Three moments that cost the Seattle Seahawks a loss to the Giants

A lot went wrong for the Seattle Seahawks in their disappointing home loss to the New York Giants, but they still had a chance late to win the game.

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Trailing by three in the final minutes, Seattle pushed down the field and attempted a game-winning field goal, but it was blocked and returned for a touchdown, sealing Seattle's fate in a 29-20 loss.

Three costly mistakes by the Seahawks particularly stood out to Seattle Sports' Brock and Salk as the team defeated itself and changed the game. They discussed what that was about Monday morning.

“They were feeling bad yesterday. Mike Macdonald said it, Geno Smith said it, everyone who saw them said it. There is no doubt that they played a bad game yesterday.” Mike Salk said. “…But, man, there are three, four plays, Brock, if you handle them differently (could have changed the game), and they're not like the other team hit you for a touchdown, they're mental decisions, them.” “Are concentration problems.”

DK's fumble

The first costly play came at the start of the third quarter. With the game tied at 10, the Seattle defense forced a punt on the first drive of the half. After gaining 40 yards on their first two plays, the Seahawks turned to receiver DK Metcalf, who fumbled and fumbled a 10-yard pass. New York recovered and ended Seattle's scoring threat just outside the red zone. Four plays later, Giants quarterback Daniel Jones connected with Darius Slayton for a 30-yard TD pass to make it 17-10.

“You come out of halftime (after) kind of struggling through the first half where they were dominating time of possession, running the ball, you barely had any (offensive) plays and then you got stopped because they dropped the ball “on the third descent, and you move straight down,” Brock Huard said. “…You could also see (Giants coach Brian) Daboll's reaction after Wan'Dale (Robinson) dropped the ball…you could tell Daboll, 'That's why we're the Giants.' That's why we're 1-3. We don't do these plays.' And here’s where the Seahawks come all the way down – great balance, great adjustments, total juice, total momentum – and then DK just gives it all away.”

Geno's early slide

Seattle had a chance to cut its 17-13 deficit or take the lead early in the fourth quarter. Quarterback Geno Smith escaped pressure in the pocket on third down, eventually scrambling and sliding a yard short of the line to force a fourth down. The Seahawks tried their own territory on the next play, Smith was sacked and the Giants took over within field goal range at the Seattle 27-yard line. New York took advantage and shortly afterwards took the lead 20:13 with a short field goal.

“You get a first down there, the ride continues. … Instead, you despair on fourth down, compounding the problem and giving the Giants three more points,” Salk said. “I mean, their defense actually did their job there, but those three points are incredibly important at the end of the game. There are times when you have to protect your body, and quarterbacks have to be good at that. But there are times when you have to move the chains, and I don't think I need to tell you what time that was.”

“It was just a lack of awareness that he might have had the first down,” Huard said. “You could see he looked to the sideline and said, 'Oh my God.' That was just a bad decision. … Unfortunately that was a mental mistake, not jumping forward.”

JSN's Drop

After staging their first offensive touchdown drive of the game to get within three points, the Seahawks forced a three-and-out and took the lead with a chance to tie or win with less than two minutes remaining. A long run by Smith got them to the Giants' 40-yard line, but they were unable to get another first down and had to settle for a long field goal attempt by Jason Myers, which was blocked and returned for a touchdown , which sealed the game .

However, the Seahawks missed a golden opportunity earlier when second-year wide receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba was open and dropped a drive-extending first down.

“This can’t happen,” Huard said. “The ball is on the money. It will move the chains. Who knows, maybe they’ll block the same field goal again, but you’re giving yourself a chance to score.”

Tune in to Brock and Salk weekdays from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m

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• Rust over Seahawks: What was the problem in the loss and what wasn't?
• Immediate reaction: The Seattle Seahawks fall short with a loss to the NY Giants
• Observations on the Seahawks' 29-20 loss to the Giants

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