An inside look at Sunday’s Giants-Seahawks matchup in Seattle.
Marquee matchup
Seahawks WR Tyler Lockett vs. Giants CB Adoree’ Jackson
It looks as if DK Metcalf (knee) will not make it for this game, and that means Jackson can concentrate on Lockett, who has 41 receptions for 468 yards and two touchdowns.
Lockett’s per-catch average of 11.4 yards is nothing special, but he hauls in virtually everything he can reach and runs sharp routes.
Jackson never takes a snap off and is willing to give up some things underneath but runs well enough to keep the ball from getting over his head.
Metcalf and Lockett (hamstring) are both listed as questionable.
Paul’s pick
Winning in this cauldron of noise is never easy. Neither is stopping a determined Saquon Barkley. As long as defensive coordinator Wink Martindale can devise something to keep the rushing yards against his unit from rising too high, why can’t head coach Brian Daboll’s club once again find a way?
Giants 24, Seahawks 20
Four downs
Prolific Hawks: This does not seem to be true, but it is. Since Week 3 of the season, the Seahawks are averaging an NFL-high 31.8 points a game. They are second in passer rating, third in yards per game, fourth in rushing yards per game and sixth in third-down efficiency. Part of the reason for this productivity: The Seahawks are one of the league’s fastest teams. They have three of the top 10 fastest ball-carrier speeds in the league this season. There is also speed on defense.
“This might be the fastest team we’ve ever had,’’ Seahawks coach Pete Carroll said. “This team can fly.’’
Keep ’em out: The best part of what the Giants are doing on defense is that they are preventing points: They are sixth in the league, allowing 18.6 points per game. They are 25th in yards per play allowed. They gave up 452 yards last week to the Jaguars, but limited the damage to 17 points.
“Do we want that many yards? No,’’ defensive coordinator Wink Martindale said. “But sometimes it builds character in your defense. They’re a resilient group, and we know the things we need to work on and we’re working on them.’’
Leg man: How many times does Daniel Jones have to take off for a big gain before we stop hearing comments like the one this past week from Seahawks safety Quandre Diggs?
“A lot of people really sleep on his athleticism with running and making big plays off the scrambles,” Diggs said.
Sleep on Jones’ ability to take off and run? Is anyone paying attention out there? Heck, Jones had a career-high 107 rushing yards last week and figure the Seahawks will be on high-alert. This, however, was interesting from Diggs about Jones: “He’s not one of those guys that’s really trying to slide, he’s trying to get extra yards.’’
Young runner: Rookie running back Kenneth Walker III is averaging 6.1 yards per rushing attempt, and in the past three games has run for 88, 97 and 168 yards. On one of his four touchdown runs, he was clocked at 22.09 mph, making him the fastest ball-carrier in the league thus far this season.
“He looks special,’’ said Giants nose tackle Dexter Lawrence, a premier run-stuffer. “You can’t arm tackle him, he’s got good elusiveness to him, some good speed. It’s gonna take 11 guys getting to him and tackling him.’’