Seahawks offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell said this week that the team wanted to get the ball into Marshawn Lynch’s hands any way they can.
They mostly stuck to handing it off to him on Sunday and it proved to be just the ticket for a victory over the Giants. Lynch ran over, around and through the Giants defense for 140 yards and four touchdowns on 21 carries to pave the way for a 38-17 win. The victory makes three straight wins for the Seahawks and leaves them with a clear shot at the NFC West title if they can handle their divisional business the rest of the way.
Lynch wasn’t the only guy running wild for the Seahawks. Russell Wilson ran for 101 yards and a touchdown as the Giants seemed befuddled by the read-option all afternoon and Christine Michael sprinted 41 yards to set up an insurance score after the defense forced the Giants to hand the ball over on downs down 14 halfway through the fourth quarter. They even got luck to go their way as fumbles by Wilson and Lynch wound up in Seattle hands in the fourth quarter as the team drove to one of their three scores in the final 15 minutes.
All in all, the ground effort amounted to 45 carries, 350 rushing yards (a team record) and five touchdowns on a day when the Seahawks looked quite vulnerable thanks to three turnovers and 17 first half points for the Giants.
Eli Manning and company couldn’t get anything to work for them in the second half, however. The Seahawks closed down on Odell Beckham after the rookie made several big plays in the first half and Manning threw his first interception in weeks with the score tied at 17 late in the third quarter. The loss is the fourth straight for the Giants and drops their record to 3-6, which means they’re going to need more than a few miracles over the final seven weeks to avoid another losing record.
Seattle finds themselves in the opposite position and they’ll likely feel pretty good about their chances of navigating their way to their goal after the way they played in the second half in Week 10.
