Defense’s huge plays spark Seahawks’ rally past Vikings 37-30 — and into first place
Through all the upheaval—though stars Richard Sherman, Earl Thomas, Kam Chancellor, Michael Bennett and Cliff Avril exiting and/or retiring in the last two years—here are the Seahawks. Again.
Back in playoff control in December.
“As long as 50 and 54 are in the building,” Pro Bowl veteran linebacker K.J. Wright (50) said of he and All-Pro Bobby Wagner (54) next to him remaining in the middle of the Seahawks’ defense, “the Seahawks are in good hands.”
Great, new hands.
Such as the ones newer safety Bradley McDougald used to make more huge tackles on third down then a fumble recovery Monday night. And the ones newer cornerback Tre Flowers used to tap an interception to himself while falling down. That set up Russell Wilson’s touchdown pass to Rashaad Penny in a wild fourth quarter against Minnesota.
Jadeveon Clowney is back through injury leading a surging pass rush that now has Ziggy Ansah, Jarran Reed, even converted linebacker Shaquem Griffin roaring.
Heck, with the U-turned defense suddenly playing like this, these Seahawks can even have Wilson tapping his own passes to opponents for touchdowns and still win.
Seattle’s previously maligned defense continued its season-changing resurgence with gigantic plays to spark 24 unanswered points. So the NFL’s best late-season team kept surging, back into first place in the NFC West after a 37-30 victory over the Vikings at shaking CenturyLink Field.
“We’re in control,” Wilson said. “And that’s a good thing.
“You have to have a clutch gene. I think we have that. I think we have that, as a team...
“We know where we can go.”
Wilson tapped a pass back to himself in the first half directly to Minnesota’s Anthony Harris for a 20-yard touchdown on an interception return. That put Seattle down 14-7 in the second quarter.
.
But the defense dominated from there until a blown coverage early in the fourth quarter for Minnesota’s next touchdown. It had gotten to 34-17 Seahawks by then.
Seattle’s 48th regular-season victory in November, December and January since 2012, the most in the NFL in that span, gives the Seahawks first place in the NFC West with four games remaining in the regular season. That’s by virtue of the head-to-head tie-breaker with San Francisco, the first one to determine playoff standings and seeding.
The Seahawks and 49ers, both 10-2, have a rematch on the final Sunday of the regular season, Dec. 29 in Seattle.
Division winners are guaranteed at least one home game in the playoffs.
Clowney arrived from Houston in a trade Sept. 1. The three-time Pro Bowl defensive end from way over in the AFC was asked after the Seahawks’ eighth win in nine games if he knew his new team was this good.
“Nah,” Clowney said, smiling. “I knew Russell was this good. I knew they had some good players. But I didn’t know it could be this good.
“And people still don’t think we are as good as we are. I can see that. So we are just letting people say we aren’t that good, and we keep getting these wins. Unexpected wins, that nobody expected us to win games. You know how it is...
“We showed up. We were the better team today. And we got the job done.”
If the Seahawks can do that the next four weeks—win out over the final four games of the regular season at the Los Angeles Rams (7-5) Sunday night, then at Carolina, home against Arizona and home versus San Francisco—Seattle will be 14-2 and assured of a first-round playoff bye. The Seahawks would be no lower than the second seed in the conference.
“Just couldn’t be more excited to have that kind of win, and to put us at 10 wins,” coach Pete Carroll said. “That’s a good spot for us, at this time.
“Now it’s finish time. And we have to do our job. We really haven’t done anything yet. But the finish is there for us.”
Seattle already controlled its fate in the NFC West because of its win at previously unbeaten San Francisco on Nov. 11. Then Sunday the 49ers lost again, at Baltimore. That gave the Seahawks a margin of defeat in its attempt to win the West. Seattle can now afford one loss yet would still win the division if it beats San Francisco again in week 17.
The Seahawks can clinch a playoff spot with a win Sunday night at the Rams. Los Angeles (7-5) rolled to an easy win at Arizona this past weekend.
Wilson finished 21 for 31 passing for 240 yards, two touchdowns and the brutal interception. With Minnesota staying in two-deep zone defense with safeties 15 or more yards off the ball, Wilson consistently changed pass class to runs. And the Seahawks romped for 218 yards on the ground.
It was their most since Nov. 11, 2018, when they rolled the Rams for 273 yards rushing.
