Wayne Gallman, Alfred Morris help Giants run to victory in Seattle
Giants running back Wayne Gallman (22) breaks away for a 60-yard run against the Seattle Seahawks during the second half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Dec. 6, 2020, in Seattle. Credit: AP/Larry Maurer
The Giants were losing to the Seahawks by the improbable score of 5-0 when Colt McCoy hit Kaden Smith with a 3-yard pass to start their second drive of the second half on Sunday in Seattle.
With McCoy starting in place of the injured Daniel Jones, dinks and dunks weren’t getting it done.
So McCoy turned around on the next play and handed the ball to Wayne Gallman, who ran to the left side and didn’t stop until he had gained 60 yards to the Seattle 17-yard line.
It was the wakeup call the Giants’ running game needed and led to a 17-12 victory.
After the longest run of Gallman’s career, Alfred Morris took care of the rest. He ran for 13 yards and then another 4 for his first touchdown since 2018 and the Giants’ first points of the afternoon.
A two-point conversion toss from McCoy to Sterling Shepard made it 8-5. Something obviously had clicked for the Giants’ running backs and offensive line.
Gallman, whose previous career-best carry was a 26-yarder earlier this season, finished with a career-high 135 yards on 16 carries.
Morris had eight rushes for 39 yards and a 6-yard touchdown reception. Overall, the Giants rushed for 190 of their 290 total yards.
"We talked about it at halftime," coach Joe Judge said. "The biggest point of emphasis was we were going to stay committed to the game plan we had coming in and we were going to keep on running the ball."
After the Giants took the lead, their next drive started on the Seattle 48 after a long Russell Wilson pass on fourth-and-1 fell incomplete.
The Giants didn’t need to throw any long passes. Gallman ran the ball three consecutive plays (3 yards, 13 yards, 23 yards) to give the Giants first-and-goal at the Seattle 9.
After a 3-yard gain by Morris, McCoy ran a play-action pass and found Morris wide open in the flat to make the score 14-5. It was the first receiving touchdown of Morris’ career.
Morris, who joined the Giants in Week 4, hadn’t had two touchdowns in a game since 2014, when he was in his third straight 1,000-yard season for Washington. Now on his fifth team, he has found a home as Gallman’s backup after the Giants lost Saquon Barkley and Devonta Freeman to injury.
"I’m going to be honest," Morris said. "Most days I didn’t doubt [myself], but there were a couple days I doubted. I’m like, ‘Why am I training? Why am I doing this? It looks bleak.’
"But I was always reminded why and I kept going and the opportunity presented itself and I’m thankful. It’s been a while since I got in the end zone. So that felt really good today. Getting there not once but twice. Shout-out to Wayne for setting both of those up."
Gallman also was thankful; he gave shout-outs to the coaches and the offensive line. The fourth-year pro also vowed to not allow himself to be run down in the open field next time, as he was on the 60-yarder.
"I promise you I’m going to win more of those than lose them," he said. "I’m going to work on that."
Anthony Rieber covers baseball, as well as the NFL, NBA and NHL. He has worked at Newsday since Aug. 31, 1998, and has been in his current position since July 5, 2004.
