2020 Dynasty/Fantasy Week 13 Game Analysis: Giants 17, Seahawks 12
I take notes during the live watch. I re-watch the game on tape looking for hidden clues to report on. Here are my notes/takes on what I saw and how it related to FF 2020. I write anywhere from 1,000-3,000+ words on each game, and I must move fast to get to all of them through the week…so, please forgive any typos/grammar.
I love the national media analysis of this game…
It goes: Wow! Seattle really had an off game. Boy those Giants are scrappy. Anyways…have you seen D.K. Metcalf’s abs? Wow, that’s a story. Seattle needs to let Russ cook more, and they’d win every game!!
Everything in analysis of this game (and every Seattle game) is through a Seattle-prism. Seattle wins…well, Russell Wilson was FINALLY allowed to ‘cook’. Seattle loses…well, why won’t they let Russ cook? I mean, they (the media) all talk nonstop about how great a coach Pete Carroll is…and then the next sentence immediately echo/complain about Russ not being allowed to practice culinary arts.
Who the hell do you think is in charge of the cooking time allotment? You can’t have it both ways. Either Wilson secretly is wildly overrated…or Pete Carroll is a horrific coach who doesn’t know the first thing about the cooking process. You cannot keep up the ‘letting Russ cook’ crap, and then go on about young Pete Carroll looks for his age and hanging onto the one Super Bowl he won many years ago.
This was not a story on whether Seattle decided to cook or not – the story is the Giants went to Seattle, entered the kitchen, grabbed a rolling pin, and beat the bloody hell out of the Seahawks…and that the Giants have one of the five best defenses in the NFL now and they’re dangerous because they have such a great defense.
Nope.
All we get is…’boy, the Giants are better than we thought…I guess. Isn’t that crazy? Boy, any given Sunday…amiright?’
Seattle got-got. Seattle scored no TDs the first 53+ minutes of this game – that’s how good this NYG defense is. Seattle was down 17-12 and had the ball with 1:48, from their own 20, and two timeouts left…so, of course they are going to ‘cook’ their way down the field and win the game. Too much time left on the clock for Wilson in that situation. Even worse for NYG, their star LB Blake Martinez had to come out of the game for the final drive. There’s no way Seattle won’t roll down the field and win against the pathetic NFC East representatives. Seattle got to midfield with 1:04 left…and then incomplete (easy pick dropped), incomplete, sack, Hail Mary incomplete…ball game. Seattle couldn’t even make a threat on the final drive.
The Giants manhandled the Seattle offense…and put up just enough offense to pull off the upset. Great, gutty performance by the G-Men. The Giants move to (5-7) and into 1st-place in the NFC East (tiebreaker over 5-7 Washington). There’s a path to 7, maybe 8 wins for the Giants. Safe bet is 7…and 7 wins, wins the NFC East most likely.
Seattle falls to (8-4) and into 2nd-place in the NFC West (tiebreaker loss to the 8-4 Rams). Seattle should be able to get to 10 wins, maybe 11 and for sure a wild card. The NFC West winner likely comes down to the team that wins Week 16 LAR at SEA.
Fantasy Player Notes…
-- Just another 30+ minutes more commentary on the Giants defense and then I’ll get to everything else, I swear…
Seriously, this is proof that you can rebuild a defense in one offseason. Remember how bad everyone thought this defense was last year…and then their 1st-round pick CB DeAndre Baker gets arrested in the offseason? Remember, that Dave Gettleman needed to be fired? I thought so.
In 2020 free agency, Gettleman landed arguably the #1-2-3 CB in the NFL right now – James Bradberry (7 tackles, 1 PD), who just pretty much shutdown D.K. Metcalf (5-80-0/8) whenever he was on him. Some of the catches were low probability plays that Bradberry was all over, but a couple got through by a whisker margin.
Gettleman also landed the top LB in free agency, one of the best LBs in the game – Blake Martinez (10 tackles, 1 TFL, 1 PD).
