New York Giants vs. Seattle Seahawks: Breaking Down Seattle's Game Plan

Another week goes by with the Seattle Seahawks looking rather unremarkable in a 30-24 victory over the now 0-8 Oakland Raiders. The same excuse of injuries remains, but this is the NFL; every team is dealing with injuries at this stage of the season.

The Seattle offense showed some incremental improvement in that they were finally able to run the ball, but it appears that the team's issues are here to stay for the duration of the season. Penalties negated a pair of long runs by Marshawn Lynch or he likely would have surpassed the century mark on the ground.

Defensively, the Seahawks continued its march toward becoming the dominant defense it was in 2013, forcing two turnovers and returning one for a touchdown. There was also a special teams turnover, but the Seattle offense converted the two red-zone opportunities for just three points.

In Week 10, Seattle will take on the visiting New York Giants, who have struggled to move the ball against top scoring defenses. The opening lines for the game started with Seattle being 7.5-point favorites, according to Odds Shark. The line has since fluctuated to making the Raiders anywhere from nine- to 10-point favourites.

While the Seahawks have been far from imposing over the last several weeks, they have managed to win their last two games and improve to 5-3 overall. They now sit a game ahead of the rival San Francisco 49ers, but two games behind the Arizona Cardinals in the NFC West.

This week's game against the Giants will be important for the Seahawks to keep pace in both the division and Wild Card races.

New York Giants	Category	Seattle Seahawks
345.9 (18th)	Total Offense	347.3 (15th)
22.3 (t-20th)	Scoring Offense	25.3 (11th)
235.4 (17th)	Passing Offense	198.8 (30th)
7.1 (22nd)	Yards Per Attempt	6.9 (25th)
110.5 (16th)	Rushing Offense	148.5 (2nd)
3.8 (24th)	Yards Per Attempt	5.1 (1st)
40.0 (21st)	3rd-Down Percentage	39.0 (22nd)
391.8 (t-28th)	Total Defense	304.9 (4th)
26.1 (24th)	Scoring Defense	21.8 (10th)
272.8 (28th)	Passing Defense	221.9 (6th)
8.2 (30th)	Yards Per Attempt	6.8 (7th)
119.0 (22nd)	Rushing Defense	83.0 (4th)
4.4 (21st)	Yards Per Attempt	3.2 (1st)
37.0 (8th)	3rd-Down Percentage	43.0 (16th)

On Defense 

The Indianapolis Colts blitzed Eli Manning 16 times in their Monday night game against the New York Giants during Week 9; the results were three completions and three sacks. Manning has been one of the league's worst when under pressure this season, a woeful 35.1 percent of his passes.

The only quarterback who's been worse and handled at least 50 percent of his team's snaps is the recently demoted quarterback of the New York Jets: Geno Smith. The Seattle Seahawks have improved there over the last two weeks, totalling 33 hurries and four sacks in that span.

Former NFL scout and ESPN analyst Louis Riddick had some thoughts to share on the Seahawks' pass rush, per The Seattle Times:

"

Michael Bennett is still able to win, and Cliff Avril is still able to win. But there is a lot of area from tackle to tackle. That’s why the other guys have to be there and get opportunistic sacks, which means guys like O’Brien Schofield and Kevin Williams and Bruce Irvin have to clean up.

"

Seattle sent in an extra rusher a few more times than normal against the Oakland Raiders, and that is a trend that should continue. With the Giants' Rashad Jennings set to miss another game, New York's ground game has been largely ineffective. Pressuring Manning should render the Giants' offense useless for large stretches of the game as well.

Ron Antonelli/Getty Images

On Offense

Jermaine Kearse has a total of three reception for 19 yards receiving on nine targets over the last two weeks as Seattle's No. 2 receiver. The Seahawks must make an effort to create a more dynamic passing game.

Seattle's offensive line remains a major weakness that has forced the team to throw more than its share of passes behind the line of scrimmage or less than 10 yards. Russell Wilson has been pressured on 42.5 percent of his dropbacks, good for second in the league, and his performance has suffered.

Seattle utilized a more run-heavy approach to get things going offensively against the Oakland Raiders. The offensive line had a solid performance opening up running lanes, despite some pre-snap penalties; Marshawn Lynch did the rest. 

It was the most run-oriented attack the Seahawks had taken since their Week 5 game against the Washington Redskins. The Giants' run defense isn't quite as poor as Oakland's, but it's a weakness the Seahawks have to take advantage to be effective.

When throwing the ball, Doug Baldwin has been the lone receiving target of note outside of the numbers, since the Percy Harvin trade. Luke Willson has struggled with drops, and the team's rookie options have been slow to step up.

The Seahawks have done a good job of moving Baldwin all over the field, but they should incorporate more spread formation to help improve Wilson's options and give Baldwin more space to work. Baldwin has more than 125 yards receiving in four-receiver sets since Harvin's departure. 

Look for the Seahawks to open with the ground game and try to keep the Giants defense honest with some spread formation.

*All stats gathered from Pro Football Focus (subscription required), unless otherwise noted.