You knew the slip-up was coming and, if you were honest, you probably foresaw it coming Sunday. The Giants, victors in six of their first seven, flying across the country to play a frisky Seahawks squad led by the suddenly-not-bad Geno Smith? It was a recipe for disaster.

So it shouldn’t come as much of a surprise the Giants sputtered in Seattle. They lost, 27-13. Saquon Barkley never got going. Daniel Jones wasn’t all that impressive. The defense had uncharacteristic breakdowns in coverage. The special teams shot itself in its foot with two Richie James lost fumbles on punt returns.

It wasn’t pretty. That’s fine.

Sure, the Giants hoped to head into the bye with a win, but it’s more important they come out with this defeat in the rearview mirror.

New York’s next Big Blue test: Bounce back.

The Giants played largely the same game that had led them to their first six wins on Sunday, which is why, when the fourth quarter began, it kind of felt like they’d eventually pull it out. This team isn’t physically gifted enough to blow out any of its competition. The mentality and culture that coach Brian Daboll has instilled, though, has rendered New York among the feistiest of all NFL teams.

The game plan: Fight and claw for three quarters. That keeps them in these games. Then, in the fourth, do just enough to pull it out. The Giants entered Sunday having not had a single game decided by two possessions — wins or their one loss.

And, again, that’s exactly the same script this game seemed to follow. The fourth quarter began with the Giants trailing by three. They tied the game with a Graham Gano field goal on their first possession of the fourth.

But the Seahawks answered with touchdowns on two of their next three drives — James’ second fumble (the first also led to a score) is what put Seattle up two scores.

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