Seahawks rout Giants on Monday Night Football, pile up 11 sacks: Reaction and analysis

As successful as Pete Carroll has been at training his players to treat every game the same, no matter the start time, day of the week or number of eyeballs watching, he can’t always eliminate his players’ desire to put on a show in prime time.

The Seattle Seahawks didn’t want to make this Week 4 meeting with the New York Giants too big, just big enough to feel incentivized to make a statement. That was especially important for a much-maligned Seattle defense that entered Monday night with the NFL’s third-worst defense against the pass. This stage, with 78,507 fans in attendance and millions more watching on TV, provided the perfect platform to make a statement. To change perception. To prove themselves right.

The Giants got the message loud and clear. And the Seahawks hope everyone else heard it, too.

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With his head down and hands clasped together, New York Giants quarterback Daniel Jones sat on the bench as Monday night’s debacle neared its merciful end. Brian Daboll approached Jones and took a knee, quickly sharing a few words with the quarterback.

As the Giants coach stood up, he patted Jones on the head and walked away.

With Jones’ night done and the Giants’ fate sealed in another embarrassing prime-time performance, a 24-3 loss to the Seahawks, the interaction appeared far calmer than those shown previously during ESPN’s Monday Night Football broadcast.

Jones was sacked a career-high 10 times, lost a fumble and threw two interceptions, including a pick-6 to Seahawks rookie cornerback Devon Witherspoon. After Witherspoon returned the interception 97 yards for a score late in the third quarter, the ESPN broadcast showed Jones walking off the field while an animated Daboll addressed him. Jones turned his head away from the coach and walked past him.

A little later, Daboll was shown speaking with Jones and Giants quarterbacks coach Shea Tierney on the bench. As Jones started to look at the tablet Daboll was showing him, the coach tossed it in frustration, shaking his head as he walked away.

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The Seahawks finished with 11 sacks in Monday’s win over the Giants, the most by any team in a game since Week 6 of 2018 when the Ravens had 11 against the Titans.

Seattle also had a 97-yard pick-six by rookie CB Devon Witherspoon in the win. Per ESPN Stats & Info, the Seahawks were the first team with at least 11 sacks AND a pick-six in the same game since the 1967 Raiders against the Bills.

Giants coach Brian Daboll resorts to sarcasm when answering a question about Daniel Jones' interception that was returned 97 yards for a touchdown. After the pick-six, ESPN cameras had multiple shots of Daboll expressing his frustration with Jones.

According to the ESPN broadcast, the three points the Giants have scored in their first two home games are the fewest of any team in the last 40 seasons. The 2013 Jaguars scored 5. That team finished 4-12. The 1999 Browns scored 7. That team finished 2-14. Could the Giants be on a similar trajectory?

Just a complete embarrassment for the Giants. Sloppy, dysfunctional showing coming off an extended break. With road games at Miami and Buffalo on deck, this season could get even uglier in a hurry.

Here are my fantasy takeaways from the Seahawks-Giants game.

• Just about any D/ST team facing the Giants offense has starter potential, as Seattle’s 29 points tonight were the most in the league in Week 4.
• Some of Geno Smith’s scoring woes tonight were due to a knee injury suffered in the first half, but he has now posted mediocre or worse numbers in three of four games this year. With the solid number of strong quarterback options available, it may be time to start viewing Smith as a stream start candidate rather than a go-to QB1.
• Daniel Jones can’t get his rushing ability in gear due to New York’s abysmal offensive line and terrible first-half starts, and it is why he has posted fewer than 10 points in three of four games. Unless or until the Giants get their offensive line issues corrected, Jones is a bench candidate and can be dropped in many of the 65.9 percent of ESPN leagues he is rostered in.
• Those woes are also impacting Darren Waller, as he has scored 6.6 or fewer PPR points in three out of four games. With the Giants having some tough tight end coverage matchups coming up, it may be time to bench Waller and go with some like Cowboys TE Jake Ferguson (currently available in 74.5 percent of ESPN leagues).

Daniel Jones is now 1-12 in prime-time games as a starter. His win percentage of .076 is the worst of any QB (minimum 10 starts) since 1970.

The Giants have now allowed 11 sacks in this game. That is the highest sack total allowed in team history and Stathead indicates that only five teams have ever allowed more sacks in a single game.

Daniel Jones has now been sacked a career-high 10 times. The Giants have given up 11 total tonight.

Daniel Jones just threw his second interception of the night to go along with a first-half fumble.

It’s Jones' sixth career game with at least three turnovers, tied for fourth most in the NFL since his first season in 2019. Jones did not have a three-turnover game during last year’s breakout season.

The Giants came into this game with some of the worst pass-blocking numbers in the league and that trend has continued tonight, as Seattle has sacked New York quarterbacks eight times.

Per Stathead, that is only the 21st time that New York has allowed 8+ sacks in a game. The team record is 10, which occurred in 1969 and 1980.

Devon Witherspoon was an unrated recruit who initially planned to attend a Kansas junior college before landing at Illinois shortly before the 2019 season.

Witherspoon ultimately became the Illini’s first consensus All-American defensive back and the Big Ten defensive back of the year. He has scored one more touchdown tonight than he allowed during the 2022 season at Illinois (zero).

The 97-yard boomerang thrown by Daniel Jones was the longest interception return allowed by the Giants since 2010 when the Cowboys’ Bryan McCann returned an Eli Manning pick 101 yards for a touchdown.