Chris Carson had his fifth 100-yard rushing game this season, with 102 yards on 23 carries. Rashaad Penny had 74 yards on 15 rushes. Each had a rushing touchdown.
“They kept playing two-high shell (coverage with their safeties), super deep,” Wilson said. “So we said, ‘OK, we’ll just run it.’”
Vikings coach Mike Zimmer acknowledged he was surprised Seattle ran it a season high-tying 43 times, while throwing 31 passes.
“A little bit,” Zimmer said. “I thought they would be throwing the ball a little bit more than they did, and what they have done in the past. They stuck with it a lot more than I thought.”
What Zimmer didn’t know—and why Carroll keeps true health reports on his players from the news: Two of Wilson’s top receiving threats were throwing up with the flu in the days leading into this game. That was Tyler Lockett (zero catches, three targets) and David Moore.
Moore caught a 60-yard touchdown pass, after losing what he said was at least 10 pounds while violently ill into Sunday.
The Seahawks were rolling, up 34-17 after Flowers’ remarkable interception he tapped to himself to set up Penny’s 13-yard touchdown catch and run on a screen behind snow-plowing guard Mike Iupati with 13:37 left.
But Minnesota answered with a touchdown in just three plays. Laquon Treadwell was open from me to you on a broken coverage by Seattle’s secondary down the right sideline. That 60-yard touchdown made it 34-24.
Then Seahawks rookie wide receiver DK Metcalf lost a fumble after a catch on third down at the line to gain. Minnesota’s recovery inside its 30-yard line became a 3-yard touchdown pass on third down from Kirk Cousins to Kyle Rudolph, on a remarkable, reaching catch. But Dan Bailey missed the extra point, So Seattle still led by more than a field goal, 34-30, with 7:14 to go.
The Seahawks’ offense churned 3 1/2 minutes off the clock then punted. Minnesota had 3 time outs and more than 3 minutes from its own 16 to win the game.
The Vikings got one first down before the game’s most curious decision.
On fourth and 3 from his own 42 with 2 1/2 minutes and all three time outs remaining, Zimmer chose to go for the first down. And Cousins chose to throw to secondary tight end Irv Smith Jr.—and not Rudolph, who had been killing Seattle late in the game with 4 catches for 50 yard and the touchdown. Seahawks nickel defensive back Akeem King jumped all over the pass to Smith and contested it to the turf incomplete.
Carson ran for a first down. Then Jason Myers added a field goal to make it 37-30 with 21 seconds remaining.
Rookie running back Travis Homer, who earlier ran 29 yards on a fake punt in the fourth quarter, recovered a fumble on the Vikings’ ensuing kickoff return to end Seattle’s fifth consecutive victory, and eighth in nine games.
“I think we are playing great football. I think we can play better,” Wilson said. “I think, the thing is, we’re 10-2, top of the NFC West...
“We like having that control.”
Running back by committee
Carson and Penny were basically alternating series after Carson left the game for four plays upon getting hit in the head by teammate Hollister’s knee in the first quarter.
Carson fumbled for the seventh time this season in the previous game, the win at Philadelphia. That’s the most by a non-quarterback in the NFL. Penny, meanwhile, had a career game against the Eagles: 122 yards on 14 carries and the game-breaking touchdown run of 58 yards.
Monday, it looked as much a running back by committee they’ve both been on the team. Was that by design? Or was that because Carson was briefly injured Monday night and the offense with coordinator Brian Schottenheimer adjusted on the fly?
“You guys keep asking me, but there’s no plan on this one,” Carroll said. “They’re just playing. And when we see how the game goes, we might give a guy a few more here or a few more there. We don’t know, because they’re both really good. We love them, and we just play them.
“Chris is the starter, so he winds up getting more carries. But they’re playing as 1-2.”
Pass rush. Again.
The Seahawks got off the field to begin the second half and survived consecutive drives by Minnesota’s offense to end the first half and begin the second having allowed only three points. That kept Seattle’s offense down one score, only 17-10.
It was because of another example of how important the late-season surge by the pass rush is to Seattle’s season.
On third down on Minnesota’s opening possession of the second half, Seattle had Griffin and Clowney at opposite rush ends, with Reed and Ansah at tackles inside them. Griffin and Reed crashed through the line in on Cousins. Reed hit Cousins as Griffin batted down his pass, and the Vikings punted. It was Reed’s second of Seattle’s four QB hits to that point.
