With the 8-7 Seattle Seahawks playing for their first NFC West division Championship since the 2020 season, they welcomed the red hot 13-2 Minnesota Vikings into Lumen Field. This would end being a hard-fought game, which resulted in the Seahawks suffering their sixth loss on their home field in heartbreaking fashion to the Minnesota Vikings 27-24 this past Sunday.
The Sam Darnold led Vikings got off to a quick start, scoring on their first drive when Darnold hit Jordan Addison on their initial score. The Seahawks answered right back with a touchdown pass from quarterback Geno Smith to DK Metcalf. That would be Metcalf’s first touchdown catch since week seven.
Though the Vikings jumped out to an early ten-point lead, the Seahawks battled back to tie the game up at 17. The Seahawks would eventually take a 24-20 just over four minutes left in the game. The Vikings responded with an impressive 70-yard drive capped off by a 39-yard touchdown pass from Darnold to All-Pro wide receiver Justin Jefferson to regain the lead 27-24, handing the Seahawks their seventh loss of the season.
Once again, the Seahawks struggled to establish their running and managed only 59 yards on the ground. The lack of production led to the offense throwing the ball on 78 percent of their offensive plays. For the fifth time this season Smith passed for over 300 yards, however he also thrown multiple interceptions for the fourth time this season.
“Geno is our top competitor on our football team. We’re not sitting here with (playoff) life at the end of December unless Geno has done the things he’s done,” Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald said of his quarterback. “He’s a fighter, man. I thought he played a good game.”
The defense played well against the run, holding the Vikings to 81 yards on the ground. But they committed costly penalties at inopportune moments (Byron Murphy II was called for a drive extending, face mask penalty) and gave up way too many big plays to Jefferson, who finished the game with 10 receptions for 144 yards and two touchdowns.
“There were a lot of plays out there to be made, we just didn’t make them,” an emotional Tre Brown said of the Seahawk’s defense. “We’ve got to be better in that area and take ownership.”
“We’ve got to start faster on defense and put ourselves in better position,” Coach Macdonald said about their inability to establish a balanced offense. “Some of it was Minnesota’s personnel groups, how they’re matching us.”
With the devastating loss, the Seahawks no longer control their playoff destiny. They must win their two remaining games against the Chicago Bears and the Los Angeles Rams, and need the Rams to lose to the Arizona Cardinals on Saturday to still have a mathematical chance of winning the division.
“We’ve got to win two, but it starts with one,” a professional and diplomatic Geno Smith said when asked about the team’s mindset. “We got a tough Chicago team on the road. Guys got to get their minds right and get ready to go.”
Best case scenario for the Seahawks is to get a victory over the 4-11 Chicago Bears in week 17, then hope the 7-8 Arizona Cardinals fully embrace the role of spoiler against the 9-6 Los Angeles Rams. I expect a win over the Bears, but I’m not so sure the spoiler role fits Kyler Murray and the Cardinals on the road. In my opinion the season is over with regards to a playoff run, but you never know. Let’s see how they actually finish this season out.
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