A Grip on Sports: Giants dominate the Seahawks on both sides of the ball but the game still comes down to an odd play

A GRIP ON SPORTS • Say what you will about every sport played around the world, from cricket to lacrosse, but none of them have such weird rules as good old American football. You know, the game where you use your hands and feet to block a recently kicked ball seemingly headed for a game-tying three points.

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• We can’t wait until we can sit around a campfire and tell our great grandchildren about the more-than-great Kam Chancellor. How the Seahawks’ Superman once flew over an offensive line and blocked a kick to win an NFL playoff game. How his spectacular feat of acrobatic athleticism incited the curmudgeons who run the league to change the rules and ban what he, and only he, could do.

Too dangerous, we will tell the children when they ask why the Park Avenue suits were such wet blankets about it. Of course, we will face a moral dilemma. Will we have the courage to tell them of the game, nine years later on the same field, in which the New York Giants pulled of a similar, yet just-different-enough-to-be-deemed-legal play to hand the Hawks a loss?

How two New York players grabbed and held – acts seemingly off limits according to the sport’s arcane rule book – their Seahawk counterparts, so Isaiah Simmons could perform a Chancellor-lite move, block Jason Myers’ 47-yard attempt, knocking the ball to Bryce Ford-Wheaton, who grabbed it and ran 60 yards for a touchdown that sealed Seattle’s 29-20 loss?

Nah. Too hard. Besides, then we would have to explain how it’s never legal to hit an opponent in the face – except when he’s a lineman and you’re trying to push him into the turf to clear a path. Then it’s OK. But only if you’re not caught. At least that would be our guess.

Yep, all that is way too complicated. For us. And for those future kids, probably already struggling with their great granddad’s inability to find the keys to his flying car.

If they ask about the infamous Oct. 6, 2024 game, we’ll just tell them the Giants dominated Seattle. Up front. And in the coaching boxes. That will explain it enough.

No need to try to understand the unfathomable rules. Not for them. Not for us.

• How dominant was New York? The Giants gained 420 yards. The Seahawks had 333. New York rushed for 170. Seattle only 62, 32 of them coming on a Geno Smith scramble not long before Myers’ ill-fated attempt.

The two Seattle running backs the Hawks have leaned on in their three victories? Kenneth Walker III and Zach Charbonnet combined for the other 30. On just seven carries. Will someone explain to Ryan Grubb one of the NFL’s unwritten rules is you run the ball, successfully or not, to help your quarterback stay upright? Maybe Smith will, after he was sacked seven times.

The Hawks’ offensive line had no answers when the Giants brought pressure. Rarely did Smith either. On the other side of the ball, New York was, and it set the tone on its first drive. Daniel Jones tossed consecutive screen passes into the teeth of Mike Macdonald’s blitzes. The 37 yards New York gained were not nearly as important as the hesitancy the screens wrought as the game went on.

• Their second consecutive loss didn’t cost the Hawks their spot atop the NFC West standings. Arizona pulled off a miracle comeback, topped San Francisco 24-23 in Santa Clara and tied the 49ers at 3-2, a game behind Seattle.

That quirk will probably be rectified Thursday night, when the 49ers come to Seattle. San Francisco might be struggling but it has won the last five meetings between the franchises. Or, to put it another way, every game since Russell Wilson was traded. Maybe it is karma or something. During Wilson’s time in Seattle, the Hawks were 17-4 against the 49ers.

• Speaking of karma, maybe the field goal block was that as well. Not because of Chancellor’s long-ago playoff play. But for the Giants’ opening drive. It started with Jones falling, fumbling and being sacked for a 10-yard loss at their 5-yard line. It ended, 15 plays later, with Eric Gray coughing up the ball into the Hawks’ end zone, where Rayshawn Jenkins picked it up and returned it a Seattle-record 102 yards for a 7-0 lead. The officials let it play out, expecting replay to adjudicate it. Yet CBS didn’t seem to have a camera shot that allowed anyone to tell for sure if the ball had crossed the goal line before coming loose. The call stood.

