The Seattle Seahawks( 3-2) return from the bye week and will travel to East Rutherford New Jersey to take on a surging New York Giants (1-5) team Sunday ( 1:25 p.m. PT ) at MetLife Stadium. The Giants are coming off a confidence-building 23 to 10 win over the Denver Broncos (3-2) after losing their first five games of the season.
The Seahawks have a little pep to their step after pulling out a heart-stopping 16 to 10 NFC West Division showdown over the Los Angeles Rams before the bye week. Here’s what the coaches had to say about Sunday’s upcoming game.
GIANTS HEAD COACH BOB MCADOO
(On what allowed the running game to get going against Denver last weekend)
“We thought it was coming along really for the last three weeks. We had more attempts at the play. The big guys have been physical. The tight ends have been blocking well and better and the receivers got involved.”
(On basic thoughts on the Seahawks and what you see from their offense)
“Yeah, well I see an experienced football team that is well built, has a lot of speed and athleticism on both sides of the ball. Even the receivers and running backs, when they are healthy, there are a lot of weapons there for Russell [Wilson]. He is a tremendous leader. I think they have tremendous leadership on both sides of the ball. Defensively, they are very fast.
They are fast and they tackle very well and they do a good job of getting the ball out and getting the ball on the ground and getting their hands on a lot of footballs. So we need to make sure we are good with the ball this week. Really from [Bobby] Wagner on back, they do a tremendous job of covering the field and the perimeters. Not a lot of seams in the defense for a cover-three scheme. So we have to be on point there with the passing game and then handling our business in the run game will be a challenge.”
(On what stands out as an opposing coach when you watch Bobby Wagner on film)
“First things first, you can’t help but admire his speed and his length. He is a tremendous tackler. But he is a smart player. He knows the system. He has played in the system for a while. He knows the players around him and how they fit into what he is trying to get done. He always seems to be in control and not rushed. He plays fast but he is never in a hurry.”
SEAHAWKS PETE CARROLL
(Opening statement)
“This is a unique week for us coming off the bye [week] and getting the work done that we have. A big trip coming up, and I’m really pleased with how we worked; a lot of energy, guys feel good, we saw a number of guys get back to the practice field today, so we’re going to go in pretty healthy and in pretty good shape. We had a good week and we’re looking forward to this trip and the challenge that we’re going to face with the Giants, and we know it’s going to be tough.
(On what some of the challenges are of playing on the road at the Giants in New York in that atmosphere)
“Yeah, it’s a great place to play. The fans are awesome and historic and all of that, and the way that they can elevate and make it really difficult is always a hard place to play. We respect the heck out of it and we’re going to try to go out there and play the kind of football that we want to play, even under the circumstances. It looks like we’re going to have good weather, so we’re fortunate in that regard, and we’ll try to make the most of it.”
On not having Cliff Avril for a while going forward and if there’s an opportunity for guys to step up and fill in behind Frank Clark and the rest of the rotation)
“Yeah. It does extenuate Frank’s opportunity, he gets more play time and we’re excited for him to get as many snaps as we can, but also Marcus Smith really has to jump up and rotate in there, which is really good and we’re fortunate that we have him, and he’ll be able to take a lot of Cliff’s [Avril] rushes and third-down stuff. We’re fortunate that he came and has worked out really well, and he’s fitting in fine.”
