Seattle Seahawks Snap Counts: Reserves Thrust Into Action in Loss to New York Giants

Speaking on his weekly radio show on Seattle Sports 710, Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald wasn’t about to use injuries as an excuse for his team’s disappointing performance on Sunday, stating the obvious that the schedule isn’t going to change and others will have to step up to fill the void regardless of who is sidelined heading into a second straight short week.

“We’re not looking for excuses on our operation or anything like that,” Macdonald said. “We’re attacking the process. That’s the mentality. That’s what we need to do today.”

Defensively, the Seahawks struggled to slow down a Giants offense that went into Sunday’s game ranked in the bottom third of the league in points scored, passing yards, and rushing yards, allowing Daniel Jones to throw for nearly 250 yards and two touchdowns while surrendering 175 yards on the ground. It was an embarrassing letdown for Macdonald’s unit, which had given up just 14.3 points per game in the first three weeks before injuries started to pile up.

Trying to manage several players suiting up at below 100 percent in the trenches, Seattle continued to rotate in reserves such as Myles Adams, Mike Morris, and Trevis Gipson, who each played at least 11 defensive snaps in the defeat but contributed zero tackles and zero pressures. They also tried to reduce the workload for veterans such as Johnathan Hankins, who played 57 percent of the snaps this week after logging a 77 percent share against the Lions on Monday Night Football out of necessity.

In the secondary, with Woolen tweaking his ankle early in the second half, rookie Nehemiah Pritchett was thrown into the fire for his first NFL regular season snaps opposite of Tre Brown, playing a total of 12 defensive snaps. The Giants attempted to attack the fifth-round pick once he entered the lineup, but Jones overthrew an open Darius Slayton with him trailing in coverage and he registered a key third down pass breakup to force a punt late in regulation.

Looking at snap counts from the Seahawks gut-wrenching loss to the Giants, what else jumped out? Week 5 observations linked to statistics courtesy of PFF and film study: