Seahawks’ rally vs. Giants falls short on blocked field goal in final minute

SEATTLE – Maybe this game ultimately got the ending it deserved.

The Seahawks seemed on the verge of potentially stealing a win from the New York Giants on Sunday afternoon before falling victim to one of the more stunning endings in the team’s recent history.

Jason Myers’ 47-yard field-goal attempt to tie the game at 23 with 1:05 left was blocked by New York’s Isaiah Simmons into the hands of receiver Bryce Ford-Wheaton, who returned it 60 yards for a TD that sewed up a 29-20 Giants win before a disbelieving Lumen Field crowd.

Had Myers made his kick and the game gone to overtime, maybe the Seahawks could have ridden the good vibes of an improbable comeback to an even more improbable win.

Maybe the football gods were instead saying that, nope, the Seahawks didn’t deserved to win this one and we’re giving a play to the Giants.

Or maybe it was simply New York doing what it had done most of the day — outthinking and outmuscling the Seahawks when it mattered most.

The block came as Seahawks guard Laken Tomlinson tried to team with snapper Chris Stoll to prevent any penetration from the New York interior line.

At the snap, as Tomlinson went low New York’s Rakeem Nunez-Roches held down Stoll. That created a crease for Simmons to leap through between Tomlinson and Stoll and block the kick, which bounced right to Ford-Wheaton.

Tomlinson indicated he thought the play was illegal.

“I think it was something that probably should have been reviewed,’’ he said. “It was just something that happened. I don’t know. I have feelings about it, but it went how it went.’’

Asked if he thought the pushing was illegal, Tomlinson said, “I mean, it’s up to the refs.’’

Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald didn’t seem to protest it, saying: “Well, you know, there’s a guy in the A-gap. We need to block him. That’s pretty much that simple. But you’re allowed to push down. They pushed down on our right guard (Tomlinson) and he wasn’t able to get to Simmons.’’

The NFL agreed. Officiating Rules Analyst Walt Anderson confirmed through an NFL spokesperson that the play was legal.

Anderson said Simmons did nothing wrong because he was on the line of scrimmage and did not use anyone as leverage.

Defenders are not allowed to push down a snapper’s head or neck for safety reasons. Anderson said of Nunez-Roches’ actions that “pushing down alone is not a foul and there was no forcible contact to the head and neck.” Neither of those aspects is reviewable on replay.

Giants coach Brian Daboll said it was a play the team put in during the week, moving Simmons to the middle of the line.

Daboll said he wanted to call it earlier in the game but special-teams coach Michael Ghobrial wanted to wait for the right moment.

“There is risk-reward, because if you get a penalty then it’s first down for the offense,’’ Daboll said.

Indeed, if a flag had been thrown, the Seahawks would have had roughly a minute left and at least three more cracks at the end zone from the 14.

Simmons said he practiced it only once, on Friday, after coaches told him of the scheme.

“Yeah, it was just kind of random,’’ Simmons said, adding he isn’t usually on the field goal block team in any capacity. “… I said today I was going to block a punt or field goal, one of the two. I didn’t know which one. But it was going to be one of them.”

It was a shocking, but fitting, ending given the way the rest of the game had gone.

“We got outplayed and outexecuted today,’’ Macdonald said. “That’s what happened.’’

The Giants — playing without leading receiver Malik Nabers and leading rusher Devin Singletary — set a tone by moving 79 yards the first time they had the ball.

Facing fourth-and-goal at the one, they went for it and Eric Gray lost the ball in a pile.

It fell at the hands of Seahawks safety Rayshawn Jenkins, who returned it 102 yards for a TD — the longest fumble return in Seahawks history and a play that figured to give them a jump-start.

But despite their 1-3 record, the Giants didn’t seem unnerved.

New York dominated the rest of the first half and used drives of 81 and 58 to get a touchdown and a field goal to take a 10-7 lead. The Seahawks tied it with two seconds left on a Myers field goal following a quick three-play, 45-yard drive.

Despite that, the Giants outgained the Seahawks 225-90 in the first half, including 90-2 on the ground (it was 420-333 for the game).

The Seahawks opened the second half as if they might take control, stopping the Giants and moving to the New York 31. After making a catch for a first down to the 21, DK Metcalf fumbled and the Giants recovered.

New York needed only four plays to score as Daniel Jones first hit Darius Slayton for 41 yards to get the Giants close, and 30 yards for a TD that put the Giants ahead for good.

The Seahawks drove for a field goal to make it 17-13, but the Giants drove for one of their own to make it 20-13.

Then came the other key sequence of the game.

After an 11-yard Geno Smith scramble, the Seahawks faced a fourth-and-one at their own 35 with 14:13 to play. Smith faked a handoff and rolled as if he wanted to throw to Kenneth Walker III. The Giants had the play covered and Smith was sacked by Brian Burns.

“Felt like we had a pretty good play,’’ Macdonald said. “I was confident in the situation and we felt good about it. They didn’t play it the way we expected them to. And Burns made a great play.’’

That led to a Giants field goal and a 23-13 lead and the game appeared done, especially when the Seahawks couldn’t move it on their next drive.

After a stop of their own, the Seahawks got the ball at their own 5 and Smith completed 11 of 14 passes to drive Seahawks to a touchdown with 2:09 left on a 5-yard pass to Jaxon Smith-Njigba.

The Giants showed why they were a 1-3 team coming in, failing to get a first down, with Seahawks rookie cornerback Nehemiah Pritchett breaking up a third-down pass.

That gave the ball back to the Seahawks at their own 34 with 1:40 left. Smith scrambled for 32 yards to the New York 34, and, incredibly, overtime at the least seemed in the offing.

A third-and-four pass from the 28 went off the hands of Smith-Njigba, who would have had enough for a first down.

Asked his reaction to the play, Smith-Njigba said: “My reaction? Should be better. That’s it.’’

That brought on Myers for a kick that would have at least given the Seahawks new life.

Instead, Lumen Field fell only deathly quiet as Simmons got his block and the Giants a TD to seal the win.

“They outplayed us today,’’ Macdonald said. “With that said, we gave ourselves a chance to tie the game and even win it at the end of the fourth, and we came up short.’’

The Seahawks to quickly prepare for a home game Thursday night against the 49ers, who provided the day’s one silver lining by losing to the Cardinals, falling to 2-3 and allowing Seattle to stay in first in the NFC West at 3-2.

The Seahawks know they won’t stay there unless they get better in a hurry.

“They played harder,’’ Smith said. “They wanted it more. They fought harder. They came out, executed better.’’