The Seattle Seahawks Advance—But Not Because of Luck

By now you’ve seen replays of Blair Walsh shanking the 27-yard field goal that would have put the Vikings ahead of the Seattle Seahawks with about 20 seconds left to go in their Wild Card game. I’m sure you’ve heard everyone breathe sighs of relief and thank the deity of their choice for the Hawks’ berth into the Divisional Round against the Panthers. Yes, it was lucky that the normally automatic Walsh horribly missed a chip shot that would have sunk the Seahawks, but the Hawks won a brutal “survival game” in Minnesota by shutting down the league rushing champion and overcoming bad luck of their own.

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As Colin Cowherd pointed out on his show to a Vikings fan who claimed the Seahawks were lucky to win this week, Seattle gained almost double the yards per rush the Vikings gained on average. The Seahawks limited Adrian Peterson to about 2 yards per carry, while their rushing attack, led by fourth-stringer Christine Michael—who was released by two teams this season, including the Seahawks themselves—averaged close to 4 yards per carry. That kind of discrepancy is a huge advantage, especially against a Vikings team that is built to run the ball.

The Seahawks hung on against the Vikings in Minnesota on a frigid field because their defense kept them in the game. Russel Wilson and company struggled to get a consistent attack going against a very good Vikings defense. While the running game was decent, their 4 yards per carry average was bolstered somewhat by a few Wilson options and scrambles. Receivers couldn’t feel their fingers, much less catch a pass with extra mustard on it from Wilson consistently (except for Doug Baldwin, who doesn’t even need two hands to catch the ball). Wilson’s deep balls were batted down by the swirling winds of the Minneapolis tundra and fell far short of receivers running open. Wilson’s own headset didn’t work for part of the game, causing him to burn early time-outs and receive delay of game penalties constantly. Communication issues, the weather, and a return game that was mostly bottled up by excellent Minnesota coverage put the Hawks at a disadvantage all game. These disadvantages only increased in severity when you consider all the unlucky breaks that hurt the Seattle Seahawks throughout the game.

Minnesota was only in position to win this game because Kam Chancellor got called for a questionable Pass Interference penalty on the Vikings’ final drive. Vikings Tight End Kyle Rudolph also made a great play to extend the drive in addition to drawing the penalty, but without the 19-yard gift bestowed on the Vikings offense, they wouldn’t have been in position for a gimmie field goal. Keep in mind also that if Adrian Peterson was able to punch in a touchdown at the end of the drive, we wouldn’t be talking about what Walsh did to win or lose this game. On the final two carries of the game for Peterson, the Seahawks stuffed the future Hall of Famer, forcing the field goal in the first place.

Headset issues caused center Patrick Lewis to snap the ball past Russel Wilson’s head on a critical play in the fourth quarter. Unlucky. Rather than fall on it like most Quarterbacks would, Wilson picked it up, dodged two defenders, and fired a strike to a wide open Tyler Lockett that eventually set up the game’s only touchdown. Jon Ryan mishandled a snap on a punt in the first quarter and got cut down trying to hurdle two defenders, breaking his nose in the process and handing the Vikings the best field position they would get all game. Unlucky. Instead of giving up a touchdown on a short field, the Seattle defense only allowed a field goal. The Seahawks won with gutsiness and a lockdown defense.

The Seattle Seahawks didn’t allow a touchdown on the road. They held the league’s rushing champion to less than 2 yards a carry. Russel Wilson turned a botched snap into a 35-yard gain on a critical play. That’s not luck, my friends, that’s championship football.