Adding insult to injury for the Giants in Sunday’s 23-0 loss to the Seahawks, Victor Cruz went out late in the third quarter with what was diagnosed as a concussion and a knee sprain. It is certainly plausible his 2013 season is finished, meaning he would end it with 998 receiving yards and fail to become the fourth Giants player with three consecutive seasons with 1,000 receiving yards.
It looked as if Cruz moved past 1,000 receiving yards for the third consecutive season when he leaped with cornerback Jeremy Lane to haul in a pass for a 16-yard gain. Cruz came down hard on his head and stayed down for a few minutes. As he was attended to, Seahawks coach Pete Carroll challenged whether Cruz had secured the ball after hitting the ground. The original ruling of a completion was overturned and the 16 yards came off Cruz’ season total, leaving him with 998.
Eli Manning is now the most intercepted quarterback in Giants history, as his five on the day boosted his career total to 169, two more than Charlie Conerly. … The last time the Giants were shut out at home in the regular season was Sept. 4, 1995, when they were buried 35-0 by the Cowboys in the season-opener. They also were blanked in the 2005 playoffs by the Panthers.
Antrel Rolle’s third-quarter interception was his career-high sixth of the season.
The play of the Giants offensive line was brutal. LG James Brewer allowed a sack and whiffed on a block on a screen pass on one particularly dreadful series in the second quarter. He was replaced in the third quarter by second-year Brandon Mosley; the Giants announced Brewer had an ankle injury. WR Jerrel Jernigan in the fourth quarter took a vicious hit by 232-pound S Kam Chancellor and somehow stayed on his feet to complete a 14-yard catch-and-run. Chancellor was called for a 15-yard penalty for a hit on a defenseless receiver. Jernigan finished with a career-high seven catches for 67 yards.
Coach Tom Coughlin won a replay challenge late in the fourth quarter contesting the spot of what was ruled a completion for 8 yards by Marshawn Lynch, who was forced out right in front of the Giants bench. The ruling on the field was a first down but the call was reversed, Lynch was credited with a 7-yard reception and the Seahawks punted the ball on fourth down. … Russell Wilson’s TD strike to Doug Baldwin early in the fourth quarter was Wilson’s 50th scoring pass of his career. That puts him in elite company, joining Peyton Manning and Dan Marino as the only quarterbacks with 50-plus TD passes in their first two years.
The Giants opened in a three-safety look, giving Ryan Mundy his first start since the Vikings game back on Oct. 21. Early in the second quarter, Mundy got his first career sack, dropping Wilson for a 4-yard loss.