Seahawks vs. Giants: What Seattle needs to do to win

The Seahawks travel to New York on Sunday to try to move to 4-2. Seattle currently is second in the NFC West, but only because the Rams have played more games. Seattle needs to be the Giants to keep pace. What do they need to do to win?

The Seahawks should win on Sunday. Let’s be clear about that. The Giants are down about 428 good receivers. Seattle, though down Luke Joeckel and Cliff Avril, still have much more talent than New York. The Seahawks’ struggles are more with technique than inability. This means the Seahawks need to do what they do well to win. But what is that?

Stop the run

The Seahawks are still a good run defense team. Don’t let their number 27 ranking against the run fool you. Seattle faced an excellent Tennessee Titans ground game and gave up a few big plays. Against the Los Angeles Rams, though, Seattle shut down Todd Gurley. The Seahawks can stop the run. They just need to remain focused.

Good thing the Giants did so well against the Denver Broncos in their last game. New York will have Seattle’s attention. Running back Orleans Darkwa had a 117 yards against Denver. Seattle will not want to allow him to have two straight 100-plus yard games.

And there is no reason Darkwa should. The Seahawks, even without Cliff Avril, have more talent in their defensive front seven than the Giants’ offensive line has.

Let Russell be Russell

Sure, the Giants were able to get to the Broncos for four sacks. But this came after weeks of frustration for New York and their pass rush. Seattle quarterback Russell Wilson is still healthy and able to elude defensive linemen. Seattle needs to eschew the constant attempts at creating a running game and let Wilson fly his freak flag.

The Seahawks need early points. They should try going no-huddle at the outset and forget handing it off for into the middle, stuffed runs. Use Tyler Lockett in jet sweeps. Send Paul Richardson long. Get Doug Baldwin the ball. And let Wilson create chaos. 36 percent of the time Wilson drops back he winds up flushed from the pocket. But he’s good in these moments. Will he get sacked and pressured? Yes. But Seattle thrives when plays breakdown. So let them.

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Get Jimmy the ball

The Giants stink against opposing tight ends. New York is worst in the league against the position, allowing the most yards (432) and touchdowns (seven) to tight ends. This means, throw Jimmy Graham the ball. And while Seattle is at it, get Luke Willson involved too. If there was ever a game when Graham should be targeted five times in the red zone, this is it.