New York Giants Notes: The Morning After Edition

Greetings fellow Giants fans. It's a sad day as we let one slip away against the Seattle Seahawks at home Sunday, with a 4-1 record five yards and a minute-plus away. There are fingers pointing everywhere, and there surely is enough blame to go around, but there are two positives to take away. One, our quarterback is not fazed. He had a great game overall, passing for a career best 420 yards with three TDs and three picks, the latter of which were not all his fault. Two, we're only 3-2 and the Redskins still lead the division at 3-1. Dallas is 2-2 and the Eagles are 1-4 after losing again Sunday. Of course, the schedule is now even more frightening with the 4-1 Bills coming to town next week and the suddenly potent 49ers also looming in the distance along with Green Bay and New Orleans. Yikes. Here are some other bits of news the morning after....

NY Giants have been living on the edge, but vs. Seattle Seahawks, they finally go over it
But mostly the Giants (3-2) had proven to be great fourth-quarter escape artists in comeback wins at Philadelphia and Arizona. And it looked like their fourth-quarter sleight of hand was going to work for a third week in a row against the Seahawks. But this time Seattle (2-3) got the late bounces and pulled off its own brand of fourth-quarter magic to defeat the Giants, 36-25, before a stunned crowd of 78,650 at MetLife Stadium Sunday.

Giants' red-zone offense fails in crucial moments against Seattle | NJ.com
The Giants entered today’s 36-25 loss to the Seattle Seahawks with the NFL’s most efficient red-zone offense. In 10 trips inside their opponents’ 20-yard line in the first four weeks, they had reached the end zone eight times. So when they scored in two visits in the first half today, it seemed further affirmation of the team’s prowess when they near the paint. That was until the final minutes of the fourth quarter, when the Giants approached the end zone twice. All they have to show for it is three points and a humiliating loss

Several flaws came back to haunt the New York Giants in their loss to the Seattle Seahawks - ESPN New York
How does a Seahawks team that had not won a game in New York -- against the Giants or Jets -- since 1983 and had lost 11 of its past 12 games on the East Coast beat a streaking Giants team? Turn the ball over five times, struggle to establish any kind of running game and play soft defense and the Giants have a recipe for a humbling and disastrous loss to the Seahawks.

Giants running game suffers against Seattle - NorthJersey.com
Running the football effectively is more than a strategy for the New York Giants. It’s part of their identity. But on Sunday, the Giants couldn’t rely on their run-game to gobble up yards when they needed it most.

I think we all agree that the lack of a running game, and maybe more specifically, the lack of an offensive line that can create holes, is one of the major reasons the Giants lost yesterday.

D'Alessandro: Big plays, both good and bad, continue to define Giants wideout Victor Cruz's play | NJ.com
You learn that stuff happens. He made the play of Week 5, a juggle-and-snatch catch down the right sideline between two defenders for a 68-yard go-ahead score on his way to a career-affirming 11-catch, 161-yard afternoon. And just when we were all convinced that Cruz had twin magnets attached to his wrists and stardust in his future, he coughed up a fumble that put Seattle in position for the tying field goal, and then tipped a dangerous throw from Eli Manning into the arms of Brandon Browner, who ran it back 94 yards to clinch the Giants’ 36-25 humiliation.

Argh. Sigh. Argh.

Miscommunication? Or did they just stop? - Giants Blog - ESPN New York
Was it a miscommunication? Or did they stop playing? Depends on who you ask. Either way, the miscue between Antrel Rolle and Aaron Ross which led to Doug Baldwin’s game-winning 27-yard touchdown catch with 2:37 remaining shouldn’t have happened.

Yeah, this turned out to be a key play and not necessarily the one we all remember.

Seahawks' Resilience Keeps Them Viable - ABC News
Seattle stunned the New York Giants 36-25 Sunday, outplaying the Giants for much of the day and coming up with several big plays from unsung players such as Charlie Whitehurst, Doug Baldwin and Brandon Browner. What the Seahawks showed was the kind of resilience that can be a foundation for a rebuilding franchise.

It sure is amazing that guys like Cruz and Baldwin go un-drafted.

Eli Manning intercepted late, one of three picks, in NY Giants' 36-25 loss to Seattle Seahawks
It may not have been as heart-breaking, dramatic or even as big as their collapse at home against the Eagles last December, but the shocked look on the Giants' faces after Sunday's 36-25 loss at MetLife Stadium sure seemed eerily similar.

Well, it sure was an eerily similar feeling in my living room.

Giants tight end Jake Ballard emerges as passing-game weapon with big day against Seahawks | NJ.com
Yet five weeks into the season, it’s clear that the Giants have an undisputed starter — it’s a name that was seldom mentioned when the competition first opened: Jake Ballard.

Giants guard Chris Snee hospitalized after concussion suffered in loss to Seahawks | NJ.com
Coughlin came up behind Snee and put his hands on his shoulders before having a quiet chat with him about the concussion the right guard had suffered late in the fourth quarter. Snee, who left the game as the Giants were attempting to drive for a touchdown to regain the lead, was taken by ambulance to an area hospital, where he was to remain overnight for further observation.

NFL: Seattle Seahawks' Tarvaris Jackson leaves game with chest injury - San Jose Mercury News
Seattle Seahawks quarterback Tarvaris Jackson was sidelined midway through the third quarter of Sunday's game against the New York Giants with a chest injury. Jackson gained 11 yards on a designed run but came up holding his right shoulder and upper chest. Coach Pete Carroll said after the game that Jackson had a pectoral muscle problem and will undergo an MRI back in Seattle.

Time to bid Reid bye-bye? | Philadelphia Inquirer | 10/10/2011
A fan in a Jeremy Maclin jersey stood at the fence above the Eagles' idling buses. Each player and assistant coach who trudged up the ramp from the tomb-silent locker room, dragging the weight of another appalling loss, was greeted with the chant. "Fire Andy! We want Gruden!"

Well hey, I thought you guys might want something to make you feel just a little bit better. Hang in there fellas, the sun is coming up and there is another game on Sunday. But I won't hold it against you if you feel crappy the morning after, either.