Giants vs. Seahawks | Giants looking to extend their winning streak

By Gary W. Marchese Jr.

Seattle, WA (Nov 7) – The Giants will head to Seattle to take on the Seahawks at 4:05 Sunday Afternoon. The New York Giants are coming off a bye week, which is not usually good for them. They traditionally have not done well the week after having a bye.

Qwest Field in Seattle is probably the toughest place to play, first there is the noise, which is second to none in the league. The other major factor in Seattle is the weather. Seattle has 226 cloudy days per year and 140 days of measurable rain, which is in the top 20. There is also a lot of wind, they play many games in damp and dreary weather, which helps them since they are used to it.

Here are some more notes as the Giants get ready to play in Seattle.

The Giants have not won a game in Seattle since 1981. They have lost games there in 1986, 1995, 2005, and 2006. The first two were in the Kingdome and the last two in Qwest field. The Seahawks are usually very tough at home and this year is no different where they are 3-0 at home and 1-3 on the road. They score an average of 16 more points at home and allow an average of 14 points less than they do on the road.

The Seahawks have recovered seven fumbles at home and zero on the road. Here is what Giants head Coach Tom Coughlin had to say about the Seahawks, “This team leads their division, they have a tremendous amount at stake-as we do. They play exceptional football at home, everything they do they do extremely well at home. We know the quality of this team and many people picked them as the best team in the NFC, we know full well about that.”

The one thing that the Giants have going for them is that the starting quarterback for the Seahawks Matt Hasselback is out suffering from symptoms of a concussion. Charlie Whitehurst will make the first start of his NFL career. He will also throw his first regular season pass, this looks good for a Giants team that have feasted on opposing quarterbacks this season.

The Giants remember the last two games that they lost in Qwest field but it was not the noise although, they admit it is a tough place to play in. The Giants have the NFL’s fourth best rushing record, and will try to control the game while, taking the crowd out of it. Ahmad Bradshaw leads the league in rushing.

Whitehurt was obtained in an offseason trade with San Diego. He saw extensive action in preseason, when he threw 90 passes for 635 yards, four touchdowns, and four interceptions. The Giants say they have not changed their defensive game plan at all after learning Whitehurst would start.

The Giants are 3-2 against quarterbacks making their first start since 1990. Leon Washington the former Jet could be a key to this game. He has averaged 33.7 yards returning kickoffs leading the NFL. He has returned three punts and has a 24-yard average on those and has two returns for a touchdown on kickoffs, one was for 101 yards and one for 99.

This is the Giants first West Coast game since Kevin Boss has been on the team. Boss grew up in Oregon about 3 ½ hours away from Seattle and expects to have 80-100 family and friends attending the game to cheer him on. He said he is excited about it. Center Shaun O’Hara, fullback Madison Hedgecock and tackle Will Beatty will not play in this game.

Return man Darius Raynaud is questionable and that may open the door for new return man Will Blackmon to take over the duties. Raynaud has struggled since the Giants picked him up, hoping he would be the answer to their poor return game.

The Giants lead the series with Seattle 8-5 and are 6-1 against them at home and 2-4 in Seattle. They are 0-2 at Qwest Field.

Posted by gmarchesej on November 7, 2010. Filed under News and Sports with Gary W. Marchese Jr.,NFC,NFL,Sports,US Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.