For Pete's Sake: 5 critical observations from Seattle Seahawks Week 4 victory

Seattle started to crank up the defense heat in the second quarter

On their first drive of the second quarter, the Giants managed just one first down. On third and 11, the Hawks pass rush forced Jones to throw the ball away. Seattle took over at their own 22 after yet another punt. A quick first down catch by Metcalf was followed by yet another Hawks penalty, this time a holding call.

Two plays later, Smith caught his own pass as a defensive lineman swatted the ball into the air. Way to pad your stats, bro. As he was taken out of bounds, Giants defender Isaiah Simmons landed on Smith's legs. Number 7 limped off the field, then thought better of it and had words with the Giants defense. Practically in their huddle.

On the next play, Smith nearly threw a pick as he sidearmed a pass toward Jaxon Smith-Njigba. Giants LB Thibodeaux juggled the ball but just missed hauling it in for what would have been a very easy pick-six. No worries, as Michael Dickson crushed another punt, this one trickling down to the New York two before Kyu Kelly downed it at the New York two-yard line. Okay, some worries, as Smith was limping pretty badly after the play.

The Giants got some breathing room on the ensuing drive, but of course, there was a penalty. Then there wasn't, as the zebras changed their mind. So sad, as I had the over on 23.5 penalties for the half. The Seahawks came up with a few solid plays on the drive, mostly by Devon Witherspoon. Color "analyst" Troy Aikman made me throw up in my mouth a little bit when he said that Spoon reminded him of another number 21, Deion Sanders. Really, the guy who avoided contact like the plague? You clearly took too many blows to the head, cowboy. Meanwhile, the Giants drive stalled, but they managed to salvage a 55-yard field goal out of it. Seahawks 7, Giants 3.

Drew Lock came in for Smith with 3:05 left in the second quarter. His first pass went off the hands of Smith-Njigba. On second down, Lock decided he'd do it himself and ran for the first. Yeah, it was a called QB draw, but it was still pretty sweet. Lock connected with Metcalf for another first to bring Seattle to their own 48 at the two-minute warning.

On first and 10, Lock missed a diving Tyler Lockett under a serious pass rush. On second down, he missed Smith-Njigba, but scrambled out of trouble on third and 10. He found Noah Fant streaking down the sideline for a 52-yard touchdown. Well, except that Fant's knee was down at the one on a diving tackle by Isaiah Simmons. Fant did break three tackles on his sideline rumble, so it was still a pretty sweet play.

Kenneth Walker III easily ran up the gut for the score. Things got a little salty after the play as we had dual personal fouls, but in the end, the result was still a touchdown. By the way, Seattle's scoring drive featured four backups on the offensive line and their backup QB. The only starting lineman, center Evan Brown, was actually playing guard. That was one heck of a drive. Seahawks 14, Giants 3.

On the Giants closing drive of the half, former Giant Julian Love hammered Matt Breida for a three-yard loss, and then Riq Woolen jumped the route and came within fingertips of a pick-six. On third and 11, the Gi-Ants played it safe and ran the ball. Straight into the arms of Bobby Wagner. Poor choice, guys.

On the punt - a solid punt, by the way - Deejay Dallas was jostling a bit with a Giants player as the ball rolled to a stop. The Giants defender had backed into Dallas, who put his hands on the player's back. You know, so the guy didn't cleat his feet. Giants special teamer Cam Brown took offense and decided to shove Dallas to the ground. So of course, this time the officials didn't throw a flag. Have I mentioned earlier this season how incomprehensible the officiating is in the NFL? I think they may have cloned MLB's umpire Angel Hernandez.

On fourth and four, Seattle punted, but the Giants magically committed two fouls to give Seattle the first down, one of them roughing the kicker. It was kind of a shame, as Dickson had crushed a 51-yard punt with no return. Dickson gave the Giants player a forearm shiver, so that was fun. With 31 seconds left in the half at their own 22, the Seahawks gave the ball to Walker for three straight carries. Why they didn't just take a knee and run out the clock, I have no idea. Maybe they were hoping that K-9 would break one open and get them in scoring position. With all the injuries to the line, for once, I didn't like the decision to run the ball. Anyway, that was the half. Seahawks 14, Giants 3.

That first half was incredibly strange football. Daniel Jones was 14-17, but really ineffective when it mattered. And of course, he gave up the strip sack that put the Hawks in business for their first score. Geno Smith was 9-11 but had only 67 yards passing. But he did have the great touchdown pass to Metlcalf. The Hawks defense allowed a little more rushing yardage than we'd seen so far this season, 59 yards in the half. But they shut the opposition down when it mattered, allowing only a 55-yard field goal. To that point, Seattle had four sacks, three on Jones. As it turns out, they were just getting warmed up.