‘Silence the doubters’: How NY Giants blocked out the noise for Brian Daboll’s biggest win

SEATTLE – The noise inside Lumen Field for 58 minutes and 55 seconds was deafening on Sunday afternoon.

So what did the New York Giants‘ Isaiah Simmons hear when he leaped over Seattle lineman Laken Tomlinson, then jumped as high as he could again to swat a potential game-tying field goal from 47 yards out in the waning moments?

“What did I hear? A thud from the ball hitting my hand, that’s about it,” Simmons told NorthJersey.com, flashing a smile as teammate Kayvon Thibodeaux laughed at the question. “Then Bryce [Ford-Wheaton] called, ‘Ball game’ – didn’t hear much after that.”

The silence from the 12s, a typically-raucous home crowd left in stunned disbelief, was the sweetest sound the Giants have produced in quite some time. This was the biggest regular season win in Brian Daboll’s three years as head coach, there’s no question about that, and Simmons teamed with Ford-Wheaton to make it stand up.

Simmons’ block of Jason Myers’ field goal try bounced once and directly into the arms of Ford-Wheaton, who scooped the ball and scored, a 60-yard punctuation to the Giants’ 29-20 victory over the Seahawks on Sunday.

Here’s the thing: the Giants can’t erase the missed opportunities that led to losses to NFC East foes Washington and Dallas, two games in which they legitimately had chances to reverse the outcome, yet failed to do so.

The deck was indeed stacked against Daboll and the Giants versus Seattle, a playoff team from a year ago that entered having won three of its first four and appears bound for the postseason again.

Malik Nabers, the Giants’ best offensive player, was home in New Jersey, still in concussion protocol.

Devin Singletary, their leading rusher, was unable to play because of a groin injury.

The outside expectation was that, if the Giants lost for the fourth time in five games, the season would suddenly become a referendum not just on Daniel Jones at quarterback, but Daboll as head coach and Joe Schoen as general manager. In reality, there is internal belief in what Daboll and Schoen are trying to build, and that was the case going into this game.

There was no panic, just urgency to get the football right, according to right tackle Jermaine Eluemunor.

Rookie running back Tyrone Tracy rushed for a career-best 129 yards in his first start. Darius Slayton caught eight passes from Jones for 122 yards and a touchdown. Jones completed 23-of-34 passes for 257 yards and a quarterback rating of 109.6.

A maligned secondary was led by Tae Banks, who had faced a “Murderer’s Row” of elite wide receivers over the first month, drawing criticism for not finishing plays, including from his own position coach, Jerome Henderson, who admitted he challenged the second-year pro for his effort on a touchdown catch by CeeDee Lamb last game.

Seahawks star DK Metcalf saw a lot of Banks, and managed just four catches on seven targets for 55 yards, just one year after teaching him what the Giants’ 2023 first-round pick called “rookie lessons” in a 24-3 Seattle triumph.

Perhaps most impressive: the Giants’ offensive line, in one of the loudest buildings in the NFL, committed zero pre-snap penalties.

“The challenge is always to silence the doubters,” Giants outside linebacker Brian Burns told NorthJersey.com. “Even more important is making sure no one in here doubts this team, and now we get ready for [Cincinnati next Sunday night at MetLife Stadium].”

The patience with which the Giants held back that play call for the field goal block speaks to that.

Daboll said Giants special teams coordinator Michael Ghobrial identified a hole he believed they could exploit, and that centered on Simmons’ ability to jump over Tomlinson’s down block. The Giants lined up Simmons next to Dexter Lawrence, and when Tomlinson blocked down, Simmons took the crease and made things happen.

There was a temptation to go to the play earlier in the game – Myers had kicked a pair of field goals prior to his final try – but Ghobrial implored Daboll to wait. Don’t drop the hammer too soon, he argued.

When the Seahawks trotted Myers out for that 47-yard attempt with 65 seconds left, the Giants pulled the alarm.

“I knew I was going to be able to get up high enough. My biggest thing was being able to double-bounce,” Simmons said. “So land, and go right back up. There’s no time for anything else. Once I felt myself clear, the only thing in my mind, I’m like, is touch and go, touch and go, touch and go. I guess my long jump skills came into play there.”

Giants star Dexter Lawrence had three sacks, dominating up front as he has for three seasons in his ascension at the position. Burns had another on fourth down in the fourth quarter that buried a crucial drive for the Seahawks.

The Giants’ 22 sacks as a team through five games is the second-most in franchise history (26 in 1985), according to NFL Research.

“All in all, I understand the records, but a record doesn’t always define who you are and what you can do,” Burns said. “I feel like a couple of our games slipped away because of unfortunate events. But at the same time, I firmly believe in not letting that affect and define who you are. That’s kind of what this game represents. I’m pretty sure everyone was against us in this one.”

And just when things seemed like they would go against the Giants yet again, Simmons and that sweet sound of silence set off the kind of block party Big Blue hopes to build on going forward.

This article originally appeared on NorthJersey.com: How NY Giants blocked out the noise for Brian Daboll’s biggest win