The New York Giants had relative unknowns contributing all over the field Sunday in their upset of the Seattle Seahawks. There were no big-name players dominating and putting the team on their backs.
Either way, it's working.
The Giants won, 17-12, as double-digit underdogs at Lumen Field with a cast of unheralded characters leading the way to their fourth straight win. New York (5-7) remained in first place in the NFC East.
It's incredible on so many levels for a team that started 0-5 and doesn't have much top-level talent -- especially with star running back Saquon Barkley on injured reserve and backup Colt McCoy starting at quarterback in place of an injured Daniel Jones, who is expected back for New York's next game -- Sunday against the Arizona Cardinals (1 p.m. ET, Fox).
Instead, there was the undrafted free agent from Dartmouth, Niko Lalos, recovering a fumble. There was cornerback Isaac Yiadom, who Denver basically didn't want this summer, knocking down passes in the end zone. There was Mr. Irrelevant Tae Crowder (the final pick in this year's draft), finishing with seven tackles, a sack and tackle for a loss. There was Jabaal Sheard off the midseason scrapheap again getting a piece of another important sack. There was sixth-round offensive lineman Shane Lemieux opening holes for a running game that went wild in the second half. Undrafted rookie wide receiver Austin Mack's block sprung running back Wayne Gallman for a long run.
And maybe the most unlikely of this rag-tag bunch is running back Alfred Morris, who scored two touchdowns. He was once a recognizable name, but hadn't reached the end zone since Week 17 of the 2018 season, hadn't scored two touchdowns in a game since 2014 and had never had a receiving touchdown prior to Sunday. Even Morris laughed when disclosing that final fact.
Morris, 31, was signed to the Giants' practice squad this season when they were shorthanded at running back. Sunday's snaps were an opportunity that he wasn't sure was he was going to get.
"Nah, I'm going to be honest. Most days I didn't doubt. But there were a couple days I doubted. I was like, 'Why am I training? Why am I doing this? It looks bleak.' But I was always reminded why I kept going, and the opportunity presented itself," Morris said. "I was super thankful. It has been a while since I got into the end zone. It felt really good to get in there, not once but twice. Shout out to Wayne [Gallman] for setting both of those up."
Gallman, who rushed for a career-high 135 yards in Seattle, has become one of the Giants' more recognizable names. But even he was buried at one point or another by three different coaching staffs. He's a perfect face for these Giants, who on defense alone had three players start who weren't even with the team in the spring and had five rookies contributing.
"I don't care how you got here. I don't care where you were before. I don't care what your role was at the beginning of the season," Giants coach Joe Judge said. "We're coaching everybody hard. We're coaching everybody to improve. We're evaluating everybody on a consistent basis as to the improvement they're making. We're very honest with our guys to make sure they understand exactly what they need to improve on. And we've seen these young guys make a lot of improvement throughout the season."
Defensive lineman Leonard Williams said he was on the sideline talking Sunday with rookie outside linebacker Carter Coughlin and giving props to defensive coordinator Patrick Graham. Williams couldn't believe how well Graham had been doing getting all these young players up to speed and ready to contribute.
The young Giants defense allowed 20 points or less for the fourth straight game.
"I feel like they've been stepping up big-time," said Williams, the highest-paid player on the team who himself had 2.5 sacks Sunday.
It's all a credit to the program Judge has built. He said in his introductory news conference he didn't want to hear from his coaches what a player couldn't do. Tell him instead what they can do, and then make the most out of those skills.
The personnel department led by general manager Dave Gettleman deserves credit as well. They're finding the kind of players Judge wants, even if it involves scouring other teams' trash.
"They do a great job," Judge said. "We talk a lot of times about digging and finding. Really, what I'm most interested in is find us guys we can develop. Find us someone who has a skill set and tool set and the right mental makeup and attitude we can work with.
And it doesn't seem to matter if they are considered a has-been or no-name. Sunday proved yet again those kind of players, such as Morris and Lalos and even McCoy are the right fit with these Giants.