Seattle, WA
Giants 2024 Opponent Report: Seattle Seahawks, Week 5
The why is self-explanatory, and you’re well-versed in the where and when at this point in time. With the NFL calendar engaged in rare doldrums and most moves made and archived, it’s time to consider the who from a New York Giants perspective.
New York Giants On SI continues its look at the Giants’ upcoming adversaries in the 2024 season. Catch up with each team’s moves, where they stand, and, most importantly, how to beat them.
Who: Seattle Seahawks
When: Week 5, Sunday, October 6, (4:25 p.m. ET, CBS)
Where: Lumen Field, Seattle, WA
Series History: SEA leads 11-10 (Last: 24-3 SEA, 10/2023)
Seattle deserves some credit: it could’ve completely collapsed in the wake of Russell Wilson’s departure (and a trade for Jamal Adams that failed to carry any lasting dividends) but has stabilized its Geno Smith-led future relatively well, making a surprise playoff appearance in 2022 before injuries ate away at a chance for a return trip.
This offseason, the Seahawks bid farewell to yet another mainstay, having head coach Pete Carroll step down in favor of Baltimore defensive coordinator Mike Macdonald. With the move, the Seahawks ironically went from the NFL’s oldest head coach to its youngest.
Despite Smith’s stabilization, there are fair questions over whether he’s suitable as a long-term starter. The Seahawks have prepared for all possibilities.
The process began by trading for would-be Washington Commanders savior Sam Howell, a backup that firmly cements Smith as the starter but provides just enough pressure for Smith to watch his back. Howell replaces Drew Lock, who came to the Giants to fulfill the same role behind Daniel Jones.
Mainstays D.K. Metcalf and Tyler Lockett are back, as is Jaxson Smith-Njigba, who provided strong early returns on first-round billing.
Seattle also tried to account for any further medical disasters on the offensive line, such as the ones that ate away at the seasons of Charles Cross and Abraham Lucas (the latter of whom is still on the physically unable to perform list); Nick Harris was brought in to compete with fifth-round sophomore Olu Olawatimi, while Laken Tomlinson and Christian Haynes, respectively, came over from the New York Jets and the draft.
There’s plenty of blue familiarity on the Seattle defense: Leonard Williams’ move out west was one of the headlining transactions of the trade deadline, and Seattle rewarded him with a long-term deal. Julian Love (and Devon Witherspoon’s development after he became the pick gleaned from Denver in the Wilson deal) also convinced Seattle to close the book on the Adams era.
The Seahawks also manned up the front seven, drafting Byron Murphy out of Texas with their premier pick and getting more AFC East reinforcements like Jerome Baker and Tyrel Dodson.
Who’s In: LB Jerome Baker (FA-MIA), LB Tyrel Dodson (FA-BUF), OT George Fant (FA-HOU), DT Jonathan Hankins (FA-DAL), OL Christian Haynes (D3-81) QB Sam Howell (Trade-WAS), DL Byron Murphy (D1-16), OG Laken Tomlinson (FA-NYJ)
Who’s Out: S Jamal Adams (FA-TEN), LB Jordyn Brooks (FA-MIA), RB DeeJay Dallas (FA-ARI), OG Damien Lewis (FA-CAR), QB Drew Lock (FA-NYG), LB Bobby Wagner (FA-WAS)
With last year’s 24-3 Monday night shellacking at MetLife Stadium, the Seahawks took the lead in the cross-coast showdown with the Giants. Seattle has won six of the last seven overall, dating back to 2011.
The Giants still own a positive point differential in the all-time series, as six of their 10 victories have come by at least two possessions. One of the most memorable was a 44-6 triumph in the penultimate season at Giants Stadium, a win that allowed the Giants to continue a perfect start to their Super Bowl defense.
Brandon Jacobs and Eli Manning each had two touchdowns for the Giants, while Sinorice Moss had a couple more, one from the arm of backup David Carr, who came in when things officially got out of hand. Defensively, the Giants let up only 187 yards, 13 first downs, and a single third-down conversion on 11 attempts.
Take Your Time
Seattle has tinkered with its defense a fair amount since the Legion of Boom days ended. Adding Murphy and raiding the AFC East’s depth cabinet makes a lot of sense after looking at last year’s ledgers, which saw them allow the third-most yards in the NFL and the most first downs.
One of the most damning parts was the fact that the average Seattle defensive drive lasted 3:06 of game time, once again the worst output in the NFL. That’s a death sentence in almost any divisional setting, but it’s outright asking for trouble when you’re in a division with Christian McCaffrey, Puca Nacua, and Deebo Samuel.
Seattle has revamped the top seven as a result and boosted the interior by bringing in yet another former Giant, Jonathan Hankins. This feels like a nice little opportunity for the Giants’ revamped rushing attack to eat away at the clock against a team eager to stack up early wins.
Ain’t That a Kick
Jason Myers has established some solid career longevity after bursting onto the scene with a Pro Bowl season with the Jets and has now earned a lasting home in the Pacific Northwest.