Such odd plays have a way of balancing out, right?

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WSU: The Cougars have produced quite a few great NFL defensive players over the years. Frankie Luvu is taking his place among them. His exploits Sunday once again lead off Ethan Myers’ look at local players in the league. … Elsewhere in the (new and old) Pac-12, the Mountain West and the nation, Jon Wilner has his Best of the West rankings. … John Canzano looked back at the weekend, not just what happened in the Northwest but throughout the West Coast. … It was a chaotic Saturday all over the country. … After the wild win over Colorado State in Corvallis, Oregon State’s defense seems to be in chaos while the Beavers’ offense has figured out its identity. … Recruiting never stops. Ask the Beavers. … Washington contributed to the chaos with a 27-17 win over defending national titlist Michigan. … Third-ranked Oregon is an underdog at home this week. It’s been a while. Of course, No. 2 Ohio State is the opponent. … Not only did California squander a chance to upset No. 8 Miami on Saturday, the Bears now have to bounce back against a Pitt team that is 5-0 and appeared in the A.P. rankings (22nd) for the first time this week. … The red zone stats for Colorado’s defense are pretty darn good. … Arizona State is coming off a big win against Kansas. Next up is Utah, which lost to Arizona the last time out. … Poor UCLA. It loses at Penn State and returns home to play Minnesota, the team that just topped USC. … Arizona wins at Utah and then loses to Texas Tech. Go figure. … In the Mountain West, San Jose State sits atop the conference standings after another tight comeback win. … Utah State’s players were impressed by Boise State’s Ashton Jeanty. … Hawaii is in a rut on the road in conference play. The loss at San Diego State just seemed so typical. … The San Jose State volleyball brouhaha isn’t some hypothetical political argument to the players. It’s a weird situation they have to deal with daily.

Gonzaga: The school’s decision to leave the WCC for the Pac-12 in 2026 not only means GU will have a new home, but it is leaving the faith-based institutions in its old one behind. Nick Gibson delves into that in this story.

EWU and Idaho: Around the Big Sky, No. 8 Montana just could not get past unranked Weber State. … Third-ranked Montana State focuses on winning one game each week. … There was controversy galore at the end of UC Davis’ win at Portland State. Clock expires, a second put back on despite replay showing it should not have, and then the Aggies winning on a touchdown catch that looked to be out of bounds but was not overturned. Really odd.

Zephyr: Despite chances, Spokane fell 2-1 Sunday again the Dallas Trinity at ONE Spokane Stadium.

Seahawks: Dave Boling saw the same game we saw, albeit from a lot closer. The central thesis of his column? The Hawks were manhandled at both lines of scrimmage. … Bob Condotta has his game story in the S-R and, like always, his grades in the Times. … There are always things to learn. … One of them is not to underestimate any opponent, even if they are 1-3 coming in. … Yes, the blocked field goal was big. But not the deciding factor. … Why did the Hawks just ignore the running game?

Mariners: We were in-and-out of the Dodger game last night and missed the trash throwing. Oh, sure, we saw the fans do their thing. We just missed a lot of Jack Flaherty’s failures and the bullpen’s final few offerings. If only the M’s would deal their four young starters to Los Angeles for $200 million and eight minor league prospects, the Dodgers would win the next six World Series. And John Stanton could retire. It would be a win-win.

Kraken: Some of the Sounders’ cuts seem to have a financial component. … Their ceiling will be set by the team’s youngsters. … There is a little unsettled feeling to the goalie conversation.

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• We weren’t supposed to switch the clocks yesterday, were we? For some reason both dogs woke up at 5 a.m. and swore it was breakfast time. Wouldn’t settle. We finally gave in, fed them and started working. We had trouble keeping our eyes open. The pups? No such problem. They are both snoring. Until later …