SEATTLE (AP) — By the time the Seattle Seahawks landed back in the Pacific Northwest and arrived at the team facility following their Monday night loss, it was already 4:30 a.m. Tuesday morning.
With another game in less than six days. And another game after that on the following Thursday night.
It was another reminder of the remoteness of playing in Seattle and the difficulty of the 11-day stretch the Seahawks (3-1) currently find themselves in.
“I’m not used to it yet. I think it’s going to be a process over the next X-amount of time. Talking through guys, getting feedback,” first-year Seattle coach Mike Macdonald said.
The middle section of Seattle’s three-game stretch arrives Sunday when the Seahawks will host the New York Giants, who will be well-rested by the time they arrive in the Emerald City.
While Seattle is in the middle of this condensed and challenging stretch of the schedule, the Giants (1-3) will be coming off a 10-day gap after losing at home to Dallas on Sept. 26.
“I mean four games is, like you said earlier, a quarter of the year. Got a lot more football to play and ultimately, if we play better going forward, we’ll get different results, and you’ll look up and we’ll be where we want to be,” Giants wide receiver Darius Slayton said.
The Seahawks are also figuring out how Macdonald processes losses after suffering his first as a head coach in the setback to the Lions. Most troubling for Seattle was seeing its defense get torn apart after being pretty stout through the first three weeks.
Detroit was the first challenge for Seattle and the defensive breakdowns couldn’t be countered by a career day from quarterback Geno Smith.
“The offense played good enough for us to win. I said that after the game,” Seattle safety Rayshawn Jenkins said. “But the defense, we just need to really be on the details. Everything that they did or we gave them was all self-inflicted.”
The Giants might be 1-3 but very easily could be 3-1 if not for a couple of plays in close loses to Washington and last time out against Dallas. Quarterback Daniel Jones has played well the past three games, minus some red zone issues in the loss to the Cowboys.
But he could be without rookie wide receiver Malik Nabers after he suffered a concussion against Dallas and has not practiced this week.
“There’s no doubt he’s been a big part of our offense so far and someone who we’ve counted on in a lot of spots. So, it’ll change a little bit,” Jones said. “But the guys we got out there, we have a lot of confidence in them winning their matchups and getting open. I know we’ll play well.”
Seattle’s defense features a couple of key contributors who were standouts for the Giants not that long ago.
The question remains whether safety Julian Love or defensive lineman Leonard Williams will be able to play against their former team.
Love left last Monday’s game against Detroit in the first half because of a thigh contusion. Williams didn’t play against the Lions after suffering a rib injury a week earlier against Miami.
Both seem to be trending toward being available. Love is key at keeping Seattle’s secondary organized and his absence was noticeable in the second half against Detroit.
The Giants, who rushed for 26 yards against Dallas, may have a much younger look in the backfield Sunday with starting running back Devin Singletary dealing with a groin injury.
Second-year running back Eric Gray and rookie Tyrone Tracy, a fifth-round draft pick out of Purdue, got most of the work this week. In the first four games, Tracy has 12 carries for 29 yards and Gray has four for 7 yards. Singletary has had 56 carries for 221 yards and two touchdowns.
While there has rightfully been a lot of attention on Smith’s performance through four games, the return of Kenneth Walker III really showed what he adds to the offense. Walker rushed for three touchdowns last week against Detroit, and had two of the biggest highlight plays of the week: flipping out of a tackle and later making a cross-field cutback on one of his TD runs.
Zach Charbonnet did well as Walker’s fill-in for the two weeks he was out with an oblique injury. But with some of Seattle’s issues on the offensive line, Walker’s ability to make defenders miss really shows up as being valuable in the run game.
The Giants changed their offensive line after giving up a franchise-record 85 sacks last season. The Seahawks had a feast in Week 4 against New York in 2023, tying their franchise record with 11 sacks.
New York fired offensive line coach Bobby Johnson after the season and hired former Las Vegas line coach Carmen Bricillo. In the offseason, tackle Jermaine Eluemunor and guard Greg Van Roten were signed from the Raiders and Jon Runyan Jr. of the Packers was added. They have joined returning left tackle Andrew Thomas and center John Michael Schmitz. Through four games, New York has allowed nine sacks.
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