It’s hard to argue with Myers’ reliability (87.3 percent on triples in the last two seasons, perfect on extra points last year). One can argue that Seattle fans have seen a little too much of the Marist alum: Myers has tried 79 field goals over the last two seasons, which is good for the second-most in the league, behind only the booters of Indianapolis and Baltimore.
The bittersweet correlation is that teams with plenty of kicks often struggle in the red zone, and Seattle fulfilled the trope by finishing 25th in touchdown percentage when entering the opponent’s 20. Missed opportunities are exactly what developing teams like the Giants need, and limiting damage is often the name of the game.
Patrick Mahomes and 2025 MVP candidate Drake Maye are set to make trips to Lumen Field to face the Seattle Seahawks next season.
The Seahawks’ nine home and eight road opponents are now set for the 2026 campaign. They will face what on paper will be a tough slate after securing the NFC West title this year, which means they will take on the reigning division champions from the NFC North, NFC South and AFC East in addition to their home-and-home series with their NFC rivals and matchups against each team from the NFC East and AFC West.
The numbers behind Seattle Seahawks’ defensive masterpiece vs 49ers
The full schedule with dates for games has yet to be released. The NFL typically unveils the following season’s schedule in May.
Mahomes’ Kansas City Chiefs and Maye’s New England Patriots coming to town are among the highlights of the Seahawks’ 2026 slate. They could also be in line for a reunion with former coach Pete Carroll, as a trip to Las Vegas to face the Raiders is on the docket. However, the Raiders are not expected to keep Carroll for a second season.
Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald is in line to square off with one of his former mentors when Seattle hosts Jim Harbaugh’s Los Angeles Chargers. Harbaugh was the head coach at the University of Michigan when Macdonald was the defensive coordinator in 2021. Harbaugh is also the dad of Seahawks special teams coordinator Jay Harbaugh.
Seattle has three trips to the east coast next season where they will face the reigning NFC East champion Philadelphia Eagles, reigning NFC South champion Carolina Panthers and Washington Commanders. The Seahawks also faced the Panthers and Commanders on the road this season.
Here’s a full look at Seattle’s 2026 home and away opponents.
Home
• Arizona Cardinals
• Los Angeles Rams
• San Francisco 49ers
• Chicago Bears
• New England Patriots
• Los Angeles Chargers
• Kansas City Chiefs
• Dallas Cowboys
• New York Giants
Away
• Arizona Cardinals
• Los Angles Rams
• San Francisco 49ers
• Carolina Panthers
• Las Vegas Raiders
• Denver Broncos
• Philadelphia Eagles
• Washington Commanders
Find more info on how each team’s opponents are chosen here.
More on the Seattle Seahawks
• Seattle Seahawks GM shares positive updates on Bryant, Cross for playoffs
• Drake Thomas an unlikely hero in Seattle Seahawks’ landmark win
• Seahawks’ season-long commitment to run game pays off in massive win
• Stacy Rost: Seattle Seahawks show their fatal flaw may not matter
• The 5 biggest plays that delivered Seahawks’ win over 49ers
Santa Clara—When Seattle’s defense stepped on the field for the Week 18 matchup against the 49ers, they had a few goals in mind, winning was of course one of those, but they wanted to show everyone watching they are the best defense in the league.
“We made up our mind that we were going to be the best defense in the NFL,” linebacker Uchenna Nwosu said. “We were going to show the world tonight and that’s what we did.”
As has been the case for the entire season, the Seahawks’ defense was once again a highlight in their 13-3 win. The Seahawks won, in part thanks to a dominant performance by the defense that held the San Francisco 49ers to just three points. The last time Kyle Shanahan’s offense was held to just three points was in his 49ers head coaching debut in 2017. Since then, San Francisco has scored at least 6 points in every game, until Saturday.
Coming into Saturday’s game, the 49ers were riding a three-game streak of great performances by its offense. Throughout all three of those games, San Francisco was averaging 42.3 points per game, 455.3 yards per game and 29.3 first downs per game.
Seattle’s defense held San Francisco to just 53 rushing yards, which included 21 yards from quarterback Brock Purdy, 127 yards through the air, a lone field goal, and just nine first downs. They also picked off Purdy once, sacked him three times and forced the 49ers to punt four times.
“They’re a tremendous offense,” head coach Mike Macdonald said following the game. “Probably top whatever in the league and have been doing it for a long time. They have great players, they have great coaches, and the numbers back it up. Our guys played great complimentary football today. They really did. I can’t say enough, but I can’t wait to watch the tape. There’s a lot of assists going on in there, guys rushing unselfishly to free somebody else up or to let somebody else have a two-way go so they can cover for them. How we played in the back end, it felt like we were ahead of plays. These guys did a great job. I’m looking forward to watching it.”
Christian McCaffery, one of San Francisco’s top offensive playmakers in both the run and passing game was held to his lowest rushing yards all season with 23 yards through the night and his fourth lowest receiving yards with 34.
Nick Emmanwori who had a team high seven tackles, as well as a tackle for loss and quarterback hit said, “Our front seven is the best in the world. Our D-Line is the best in the world. Got dudes like Jarran Reed, Leonard Williams, Byron Murphy. Our edges are dogs. They handle business every week. We’ve got the best run defense I the league. It makes it easy for us on the back end.”
