Vikings' defensive gem ruined in Seattle
After holding down Russell Wilson for the majority of the game, he came through at the biggest moment in 27-26 win for Seahawks
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When Mike Zimmer went to bed on Saturday night, visions of a defensive masterpiece were dancing in his head.
In that dream, he saw Russell Wilson struggling with his creative rushes. He saw his team putting together long drives that kept Wilson off the field. He fantasized about a running game battering the Seattle defense into a pulp when they needed it most.
But Wilson turned Zimmer’s dream into a nightmare with a brilliant game-winning drive to sink the Vikings to 1-4.
In the first half, you wouldn’t have known the Vikings had never won in Seattle under Zimmer. Kirk Cousins opened up by hitting every receiving option on the roster, including finding Irv Smith Jr. for a 23-yard gain and completing a pass to rookie Justin Jefferson on a fourth-and-2. The Vikings capped off the opening drive with a Dalvin Cook touchdown, as they so often have done this year.
On the defensive side, it appeared on Wilson’s first drive that he would continue his MVP-caliber play. He quickly hit DK Metcalf for 13 yards and rushed for a 19-yard gain to put the Seahawks in field goal position but on second-and-13 from the 33, Ifeadi Odenigbo sacked him for a 9-yard loss. Seattle bizarrely checked down on third-and-22 and punted the ball away.
From there, Wilson looked completely lost in the first half.
Zimmer sent pressure that resulted in an Eric Wilson sack. Then everyone got involved. Rookie James Lynch took down Russell Wilson on a second down that marked the first of his career and Yannick Ngakoue took Seattle’s star QB to the ground to force another punt that would lead to a Vikings score.
By the end of the first half, the Vikings led 13-0, allowed 40 yards passing to Wilson and subtracted 27 yards from that on four sacks.
Last year they got run over to the tune of over 200 yards by the Seahawks but in the first half Chris Carson gained just 13 yards — not at all what was expected from a D-line that’s struggled to stop the run.
On offense, the Vikings leaned heavy on ball control, as is the Zimmer preference. Cook had 17 carries and the Vikings ended the half with a 20:16 to 9:44 advantage in time of possession.
To start the second half, the Seahawks decided they were going to run against the Vikings’ two deep safeties. But on third-and-1, Eric Kendricks blew up a Seattle run in the backfield.
That, however, was the last we would see of the brilliant defense for a while.
Cook got hurt on the following drive, leaving the game with a groin injury. It appeared to turn the energy in a fan-less Seattle stadium.
The Vikings punted the ball away and the MVP version of Wilson finally arrived. He found Greg Olsen wide open for a 20-yard gain and then two plays later flipped a touch pass into the end zone on a wheel route to Will Dissly to bring the Seahawks within six.
And then the classic errors that have plagued Cousins and the Vikings in big games over the last three years showed up.
Cousins fumbled and two plays later Wilson fired a bullet to Metcalf for a touchdown to take the lead.
With a chance to bounce back, Cousins rolled out and threw the ball right to Seahawks linebacker KJ Wright. It took one play for Carson to run over the Vikings’ defense for a touchdown to put Seattle up by eight.
The bounce-back drive that’s been missing from so many big games during Cousins’s time in Minnesota showed up.
Against Seattle’s poor passing defense, he fired passes all over like it was the first drive and finished off an 11-play march down the field with a touchdown. However, the Vikings strangely dialed up a Cousins run on the two-point conversion, which was stuffed and they trailed by two heading into the fourth quarter.
Zimmer’s defense harkened back to the first half with a stop on a key third-and-7 in which the Vikings’ head coach dialed up the perfect blitz from Harrison Smith.
That opened the door for the Vikings to re-take the lead against Seattle’s gassed defense. Cousins shook off his earlier miscues and led a 15-play, 97-yard drive in which the Vikings converted three third downs. Cousins hit Thielen wide open and he back peddled into the end zone for his second touchdown.
With a 26-21 lead, Zimmer’s defense needed a big play against the undefeated Seahawks. So far this, they have been short on those. But the play that we came to expect from the last group of stars showed up in Seattle as Eric Wilson picked off Russell Wilson on a stunningly poor throw into no-man’s land.
The Vikings drove into Seattle territory but Thielen was stuffed short on a third-and-4 reverse. Alexander Mattison, in for Cook, was shut down on a fourth-and-1 run and Wilson got the chance to still stick it to Zimmer despite all his troubles on Sunday night.
Zimmer sent pressure on four straight Wilson drop back and on the first three plays, Wilson seemed confused and was inaccurate. Until fourth-and-10 when he did MVP things, hitting Metcalf down the sideline for 39 yards and a first down. Then Wilson escaped the pocket and found a receiver for a 15-yard gain.
Zimmer’s defense needed a classic red zone stop. Mike Hughes made back-to-back terrific plays, knocking the ball out of Metcalf’s hands and then shutting down a fade route.
But Wilson is arguably the best quarterback in the NFL for a reason. He hit Metcalf in the end zone for a game-winning touchdown to drop the Vikings.
There will be plenty to question in this one. How the Vikings would have faired with Cook in the game. Whether they should have gone for it on fourth-and-1. How they slowed Wilson down so effectively until it mattered most.
But maybe it’s just that kind of year where things do not go right on fourth down. The Vikings could easily be 3-2 and instead they’ve lost two games by a single point and find themselves in a deep, deep hole.
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The biggest question is why didn’t we go for two when we made it 25-21? We get two there, a field goal gives us a two possession lead. I totally agreed with the fourth down call, but that’s not even a question if we had gone for two. The difference between a 5 point lead vs. 4 point lead is nothing that late in the game.
Can someone please explain why they keep trotting out Dru Samia? He’s the worst football player I’ve ever seen. And that’s probably an understatement.