The New York Giants made waves early on the third Sunday of the 2018 season when it was announced that they were benching right tackle Ereck Flowers in favor of second-year UDFAChad Wheeler.There was much rejoicing among the fan base Sunday morning when the news hit. And at first blush the victory over the Houston Texans [url=http://www.giantscheapshops.com/cheap-authentic-b.j.-goodson-jersey]B.J. Goodson Jersey[/url] , weighed against losses to the Jacksonville Jaguars and Dallas Cowboys, gives credence to the Giants’ decision.But it still bears asking whether the Giants’ choice was the right one going forward. To answer the question, let’s look at the tape.Pass protectionFirst quarter, 5:37, first-and-10, Houston 29 The Giants start the play in the shotgun with their 11-personnel set. Odell Beckham is the lone receiver to the offensive right, with Evan Engram inline next to Wheeler, while Sterling Shepard is in the slot and Cody Latimer is out wide at the X position. The play is supposed to be a quick screen pass to Wayne Gallman, but it is sniffed out and blown up almost immediately Tyrann Mathieu, but that isn’t what we are here for. The Texans are in their 4-2-5 nickel set, with J.J. Watt lined up at left defensive end, at the 7-technique outside of the right tackle. Watt takes an outside route to the quarterback right from the start, and Wheeler quickly gets into his kick slide to meet and usher him around the pocket. However, just as the two are about to make contact, Wheeler lunges, opens his hips away from Watt, and lets his hands go wide. The wide hands and open hips give Watt an opening to use a rip move, gaining leverage and turning Wheeler’s back to the line of scrimmage.Manning is just able to get the pass off before the diving Watt can bat it down, but he still takes the big defensive end’s leg to the back of the knee. The play went nowhere, but thankfully Manning got up quickly.Play 2 Third quarter, 8:35, first-and-10, Giants’ 9-yard lineOnce again the Giants are in their 11-personnel [url=http://www.giantscheapshops.com/cheap-authentic-nate-solder-jersey]http://www.giantscheapshops.com/cheap-authentic-nate-solder-jersey[/url] , shotgun set. This time, Rhett Ellison is the tight end and he is attached on the left side of the line, while the two receivers are on the offensive right.The Giants use play-action to fake a run to the right. The play-action is sold well, sucking in the linebackers and moving the defense away from Sterling Shepard in the slot. Unfortunately, safety Kareem Jackson is drawn in to the passing lane and deflects the ball. Once again Watt is lined up on the defensive right, outside of Wheeler’s outside shoulder. Unlike the previous play, the Giants’ run-action fake freezes Watt slightly, forcing him to play the run instead of rushing the passer all-out. Watt is still easily able to win Wheeler’s chest plate and establish leverage, and would have discarded the block to make a play on Barkley if he had the ball. However, Wheeler does a good enough job of staying in Watt’s way and selling the run block that he isn’t able to impact the play. It’s part scheme and part player, and except for a good play to knock the ball down by Jackson, the would be a win.Run blocking Building off of a play-action pass, let’s take a look at Wheeler’s run blocking.First quarter, 7:42, first-and-10, Giants 39-yard lineThis is the fifth play of the game for the Giants’ offense. The team comes out in their 12 personnel package (two tight ends), with Evan Engram attached to the left side of the line while Rhett Ellison attached on the right side of the line. “Smash mouth football” and “spread offense” aren’t usually spoken together, but that’s what this is. The Giants have their wide receivers both lined up out wide, and with Ellison, Engram, and Barkley on the field, the threat of the pass is definitely present. That keeps the Texans from crowding the line of scrimmage. And this isn’t true “power” football, with Ellison and Engram both releasing into routes. However [url=http://www.giantscheapshops.com/cheap-authentic-ray-ray-armstrong-jersey]Ray-Ray Armstrong Jersey[/url] , the alignment and routes combine to keep Texans’ defense from keying on the run completely and ignoring the pass. As a result, what looks to be an 8-man box is effectively a six-man box and a favorable run look.The play is made by a good block from John Greco at center and a straight mauling by Will Hernandez at left guard. Wheeler isn’t a huge factor in the play at all, but given Watt’s speed into the back field, sealing the back-side is important none the less. Wheeler does a good job of getting in Watt’s way, actually winning the hand battle for a moment — plenty long enough for Barkley to run through the gaping hole to the left. Watt is eventually able to discard Wheeler’s block and rallies to the ball, but not before Barkley is down for a 13-yard gain.A quick look at FlowersThis is an attempt to convert a third-and-13 on the Giants’ second drive in their week 2 match-up against the Dallas Cowboys. Flowers was far from perfect in this game, but he showed significant improvement in his second start at right tackle since 2012. Dallas runs a slot blitz under a Cover 2 shell, meaning that not only does Manning not have much time to get the pass off, nothing comes open down the field until he decides to take the check-down to Wayne Gallman. Demarcus Lawrence rushes the right B-gap, but Flowers easily passes him off to Omameh and Greco after the linebacker threatening to blitz that gap drops in to coverage. Flowers actually does a great job to go from defending the B-gap to getting out to pick up the blizting slot corner. Between the block of