We’ll have to wait one more day to learn who takes the NFC South crown.
The Buccaneers, losers of seven of their last eight coming into today, were able to piece together a tough, 16-14 win in bad weather against the Panthers. It was a calming three hours for the Bucs and their fans, who had seen their team go from theorized Super Bowl contender in the early months of the season to bottomless freefall.
Had the Panthers found a way to win today, the NFC South, and the #4 seed in the NFC, would have been determined. Instead, we’ll have to wait another day, as a matchup between the two NFC South rivals who are eliminated from the postseason entirely will now determine everything. Certainly ironic, but great for drama.
The New Orleans Saints travel to the Atlanta Falcons tomorrow to wrap up their respective seasons, and while they’re not playing for much more than pride, both the Buccaneers and Panthers will be watching with great interest. If the Falcons win, today will prove to be little more than a minor setback for Carolina, and they’ll win the division regardless.
However, should the Saints get the road upset, everything gets flipped. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who were seemingly skidding towards a shocking early offseason, would be awarded the division on tiebreakers. Their Week Eight 23-3 victory over New Orleans, at the time seemingly innocuous, would end up salvaging their playoff spot.
Both Atlanta and New Orleans are on hot runs right now, the Falcons winners of three straight and the Saints on a four game streak. It’s a surprisingly compelling game given that both teams are guaranteed losing records on the season.
And this is very relevant to the Seattle Seahawks, because depending on tonight’s result in San Francisco, the NFC South division winner will either possibly, or definitely, be the team they play in their first playoff game.
If Seattle prevails tonight and takes the top seed in the NFC, it is entirely possible that their Divisional Round opponent is whoever comes out on top here. As the top seed, they play the lowest remaining seed, which would be either Carolina or Tampa Bay if all three home teams win on Wild Card Weekend. I wouldn’t bet on it, but it’s entirely possible.
On the other hand, if the Seahawks drop their game tonight and end up the #5 seeded NFC squad, then they’re drawing the winner of the NFC South in the first round for sure. Seattle has already played both teams this year, dropping an early-season bout to Tampa Bay 38-35, and just last week handling Carolina 27-10.
Of course, the Buccaneers were a far better team in that Week Five matchup, and the Seahawks have changed radically over the last three months as well, so it’s a matter of debate which team Seattle matches up better with. I imagine most Seahawks fans would feel good about either opponent, but there’s probably a preference somewhere in there.
Regardless, we’ll be waiting one more day to find out who the opponent will be, by which Seattle will already know if they’re watching the first round of the playoffs on a bye, or facing off against the south’s winner on the road.
More Seahawks on SI stories
Rising Seattle Seahawks defender named team’s best building block
Multiple Seattle Seahawks execs pegged as potential GM candidates
Seahawks split between offense, defense in 2026 NFL mock draft 1.0
One stat shows Seattle defense well-equipped for postseason success
George Clooney gets French citizenship — and another dust-up with Trump
Birdbuddy’s new smart feeders aim to make spotting birds easier, even for beginners
Trump says Cuba is ‘ready to fall’ after capture of Venezuela’s Maduro
Trump vows US ‘in charge’ of Venezuela as he reveals if he’s spoken to Delcy Rodríguez
What your butt shape could reveal about your health, according to scientists
Florida High School Football Rankings: Top 25 teams – Oct. 21
Cleary's 21 help Le Moyne down Central Connecticut State 69-64 in OT
How old is Bo Nix? What to know about Oregon quarterback ahead of 2024 NFL Draft
99th annual Pony Swim held in Virginia
Video: ‘It Didn’t Have to Happen This Way:’ U.Va. Faculty Call for Review of Police Response to Protests
Trump vows US ‘in charge’ of Venezuela as he reveals if he’s spoken to Delcy Rodríguez
Trump’s abduction of Maduro escalates concerns over potential war with Iran
Cuba says 32 Cuban fighters killed in US raids on Venezuela
Dan Bongino officially leaves FBI deputy director role after less than a year, returns to ‘civilian life’
Hundreds march in silence to honour Crans-Montana fire victims
-
World1 week agoHamas builds new terror regime in Gaza, recruiting teens amid problematic election
-
Indianapolis, IN1 week agoIndianapolis Colts playoffs: Updated elimination scenario, AFC standings, playoff picture for Week 17
-
Business1 week agoGoogle is at last letting users swap out embarrassing Gmail addresses without losing their data
-
Southeast1 week agoTwo attorneys vanish during Florida fishing trip as ‘heartbroken’ wife pleads for help finding them
-
Politics1 week agoMost shocking examples of Chinese espionage uncovered by the US this year: ‘Just the tip of the iceberg’
-
News1 week agoRoads could remain slick, icy Saturday morning in Philadelphia area, tracking another storm on the way
-
World1 week agoPodcast: The 2025 EU-US relationship explained simply
-
News1 week agoMarijuana rescheduling would bring some immediate changes, but others will take time