Surviving Seattle

Sam Darnold came through in the biggest moments to earn another clutch Vikings win

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By Matthew Coller

SEATTLE — The Seahawks are going to be Sleepless in Seattle tonight after allowing the Minnesota Vikings to come back in the final minutes to win 27-24 and advance to 13-2.

With a loss by the Eagles, they now have the second best record in the NFC, to only the Detroit Lions, who are also 13-2 and currently own the tie breaker. However, the Vikings could have a chance in Week 18 to take the entire NFC and earn a first-round bye if they can win the next two games.

They wouldn’t have had any chance at doing that if not for a remarkable go-ahead drive by Sam Darnold. As he has done all season, the Vikings quarterback came through with an elite-level pass to Justin Jefferson and then the clutch defense found a way to close out the game with a key sack and interception. That’s the way the Vikings have won so many games this year. That’s who they are.

Here’s how it went down…

The city of Seattle has a reputation for gray days and drizzle. Well, Sunday’s weather conditions would not be changing any narratives. A steady light rain came down for hours before the game and as the Vikings took the field for their opening drive.

Would that mean a big day for Aaron Jones? It started out looking that way as he ripped off a 14-yard run to get the action going but a quick throw underneath toward Jones on third down fell incomplete. Kevin O’Connell, playing with house money, decided to go for fourth down. The crowd decided to make its argument that what happened last week with the Packers taking over their stadium was more of an aberration than the norm.

Regardless of the noise, Sam Darnold converted the fourth down to a wide open TJ Hockenson. The wet ball came out a little high, which may be something to watch going forward. A sideline throw to Jordan Addison and swing pass to Jones later and the Vikings were set up at the Seattle 10-yard line. Then Darnold converted another third down to Justin Jefferson inside the 5-yard line. One play later, bang, touchdown to Addison.

They call that “surgical,” folks. 7-0 Vikings.

Seattle’s offense started out where it left off last week: Struggling. With no Harrison Smith in the mix, they needed someone else in the secondary group to step up and that was Cam Bynum right off the bat. Geno Smith looked deep for young receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba and Bynum broke up the shot play.

The Vikings had a chance to jump all over Seattle and quiet Lumen Field.

As they marched out for their second drive, the Washington Commanders pulled off a brilliant game-winning drive against the Philadelphia Eagles. That means if the Vikings win out, they are locked into the No. 1 seed.

The Aaron Jones Show continued with runs of nine, five and five and Darnold converted a third down pass to Jefferson. But Darnold missed Jefferson open on a bootleg and then Addison had a pass his way broken up and the Vikings were forced the punt.

Seattle got some jolt in their step to begin their second drive with an explosive run from Kenneth Walker and completion to TE Pharaoh Brown. The Vikings defense was rotating some different personnel packages in the game but veteran Bobby McCain was largely playing Harrison Smith’s spot. McCain was likely playing over young Theo Jackson because of his experience and ability to communicate, as Smith does so well.

The Seahawks were loading up big personnel and throwing to their tight ends. They converted another first down on a pass to TE Noah Fant. With that, they reached field-goal position with the second quarter just underway.

Geno Smith then reminded the New York Jets that they missed out on some serious arm talent. He let a pass fly into the corner of the end zone and receiver DK Metcalf separated from Stephon Gilmore at the last second to grab the ball for a touchdown. 7-7.

The game swung toward the Seahawks on the next drive. Darnold was pressured and threw the ball away and then got sacked on third down. If there has been one consistent weakness of the offensive line with Darnold in charge it has been the Vikings ability to block opposing teams’ blitzes. A quick three-and-out after Seattle just had a long drive. That hasn’t been a good sign in recent weeks.

But the defense responded by getting a little more heat on Smith, forcing an incompletion and then a short pass that was stopped short of the sticks. Punt.

With the rain continuing to stream down, Darnold returned to the field looking to get back on track. He did just that with first down completions to Jones and Jefferson. Then they ran a bootleg to CJ Ham for another chunk of yards to get to the Seattle 22-yard line. The Seahawks stopped the Vikings on a third down but one of their cornerbacks lined up offside and gave Darnold another shot. On third-and-3, Darnold tossed up a fade ball and Jefferson just smoked the defender out of existence for a touchdown. 14-7.

The big turnover from Smith arrived on the Vikings’ doorstep on the first play of Seattle’s next drive. Josh Metellus chased down Smith and caused an inaccurate pass that Dallas Turner picked the ball off in coverage. The crowd was much, much less responsive to the “get loud” signs on the big screens than before.

The Vikings couldn’t totally take advantage though. Darnold was sacked by former Gopher star Boye Mofe and they settled for a Will The Thrill field goal from 52 yards out. Reichard crushed the ball, giving more confidence to the idea that he’s back to full strength. 17-7 Vikings.

Seattle’s offense continued its stagnation on the following sequence. Smith attempted to launch a bomb into the atmosphere and it went incomplete down the sideline and the Seahawks punted. With 1:57 left, the Vikings had an opportunity to start running away with this one.

No such luck. Corner Riq Woolen broke up a throw to Jalen Nailor and then Addison caught a throw short of the sticks. Three-and-out. The door now open for Seattle to double dip.

Smith hit DK Metcalf to start the drive after a booming Ryan Wright punt. Then he got in a serious groove, hitting Smith-Njigba for a 13-yard gain and then a 25-yard strike that had flames behind it down the middle of the field.

Seattle then ran a rub route against Byron Murphy Jr. and Smith-Njigba got wide open in the end zone for a touchdown.

What a swing in the game. The Vikings kneeled down and took it to halftime with a 17-14 lead and some regrets.

Onto the second half….

The Seahawks picked up where they left off to begin the second half with a long kick return and then a quick first down. Stephon Gilmore got flagged for pass interference and Smith was back in Vikings territory again. Smith tried a jump ball on third down and Shaq Griffin nearly picked it off but the ball tumbled out of his hands and the Seahawks managed a field goal.

The drive started off methodically, like they looked in the first half. A quick throw to Jefferson, a QB sneak for a first down. The Vikings committed an illegal formation penalty on the sneak, pushing them back to third-and-5, but it didn’t matter because Jefferson smoked his DB for a first down.

In field-goal position, a third down pass was tipped at the line of scrimmage incomplete, setting up another Reichard attempt. 20-17.

With 6:25 left on the third, the Vikings stuffed a run and then got to Smith on a pressure on third down, forcing a punt.

Darnold got the ball back with another opportunity to make life very difficult on the Seahawks.

They started off with a 7-yard gain by Jones on the ground and then Darnold used some pocket wizardry to step up and float the ball into the hands of Jefferson for 27 yards. Throughout most of the season, Jefferson has been boom or bust with either big plays or the ball going elsewhere but vs. Seattle he was more of a consistent force. With the football slightly on the Seahawks’ side of the field, the Darnold missed on back-to-back throws and Wright came on to punt again.

Seattle started out by converting a third-and-10 on a checkdown that turned into a 13-yard gain. Then the Vikings stopped the Seahawks on a third down pass that was nearly intercepted by Blake Cashmen. Seattle faked the punt and gained a first down at mid-field but it didn’t do the Seahawks much good because Andrew Van Ginkel sacked Smith on the following third down.

With 12:12 left in the game, the Vikings had a chance to put Seattle in a big hole. Instead Hockenson wasn’t able to bring in a third down throw and the Vikings went three-and-out.

And the game goes on…