SEATTLE — After opening its season with three consecutive wins, the Seattle Seahawks have dropped two consecutive games.
The Seahawks are now 3-2 this season after losing 29-20 to the New York Giants on Sunday afternoon.
Here are three takeaways from the Seahawks' second consecutive loss.
Heartbreaking ending
With the game on the line and a potentially disappointing loss on the ledger, Geno Smith lined up in the shotgun formation and found no receiver open.
He also found acres of space to run into unimpeded by defenders.
Smith chose the second option and scampered for a big 32-yard gain to set up the Seahawks in field goal position with under two minutes remaining.
Seattle failed to advance further, setting up a game-tying kick from Jason Myers.
With the momentum appearing to swing in the Seahawks' favor, the Giants specials team unit rushed the line and blocked Myers' kick, returning it for a touchdown of their own.
Failure to bounce back
The Seahawks offense fought valiantly against the Detroit Lions on Monday Night Football, scoring 29 points but losing to a talented team.
Given the opponent and the situation, the Seahawks could still head into its home matchup with plenty of positives to build upon.
A matchup against the struggling New York Giants without its star rookie receiver was supposed to be the perfect remedy for the Seahawks' ailments.
Instead, the Giants controlled the game from the opening kickoff - they ran 39 total plays compared to just 17 for the Seahawks in the first half - and bruised their way to an improbable oad victory.
This should've been an opportunity for the Seahawks to erase Monday night's loss on the ledger, but now the team faces a potential three-game losing streak, with NFC West division rival San Francisco 49ers up next.
Defense struggles against bottom-tier offense
The Giants were the league's 30th-scoring offense heading into Sunday's matchup, finishing with point totals of 6, 18, 15 and 15 in its first four games.
This was a sputtering, ineffective and frustrating offense that had one star (Malik Nabers) and little else.
In Week 5 New York set a new season high in points against the Seahawks, all without Nabers, who missed the game with a concussion. Nabers was responsible for 38% of Giants targets, 44% of its receiving yards and caught three of the team's four receiving touchdowns.
New York was not a functioning offense with Nabers on the field and it still had success against the Seahawks' defense.
The Giants were also missing starting running back Devin Singletary, but no matter: New York replaced his production (and then some) with Tyrone Tracy and Eric Gray totaling 178 yards in the victory.
Aggressive play call backfires
In this space, we typically laud a head coach for being aggressive in earning a win, rather than being passive and playing to not lose.
Coach Mike Macdonald elected to be aggressive and trust his team on 4th-and-1 at the Seahawks 35-yard line. Seattle was trailing by seven points in the fourth quarter at the time.
Macdonald's confidence was not rewarded, however, as Geno Smith could not find an opening and took a big sack, gifting the Giants with the ball near the red zone. New York kicked a field goal on the ensuing possession, pushing its lead to 10 points.