The Seahawks’ offense then took advantage. Metcalf caught an 8-yard pass on a stop route in front of Minnesota’s Xavier Rhodes on a third and 1. Carson plowed for 25 yards inside the block of extra tight end George Fant on the right edge of the interior line. Two plays later, Penny ran left inside Metcalf’s block of linebacker Anthony Barr on a sweep for a touchdown.
Penny glowed about how Carson tapped himself out of the game and asked Penny to come off the sideline to score a touchdown.
He said that’s another example why he so respects and admires Carson as the starter, and how there is no animosity between them.
Wilson’s bad bat
The Seahawks trailed at halftime 17-10 because of an characteristically audacious attempt by Wilson—but with an uncharacteristically terrible result.
In the second quarter and the score 7-7, Wilson tried to throw a pass down the right hash marks to open tight end Jacob Hollister. Defensive tackle Armon Watts batted the pass back to Wilson. Instead of batting it down, as quarterbacks most often do to end the play for no loss, Wilson batted the ball up. It appeared he may have been trying a volleyball-like hit down the field to Hollister, who was alone about 8 yards from the line of scrimmage.
Bad, bad idea.
Wilson’s tap went not even halfway to Hollister. Minnesota’s Anthony Harris alertly sprinted to the free ball from his safety position. Harris intercepted it at the 20 and jogged into the end zone for a zany, double-tap touchdown and a 14-7 lead for the Vikings.
It was the fifth defensive touchdown allowed by Seattle this season. That’s the most in the NFL. Two of Wilson’s four interceptions this season have been returned for touchdowns, including in the home loss to Baltimore.
I asked Wilson if he could assure he wasn’t trying to volleyball tap that ball down the field to his tight end.
“No, I was trying to knock it down,” he said. “I think I got hit right as I was trying to knock it down.
“So I guess I’ve got to work on my hops a little bit and get up higher.”
The teams traded field goals in the final minute of the opening half.
Clowney starts, shows
Clowney returned. That meant L.J. Collier returned...to street clothes on the sidelines.
Clowney starting Monday night’s showdown left Collier, the fellow defensive end and rookie first-round draft choice, inactive for the fifth time in 12 games this debut season.
Collier being a healthy scratch for the second time in three games and tight end Luke Willson missing his second consecutive game with a pulled hamstring were the news of Seattle’s list of inactive players announced 90 minutes before kickoff.
Clowney played as the Seahawks’ top pass rusher after missing the previous game, a win at the Eagles. Clowney was in Philadelphia seeing specialist Dr. William Meyers about a core-muscle injury.
The most low-key-positive play for Seattle Monday came in the final minute of the second quarter. Clowney’s core muscles looked fine when he sprinted 20 yards down field to force a fumble at end of a screen pass and run by Dalvin Cook.
The Vikings recovered the ball and got a field goal two plays later for a 17-10 lead at halftime. But the play was an encouraging sign for rest of this season as Clowney and the Seahawks manage his injury.
Asked how he and his injured core muscles got through the game, Clowney smiled weakly.
“I’ll be able to tell you tomorrow,” he said.
Meyers usually performs surgeries on the athletes he sees. But Saturday Clowney said he had the doctor hold off on surgery and prescribe treatment instead. The defensive end believes he can get through the end of Seattle’s season with his abdominal issue.
Coach Pete Carroll said before the game Clowney, who manhandled the 49ers in his previous game to lead Seattle past previously unbeaten San Francisco, “is fine” to return to playing.
Starting defensive tackle Jarran Reed was also active Monday despite being listed as questionable to play, as was Clowney. Reed walked out of the visting locker room six days ago in Philadelphia in a walking boot with a sprained ankle.
Fellow tackle Al Woods, an effective run stopper all season, was also active to play against 1,000-yard rusher Davlin Cook and the Vikings. The team had also listed Woods as questionable Saturday.
Carroll said starting linebacker Mychal Kendricks (hamstring) was questionable to play but was active. He tested his injury during early pregame warmups.
Special-teams mainstay Neiko Thorpe (groin) and fullback Nick Bellore (quadriceps) were inactive.
So were rookie wide receiver John Ursua, rookie guard Phil Haynes and running back C.J. Prosise, again.
The Seahawks had three rookie draft choices inactive again. Last month they waived a fourth rookie pick, wide receiver Gary Jennings.
This story was originally published December 2, 2019 at 8:35 PM.
