Editor: Joe Bryant. Game Recap Contributors: Mike Anderson, Michael Brown, Chris Burtt, J.D. Caldwell, David Dodds, Jim Enochs, Joel Faulhaber, Michael Flynn, Kevin Goldblum, Clayton Gray, Bob Harris, Fred Hebert, Jesse Hilsenrad, Drew Kendall, Jeff Lewis, Joey Matusek, Justin Oliver, Steve Prosapio, David Shick, Cody Smith, Scott Smith, Jeffrey Stout. New York Giants 9 at Seattle 6 WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW New York Giants: The New York play calling in the red zone is very clear - It's all about Tiki Barber and Jeremy Shockey. Their first trip they looked at Shockey 3 consecutive times before going to Barber. Their second trip they featured Barber 3 consecutive times before settling for the field goal. The Giants opted not to pound the weakness of the Seattle defense by running the ball up the middle and paid the price (9 points and only 94 yards rushing). One has to wonder if they simply lack confidence in their running game. New York won the time of possession battle (37 to 23 minutes) by chipping away with a short passing game. In the second half New York ran 46 plays compared to 17 by Seattle. Kerry Collins was frustrated early by great CB coverage from Seattle and frequent LB blitzes. He checked down to Barber and Shockey from the second quarter inflating their target numbers (Shockey 9 and Barber 10). Somebody forgot to tell the Giants that first year tight ends are not supposed to be impact players. Jeremy Shockey is looked to constantly in this Giant offense. He dropped the first pass thrown to him and that didn't phase him, Collins, or the Giants. He was targeted 9 times in the game and multiple times in the red zone. They are putting him in motion, having him line up in the backfield and doing everything possible to get him involved in the offense. He also is commanding coverage by the cornerbacks and clears out zones for Toomer and Hilliard. He was tackled at the Seattle 1 yard line on a play he might have scored on. Seattle Seahawks: Trent Dilfer moved the ball in the first half but did not get his team in the end zone. He and Seattle did absolutely nothing in the second half. Really. They did absolutely nothing. They got 1 first down in the 3rd Quarter. They had the ball for only 8:15 seconds in the entire second half. Shaun Alexander's performance was very disappointing. He had little room to run and did nothing with what he did have. He finished with 45 total yards (a full third of Seattle's offensive output) and only 2.6 yards per carry. You can call us officially worried. The Seattle defense covered their deficiencies by throwing blitz after blitz at New York regardless of down or distance. Darrell Jackson reinforced that he is the primary target in the passing game with 7 catches on 7 targets. Koren Robinson is still not close to overtaking Jackson. Of Robinson's 4 targets, one was a drop and another was the only INT in the game. The much-maligned Seattle defense clamped down on the Giants rushing game. They did a much better job containing Tiki Barber (2.4 yards per carry) than Ron Dayne (4.4 yards per carry). Thus they appear much more vulnerable to a big bruising back. They held the Giants to just 35 rushing yards in the first half and only 94 for the game. Considering the Giants had the ball for nearly 22 minutes in the second half this was an outstanding effort. WHAT YOU OUGHT TO KNOW New York Giants QB: Kerry Collins: 23-38-282 yards (0 TD, 0 INT) Kerry Collins came out 2 of his first 7 and looked out of sync. He did what he needed to do to win. He locked on Amani Toomer in crucial situations and went exclusively to Jeremy Shockey and Tiki Barber in the red zone. RB: Tiki Barber: 21-50 yards rushing, 7-59 yards receiving (10 targets in the passing game) Barber had little to no room to run. Seattle strung him out from sideline to sideline. Barber was the beneficiary of the Seattle secondary playing well. Collins dumped the ball off to him time and time again. On a key 4th and Goal from the 1, he attempted to run a sweep to the right and was stopped cold for a 4 yard loss by CB Shawn Springs. He even ran into Kerry Collins in the backfield on a passing play. That being said, he still finished with 109 total yards. It's a testament to how much this offense revolves around him. RB: Ron Dayne: 11-48 yards rushing, 1-8 yards receiving (1 target). Ron Dayne may silence his many critics for one week. He was quick to the holes and made the most of each carry. He came in after the Giants struggled on their first two series and busted off a 12 yard run. He then picked up 6 yards on the next play. He was given the ball as New York ran out the clock on their last series and picked up the first