Gettleman traded for what was thought to be has-been Leonard Williams (3 tackles, 2.5 sacks) and added solid veteran DB Logan Ryan (3 tackles) in September.
Executive of the Year type of work, and then adding D-C Patrick Graham put it all together and he changed the play of guys like Jabrill Peppers (another Gettleman trade) and in less than a year the Giants went from one of the worst defenses in the NFL to one of the best.
The defense won this game here. Russell Wilson was flustered/off all game…and sacked 5 times. Imagine if this NYG defense adds 1-2 ace pieces in 2021? Gettleman has shown he can do that…he hit on too many moves this past year for it to be deemed ‘luck’.
Week 14 v. ARI is not a favorable matchup, on paper…unless you start looking at this defense as top tier – then it might hold down the recently flailing Air Raid.
Week 15 vs. CLE…might be a positive for NYG-DST as well. Even Week 16 at BAL might not be too bad with fading Lamar Jackson. They are not optimal FF-matchups but like what happened with them vs. Seattle…most matchups might be optimal if it involves the NYG-DST.
-- I started seeing Russell Wilson look at Will Dissly (4-28-0/5) as a real option in the passing game again this game. It was good to see after a ‘zero’ last week for Dissly in his first game with Greg Olsen gone. Dissly can be a 3-4 catch, 30-50 yards, and 50-50 shot for a TD type of TE every week…and that’s a TE1 these days.
Jacob Hollister (3-20-0/4) is in the game more in passing situations, hurry up, etc. But he’s not a big desire for Wilson. Dissly is an option in the normal/routine offense.
Colby Parkinson is not ready yet…just two snaps played this week.
-- Wayne Gallman (16-135-0) continues to prove that any RB with some heart and can run a 4.65 or better 40-time can be a success in the NFL if they just get the damn ball.
The smart thing to do for Dave Gettleman would be to trade Saquon Barkley in August or after the 2021 season. Investing big money in RBs has gotten beyond a ridiculous way to run NFL teams. But they won’t…gotta have those jersey sales and must avoid media criticism at all costs.
Keep betting on Gallman every week for right now…it’s working. I don’t think Devonta Freeman will be back to mess with Gallman’s touches any time soon (but who knows). Likely, Freeman will be kept aside for him to get ready to be ready if Gallman gets hurt…or Freeman comes in and runs the Alf Morris role.
-- Sterling Shepard (1-22-0/6) caught an early-game 22-yard pass, and I was pleased…surely he’d get 5+ catches for 60+ yards and hopefully somehow score a TD. His next five targets were not connected, and it ended up to be an FF-dud.
Shepard is the Giants’ #1 WR, for FF, for whatever it is worth…just not worth much this game.
-- IDP notes…
Seattle rookie LB Jordyn Brooks (11 tackles) is starting to breakout a little bit. This was his first game with 60%+ snaps played (it was 77%) this season and he responded with 11 tackles. Brooks is not as good as fellow rookie LB Kenneth Murray, but he’s still good/promising.
Seattle CB D.J. Reed (6 tackles, 1 TFL) is FF-nice when forced to start. 8.3 tackles per game Weeks 8-11, when Shaq Griffin was out. Griffin returned Week 12 and Reed played ZERO snaps on defense. Week 13, Tre Flowers got hurt and went on IR…so Reed started here and made 6 tackles.
-- The Seattle-DST is holding up as a play, despite the loss. Two games in-a-row holding an opponent to 17 points. Facing NYJ-WSH the next two weeks…it’s two strong DST starts for them.
CB Tre Flowers out hurts, but Quinton Dunbar could be active this week and that’s a huge help.
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Snap Counts of Interest:
42 = Carson
18 = Hyde
12 = DeeJay Dallas
28 = Gallman
11 = Alf Morris
12 = Dion Lewis
39 = Dissly
39 = Hollister
