from Giants defensive coordinator
02:30 Wink Martindale this week, in response
02:31 to the outcry over the Giants' alarming missed tackle rate.
02:35 But in all seriousness, the Giants,
02:37 who did spend some extra time on this fundamental skill this
02:40 week, need to do a better job, especially
02:43 against Seahawks running back Kenneth Walker III.
02:46 Walker is tied for sixth in the league
02:48 with Arizona's James Conner, the two men recording
02:51 six apiece for most broken tackles.
02:55 Walker is also averaging 3.09 yards
02:58 after contact on his rushing attempts, which
03:00 is 12th in the league amongst running backs who
03:02 have had at least 35 attempts.
03:05 If the Giants want to stop him, they
03:06 need to do a much better job in wrapping him up and stuffing
03:10 the Seahawks' run.
03:12 Key number three, get to Geno.
03:15 Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith has
03:18 come alive in these last two games,
03:20 leading his team to back-to-back games
03:21 with 37 points scored, both victories.
03:25 But Smith does have a history of being
03:27 prone to turning the ball over.
03:29 And although this year he's only thrown one interception,
03:32 he's had a bad throw rating of 18.6% on his past attempts,
03:37 meaning 18 of his past attempts this year,
03:41 excluding spikes and throwaways, were not
03:43 put in the ideal positions for his receiver to make a play,
03:47 and in fact, were put in danger.
03:50 For the Giants, who are one of two teams without a takeaway
03:53 and one of four teams without an interception
03:55 so far this season, this week sure
03:58 would be a good time to erase that goose egg in both columns
04:01 if they want to upset the Seahawks at home.
04:04 Again, every win in a 17-game regular season is a must win.
04:08 However, there are some games that
04:10 carry a little bit more clout, if you will,
04:12 in the grand scheme of things.
04:14 And this week's game for the Giants is one such instance.
04:18 Why?
04:19 Because number one, the Giants have had 11 days
04:21 to work on what has ailed them.
04:24 But more importantly, if the Giants
04:26 aspire to string together consecutive postseason
04:29 birds for the first time since 2007 and 2008,
04:32 they need to avoid a one and three start,
04:35 as teams that have recorded this record
04:37 have only advanced to the postseason 14.5% of the time.
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