The Giants had to eat their words yet again Sunday.
Comments all week from Eli Manning to Tom Coughlin to Hakeem Nicks about the Seahawks’ rule-stretching aggressiveness in pass coverage didn’t go unheard in Seattle, and the NFC’s biggest current bully made Big Blue pay for it in a 23-0 rout at MetLife Stadium.
Pregame taunts came back to haunt the Giants in a loss to the Cowboys last month, and Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman said his team was motivated by the bulletin-board material during the week.
How motivated? Seattle intercepted Manning a career-high five times — Sherman had two of them — while holding the Giants to just 181 total yards and handing them their first home shutout loss since 1995.
“There were a few things said throughout the week,” Sherman said. “Eli said we were overaggressive and that they were going to take advantage of it. We are overaggressive, but it’s hard to take advantage of it. That’s easier said than done.
“We don’t like people coming at us in the media and saying negative things about us,” the All-Pro corner added. “So we wanted to put that on tape, and we’re happy we did so.”
Nicks had said Friday manhandling receivers beyond the legal 5-yard limit was the Seahawks’ operating philosophy in the secondary and that the NFL allowed them to “get away with it.”
Nicks added confidently the Giants had a plan to use that aggressiveness against Seattle, but that never materialized in his matchup with Sherman. The Seahawks’ brash star smothered Nicks, holding him to just one catch for 5 yards despite being targeted five times by Manning.
Sherman said he actually was surprised to be thrown at at all, considering opposing quarterbacks usually try to avoid the self-proclaimed best cornerback in the game.
Manning probably figured he had nothing to lose because throwing at the Seahawks’ other starting corner — Byron Maxwell — wasn’t getting him anywhere. Maxwell also had two interceptions.
“It was definitely fun being more involved in the game,” Sherman said. “It does get frustrating from time to time not getting a chance to make plays for your team or have an impact on the game, but everybody has to do their job. I got some opportunities today, and I’m thankful to be able to take advantage of them.”