The Giants came into Sunday undermanned, with Daniel Jones sitting this one out with a hamstring injury he suffered last week. In his stead, the Giants turned to 34-year-old Colt McCoy.
The Seahawks were already a tough matchup for the Giants in Seattle. Add in the quarterback switch, and the Giants wound up coming into the game as double-digit underdogs.
But they came out of it with the five-point win — in large part because McCoy did exactly what the Giants needed him to do.
"I felt like I played a little better as the game went on," McCoy said. "I was seeing a lot of things early. They pressured a lot and I wasn’t confused on a whole lot of looks, I just was kind of seeing it too quick. I just needed to calm down, take a breath and once we started to run the football I felt a lot better."
McCoy's stat sheet -- 13 of 22 for 105 yards, one touchdown and one interception -- doesn't exactly scream "great game," but it wasn't about that.
Aside from McCoy's interception coming off a tipped-drop by Evan Engram, his passes were clean and direct, even if some didn't connect.
Most importantly, he managed the game, didn't make any game-defining mistakes, and helped guide the offense down the field numerous times.
"DJ (Jones) communicated with me pretty well all week long and he kind of knew it was going to be a long-shot for him." McCoy said. "So, I got to take a bunch or reps this week and felt good with them. Again, I have to tip my hat to our coaches and to the guys on my side of the ball because I just told them that I don’t want to change much. You guys are on a three-game win streak and you’re playing well and you’re playing a high level and playing with a lot of confidence.
"So, I just studied all week to pick up where we left of in Cincinnati. Fortunately, our run-game was outstanding and that really calmed me down in the second half and was able to finish it out."
The Giants ran the ball 31 times for a total of 190 yards, including a season-high 135 from Wayne Gallman, who at one point broke off for a 60-yard run that set up an Alfred Morris touchdown a few plays later.
"The [offensive] line did their job. Everybody sealed, I pulled the linebackers in as much as I could and I just hit it," Gallman said. "The [offensive] line has been doing a great job. I credit the coaches. During the week, every week I say we try to get 1 percent better and we’ve really done that. Big credit to the offensive line today."
McCoy's last win as a starter dates all the way back to 2014 with Washington, so being a part of this one — one that secured the Giants' spot atop the NFC East for at least another week — was special to him.
"It’s very gratifying," he said. "I talked to the guys, coach Judge let me break down the team at the end and I just told them how proud I was to be a part of this, to be with this group of guys, and that’s special to me. I love the game of football. I’ve been playing for 11 years and I’m fortunate to still be playing. I count my blessings every day."
Joe Judge was very pleased with McCoy's performance as well, saying the veteran made it count when they needed it most.
"I thought Colt did a really good job today during the game. He made a lot of tough throws. We extended some drives and moved down the field. He did a really good job for us," Judge said. "He does a lot of things that you wouldn’t notice on the stat sheet in terms of managing the game and controlling the flow of the game, talking to the guys on the sidelines, relaying information in the huddle. Colt really stepped up and had a huge game for us today.
"I thought the plan was really good and I thought our guys went out there and executed it."
The Giants are "very optimistic" they'll have Jones back next week, but in his likely only start of the season, McCoy stepped up and delivered.