down on two carries to effectively end the game. Dayne's 4.4 YPC may be deceiving only because he was running into the weakness of the Seattle defense. However, it was an obvious confidence boost to Dayne to be productive. WR: Amani Toomer: 4-100 yards receiving (7 targets). Toomer was matched up with Shawn Springs during the first half which explains his early no show in the game. Ike Hilliard: 4-54 yards receiving (7 targets). Ike Hilliard caught 4 passes as well for 54 yards but is clearly not a focal point in this offense and is behind Barber, Shockey and Toomer in the pecking order. He'll still likely get his share of looks. TE: Jeremy Shockey: 4-48 yards receiving (9 targets). Shockey is quickly becoming the featured player in the NY offense. Plays are being run specifically for him in the red zone and defenses are reacting to him so much that it is opening up options for Hilliard and Toomer. . He dropped the first pass thrown to him and that didn't phase him, Collins, or the Giants. He was targeted 9 times in the game and was targeted three times in a row in the Giants' first trip into the red zone. They are putting him in motion, having him line up in the backfield and doing everything possible to get him involved in the offense. Shockey was tackled at the Seattle 1 yard line on a play he might have scored on. Pass Defense: The Giants sacked Dilfer on the first play from scrimmage and that set the tone of the game. They didn't get much pressure on him the first half and Strahan got his only sack on a crucial 3rd down in the 3rd quarter. Their coverage was adequate in the first half but really clamped down in the second half completely shutting Seattle down. They only gave up 1 first down via the pass in the second half. New York applied consistent pressure on Dilfer from their front 4 throughout the game (2 sacks). Allen and Peterson didn't allow a reception over 17 yards in the game. Seattle was held to under 5 yards per passing attempt in the game. Rush Defense: What do you say about a unit that gives up 40 yards rushing and 1 first down per half via the run? This was men against boys. Shaun Alexander was bottled up play after play. The Giants did not allow a run of more than 9 yards in the game. Special Teams: Matt Bryant kicked 3 field goals in 3 attempts including a 47 yarder to put New York up with 2:04 left in the game. He would have had an easy fourth field goal but New York went for it on 4th and goal in the second quarter. With how much New York moves the ball and their lack of creativity and struggles in the red zone, Bryant could be a solid fantasy kicker. /**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/**/** Seattle Seahawks QB: Trent Dilfer: 16-25-118 yards passing (0 TD, 1 INT). Dilfer was hassled throughout the game and got rid of the ball quickly, but it didn't yield much because every throw was very short. RB: Shawn Alexander: 14-37 yards rushing, 2-8 yards receiving (3 targets) Alexander did appear to hit the miniscule holes a bit harder this week. It was noticeable that he trying to lower his shoulders a plow for some yards. WR: Darrel Jackson: 7-54 yards receiving (7 targets), 2-2 yards rushing. Jackson appeared wide open on all seven of his catches. He was also given two carries on reverses. Jackson's day was a Herculean effort considering that accounts for nearly half of Seattle's receptions and over half of Seattle's passing yards. Koren Robinson: 1-7 yards receiving (4 targets). Robinson had one drop and the only INT in the game was thrown his way. Its apparent that he is still not in sink with Dilfer the way Jackson is. Bobby Engram caught 3 passes for 39 yards. Normally this wouldn't be worth mentioning but it was nearly � of the Seahawk's 16 receptions. TE: Itula Mili: 0-0 yards receiving (1 target). Jeremy Stevens: 1-5 yards receiving (3 targets). Stevens made a diving attempt on one ball that displayed his athleticism. Pass Defense: CB's Springs and Lucas blanketed Toomer and Hilliard early in the game resulting in Collins holding on too long and taking two sacks. Collins adjusted later in the game by checking down to Shockey and Barber in the flat which inflated their targets in the second half. Rush Defense: A gigantic improvement from the previous two weeks. The Giants attempted to sweep Tiki Barber around the corners several times, but the Seattle LB's were too quick to the ball. Dayne (4.4Ypc) exposed the weakness of the interior D-line and MLB Isiah Kacyvenzki, but the Giants choose to look elsewhere for offensive production. Teams that pound the ball up the gut will still have success against Seattle. Special Teams: Bobby Engram returned a punt 28 yards that set up Seattle's second FG.