Lawrence and picking up the blitzer, Manning has a pocket to step up in to and gets the ball to Gallman. The running back isn’t able to pick up the first down and the Giants have to punt.Final thoughtsI don’t say this to dump on Wheeler, but it was difficult to find positives in his game this past Sunday. Granted, he was lined up against one of the best defensive linemen in the NFL, but even Whitney Mercilus gave him problems. His best reps, and the second play featured was among them, came when the rusher used an outside move. On those plays he was generally able to force them around the pocket.But he proved consistently unable to deal with inside moves. Any time a rusher rushed through the right B gap between Wheeler and Omameh, he barely slowed them down. Each time, the lunge, open hips, and wide hands he showed in the first play proved to be his undoing. By turning perpendicular to the line of scrimmage too early, Wheeler was essentially opening a door for the rushers and making it almost impossible to for him to gain leverage on the rusher. A tendency for his hips to rise into contact only compounded the problem.The Giants won Sunday because were able to scheme around the weaknesses on their of offensive line. By using quick passes, misdirection, and getting Eli Manning out of the pocket — not to mention Manning playing much [url=http://www.giantscheapshops.com/cheap-authentic-janoris-jenkins-jersey]Janoris Jenkins Jersey[/url] , much better than the previous week — the team was largely able to function in spite of the Texans’ talented front seven.It doesn’t get easier for Wheeler, however. This coming week the team will host the New Orleans Saints and defensive lineman Cameron Jordan. Like Watt, Jordan is a big, long, powerful, and athletic defensive lineman who lines up predominantly on the right side.The win likely means that the right tackle job is Wheeler’s to lose, and the Giants have to hope that he will improve in the role. Things won’t really get easier from here on out, from Jordan next week to Ryan Kerrigan in Washington to the Philadelphia Eagles’ defensive front, to Khalil Mack and the Bears. The line has its work cut out for it, and the scheme that the Giants used in Houston is on tape for their opponents to study. The Seattle Seahawks celebrated a touchdown by acting out a baseball game in the end zone. Later, their punter ran for a first down when he was supposed to take a safety.Fair to say they're playing with confidence again.Russell Wilson finished with a perfect passer rating, throwing three touchdown passes in Seattle's 28-14 victory over the Detroit Lions on Sunday. The Seahawks and Lions came into the game with .500 records, but this matchup didn't seem all that even. Seattle forced three turnovers , and after scoring three TDs in the second quarter, the Seahawks led comfortably the rest of the way."We're having fun, we're in our groove and it feels good," linebacker K.J. Wright said. "It's a perfect time, coming off the bye week, to just really take off. We have a home game next week and we just have to start stacking these wins on top of each other."After one second-quarter touchdown, the Seahawks (4-3) celebrated in the end zone with a baseball scene. Tyler Lockett was the pitcher and fellow receiver Doug Baldwin was the batter. The "pitch" was Lockett throwing the football toward Baldwin, and when Baldwin was hit by the ball, he ran at Lockett as if charging the mound.Two other receivers were involved: Jaron Brown acted as the catcher, and David Moore served as the umpire."World Series [url=http://www.giantscheapshops.com/cheap-authentic-kerry-wynn-jersey]Kerry Wynn Jersey[/url] , so we had to try to do something," Moore said.The Lions (3-4) weren't having nearly as much fun. Down 14 late in the fourth quarter, they allowed punter Michael Dickson to run for a first down. Dickson took the snap in his own end zone and was supposed to take a safety, but Detroit reacted so poorly that after drifting across the back of the end zone, Dickson figured he had a chance for a first down and took off running."Obviously, that part of the game we're trying to do anything we can to get the ball and get after it," Lions coach Matt Patricia said. "They were trying to take the safety and play that play there, and we obviously let him out and let him run. He saw the space and he took it."Other items of note from Seattle's victory:GROUNDEDDetroit's rookie running back, Kerryon Johnson, was held to 22 yards on eight carries after running for a career-high 158 yards in his previous game against Miami.QUITE A LINEWilson was 14 of 17 for 248 yards and three touchdowns, for a perfect passer rating of 158.3."Beautiful game," coach Pete Carroll said. "Not just that, Russell's doing more than just that. We ran the ball for 170-something yards today. He found some opportunities to run it and fix some things for us and took advantage of the game plan. He did a great job."DEBUTDefensive tackle Damon Harrison played his first game for the Lions since being acquired in a trade from the New York Giants. He had seven tackles and a sack, but Detroit was outrushed 176-34.IN THEIR THOUGHTSThe Seahawks dedicated a game ball afterward to owner Paul Allen, who died Oct. 15. This was Seattle's first game since then."He meant so much to us, all of us players," Wilson said. "The culture that he was able to create that will forever live on here for the Seattle Seahawks and the impact that he's made, not just for us as individuals, as a team, but also as a city. There's probably not too many people that have impacted the world more than he has."UP NEXTThe Seahawks host the Los Angeles Chargers next weekend, while Detroit plays at Minnesota.