SEATTLE – Brian Daboll’s temper was boiling at times on the sideline Sunday as his Giants strained to close out a strong performance, with the looming specter of a collapse inching closer to reality as the Seahawks charged back.
But then Isaiah Simmons finished it off.
Simmons, a hybrid linebacker who did not play a defensive snap all day, made a dramatic block of Jason Myers’ 47-yard, game-tying field goal try. And wide receiver Bryce Ford-Wheaton returned the ball 60 yards for a touchdown and a 29-20 Giants victory at Lumen Field.
Daniel Jones threw two touchdown passes, and rookie back Tyrone Tracy Jr. and veteran receiver Darius Slayton each went over 100 yards, to overcome the absences of top offensive weapons Malik Nabers (concussion) and Devin Singletary (groin).
A Rayshawn Jenkins 102-yard Seahawks fumble return for a touchdown put the Giants on their heels in the first quarter after Eric Gray coughed the ball up on the goal line.
But Dexter Lawrence (three sacks), Brian Burns and the Giants’ defensive line wreaked havoc on Seahawks QB Geno Smith, and Seattle’s offense did not score its first touchdown of the game until a Jaxon Smith-Njigba 5-yard score with 2:09 remaining in the fourth quarter.
That touchdown narrowed the Giants’ lead to 23-20. And Daboll’s offense failed to run the clock out, punting the ball back to Seattle with 1:40 remaining. Simmons was there, however, to save the day.
The Giants (2-3) return home to New Jersey now for two consecutive home games at MetLife Stadium: a Week 6 Sunday night visit from the Cincinnati Bengals (1-4) and a storyline-filled Week 7 test against Saquon Barkley and the Philadelphia Eagles (2-2).
They fly home after scoring a season-high 29 points on Sunday.
They snapped a seven-quarter touchdown drought with a 7-yard Jones TD pass to Wan’Dale Robinson with 9:09 to play in the first half. And Jones hit the Giants’ first 40-plus yard pass play of the season: a 41-yard bomb down the right sideline to Slayton, who hauled in eight catches for 122 yards and a touchdown.
It marked Slayton’s sixth career 100-yard receiving game.
Jones then finished that drive off with a 30-yard touchdown pass to Slayton, and the teams traded field goals until the late fourth-quarter flurry.
One of Greg Joseph’s field goals was set up by a Brian Burns fourth down sack of Smith at the Seahawks’ 27 yards line with 14:09 remaining in the final quarter.
Corner Deonte Banks had a nice bounce-back after getting called out by position coach Jerome Henderson for a lack of effort in last week’s loss to Dallas, as well.
Banks forced a DK Metcalf fumble recovered by Tyler Nubin and had multiple pass breakups.
Bowen’s defense held Seattle’s offense scoreless for most of the first half. The Giants looked like they were going to take a 10-7 lead into halftime.
But when the Seahawks got the ball back with 22 seconds to play, Smith promptly completed two passes for 45 yards to Kenneth Walker III and Tyler Lockett.
Daboll was red hot on the headset on the sideline as Jason Myers hit a 43-yard field goal to tie the game at 10 apiece heading into the break.
That was a discouraging score considering the Giants had outgained Seattle 225 yards to 90 and converted 15 first downs to the Seahawks’ five, but they didn’t have a lead to show for it.
Daboll’s team trailed 7-0 after the first quarter due to Gray’s goal line fumble, for example, despite forcing two Seahawks punts and outgaining their hosts, 92 yards to 25.
The offense overcame a Jones fumble on their first play that Thomas recovered at New York’s 5-yard line.
Gray caught screen passes of 18 and 19 yards on back-to-back plays to dig them out, and they took 10 minutes off the clock on the drive. But then Gray coughed up the killer turnover.
Bowen’s defense managed to keep the game steady anyway, forcing three punts on Seattle’s first three possessions. Then the offense launched a game-tying, eight play, 81-yard drive capped by a 7-yard Jones touchdown pass to Robinson with 9:09 remaining in the half.
A 27-yard run by Tracy Jr. jumpstarted the drive. Rookie tight end Theo Johnson then caught a 22-yard pass, the longest of his young career. And Jones carried for an 11-yard gain to set up Robinson’s TD.
The Giants’ quarterback was even lowering his shoulder on a couple of his runs to take on defenders.
Jones and the offense then set up a Greg Joseph 38-yard field goal for the 10-7 lead with 22 seconds remaining in the half, but the defense let its foot off the gas, and Seattle tied the game with that final-minute surge.
It was an inauspicious conclusion to a mostly promising first half otherwise. Daboll’s temper was starting to boil, and it nearly unraveled at the end.
But this time the Giants held on. This time they made the plays to win it.
