Seahawks at Giants: Payback’s a...

In their last two games against the Seattle Seahawks, the New York Giants were flagged for 14 false start penalties. The fan-induced deafness helped rattle the Giants into two memorable road losses in Seattle.

In 2005, the Giants committed 11 false start penalties thanks to crowd noise at Qwest Field. Jay Feely missing five field goals didn’t help either. In 2006, New York fell behind 42-3 by the end of the third quarter.

For those Giants players who experienced the road losses in 2005 and 2006, they’d like their own fans to reciprocate. Giants center Shaun O’Hara this week called on New York fans to bring a full throated attack when the Seahawks line up on Sunday at the Meadowlands.

While it’s fun to talk about, I’m not sure it matters. Giants fans could stuff their faces with hot dogs instead of screaming at the Seahawks and the results on the field will most likely be the same.

The defending Super Bowl champs are a better team going into Week 5. The fact that the Giants (3-0) are still thinking about their trips to Seattle and not focusing on the reality that they are flat out a better team, might give the Seahawks a sliver-like advantage in the intangible column.

But there’s no running from the reality of the Giants defense. They’re defense is ranked second in the NFC and first in the pass, which isn’t good news for a Seahawks offense that has been working through a cavalcade of injuries. New York has also benefited from playing the St. Louis Rams and a Washington Redskins team in Week 1 with their new coach Jim Zorn at the helm.

The Giants are second in the NFC with 13 sacks in three games and are going to apply pressure to the Seahawks passing attack. Seattle quarterback Matt Hasselbeck will have to get rid of the ball quickly and getting Deion Branch and Booby Engram back from injury will give him a couple familiar targets to dump the football.

The Seahawks will need to wake itself up for another East Coast trip. The offense won’t be able to roar back from a significant deficit, so another defensive flop like they had in Buffalo will mean the game.

Fantasy sleepers
Here are my sleeper picks/wild guesses, one from each team:

• John Carlson – The rookie tight end has yet to top his six-catch, 78-yard performance against San Francisco in Week 2. With Engram and Branch back on the field and the emergence of Billy McMullen, defenses will have to pay more attention to the wide receiving corp. This, I theorize, will enable Carlson to free himself for catches up the middle of the field.



• Steve Smith – With Plaxico Burress out because of a suspension, wide receiver Steve Smith is probably going to get his second start. He caught 7 balls for 60 yards against Cincinnati. I’m feeling he’ll capitalize on what is now a customary lapse in the Seahawks secondary and a touchdown for Smith.

The last time we met…
Sept. 24, 2006 – The Giants made their second trip in as many years to Qwest Field in Seattle. The year prior, New York was flagged with 11 false start penalties, a premature celebration by Jeremy Shockey (it never gets old) and five missed field goals by Jay Feely. Last time around, Seattle jumped out to a 42-3 and literally never looked back – even when the Giants scored 27 points in the fourth quarter. Hasselbeck threw for five touchdowns in the game.

After the loss, Shockey did what he does best, run his mouth: "We got outplayed, and outcoached. Write that down," he said.