Highlight: Vikings at Seahawks SEATTLE Bobby Wagner leaped over the line of scrimmage, swatted Dan Bailey's field goal attempt and sparked the Seattle Seahawks to two late touchdowns. Whether or not what Wagner did was entirely legal, he frankly didn't care. ''I'm not stressing about that. I made the play. They called what they called,'' Wagner said. ''There's times in games where things happen all the time. I'm not stressing on it. It was a big block and we'll definitely take it. It was amazing. '' Wagner's block midway through the fourth quarter was the catalyst in a 21-7 win over the Minnesota Vikings on Monday night that pushed Seattle to the brink of a playoff berth. Chris Carson followed the blocked kick with a 2-yard TD run with 2:53 left, and Justin Coleman capped off the Seahawks' fourth straight victory with a 29-yard fumble return for a touchdown 18 seconds later. What was an ugly and mostly forgettable first three quarters turned into a Seattle party in the fourth as the Seahawks (8-5) moved to the brink of wrapping up a wild-card spot in the NFC. One win in Seattle's final three games - including matchups with lowly San Francisco and Arizona - should be enough to put the Seahawks into the postseason. ''It's really about the defense. I loved the way they played, they played so hard and so spirited,'' Seattle coach Pete Carroll said. ''It was almost poetic after last week's game that Bobby would get to block the field goal and he pulled it off and did it. That was an incredible play. '' Minnesota (6-6-1) twice had scoring chances in the fourth quarter when it was still a one-score game but was turned away each time. Minnesota's chances of winning the NFC North took a major hit with its second straight loss, but the Vikings still hold the No. 6 spot in the NFC. ''Part of it is being better on third downs. We haven't really done a good job there. Part of it is being better in the red zone,'' Vikings coach Mike Zimmer said. ''We had the ball on the 2-yard line and didn't score. '' But much of the conversation centered on Wagner's block of Bailey's 47-yard attempt with 5:38 left and whether it was entirely legal. Wagner's jump through a gap in Minnesota's offensive line was fine, but it appeared he used his teammates to gain leverage, which allowed him to come through and block the kick. A flag was initially thrown but was picked up by the officials. Wagner said he attempted it four times in practice without a problem but acknowledged it could be tough to pull off the play during the fourth quarter of a tight game. ''When I did it in practice I was pretty fresh,'' Wagner said. Zimmer said he asked for an explanation of what happened but wasn't given one. He was told he couldn't challenge. ''Quite honestly, I didn't see what happened. I was told what happened,'' Zimmer said. Seattle took possession and Russell Wilson immediately scrambled 40 yards deep into Minnesota territory. Five plays later, Carson scored and Seattle finally had a cushion. Two plays after that, Jacob Martin sacked Minnesota's Kirk Cousins and the ball popped to Coleman, who weaved his way for the clinching touchdown. Cousins threw a 6-yard touchdown pass to Dalvin Cook with 1:10 remaining, but Seattle recovered the onside kick. ''I feel like all of our losses we, as an offense, we are so slow,'' Vikings wide receiver Adam Thielen said. ''Our defense is keeping us in games. And we're not pulling our side of the bargain. '' Wilson had one of the worst passing games of his career, completing 10 of 20 attempts for career-low 72 yards and a baffling interception late in the first half, one of the many mistakes by Seattle that allowed Minnesota to hang around. But Seattle's ground game was outstanding against one of the better run defenses in the NFL. The Seahawks finished with 214 yards rushing, led by 90 yards from Carson. Sebastian Janikowski hit field goals of 37 and 35 yards to account for all of Seattle's scoring until the closing minutes. ''If you run it 40-something times, you ought to win. That was pretty good,'' Carroll said. FOURTH QUARTER WOESMinnesota hung around despite failing to run a play in Seattle territory until there was 4:16 left in the third quarter. Cousins was 20 of 33 for 208 yards, most of that coming late. But he failed to get the Vikings into the end zone from inside the Seattle 5 while trailing 6-0 early in the fourth quarter. The Vikings had first-and-goal at the Seattle 4 but turned the ball over on downs with 9:06 remaining. Two short runs and an incompletion brought up fourth-and-goal at the 1, and Cousins' pass for Kyle Rudolph was knocked away by Bradley McDougald. Bailey's field goal was blocked on Minnesota's next drive. REACHING 100Minnesota fell to 0-6 when allowing its opponents to run for at least 100 yards. The Vikings came in to the week giving up 99 yards per game on the ground, good for seventh-best in the NFL. Seattle had 136 yards rushing in the first half. OTHER CENTURY MARKThielen tied Cris Carter as the fastest Minnesota player to reach 100 receptions in a season, both accomplishing the feat in 13 games. Carter did it in 1994 when he finished the year with 122 catches. Thielen is the first Minnesota receiver to get to 100 catches since Randy Moss in 2003. But Thielen didn't get his first catch until midway through the third quarter. He finished with five catches for 70 yards. UP NEXTMinnesota: The Vikings return home to host Miami on Sunday. Seattle: The Seahawks play their final road game Sunday at San Francisco. ---More NFL: https://apnews. com/NFL and https://twitter. com/-NFL"> Highlight: Vikings at Seahawks SEATTLE Bobby Wagner leaped over the line of scrimmage, swatted Dan Bailey's field goal attempt and sparked the Seattle Seahawks to two late touchdowns. Whether or not what Wagner did was entirely legal, he frankly didn't care. ''I'm not stressing about that. I made the play. They called what they called,'' Wagner said. ''There's times in games where things happen all the time. I'm not stressing on it. It was a big block and we'll definitely take it. It was amazing. '' Wagner's block midway through the fourth quarter was the catalyst in a 21-7 win over the Minnesota Vikings on Monday night that pushed Seattle to the brink of a playoff berth. Chris Carson followed the blocked kick with a 2-yard TD run with 2:53 left, and Justin Coleman capped off the Seahawks' fourth straight victory with a 29-yard fumble return for a touchdown 18 seconds later. What was an ugly and mostly forgettable first three quarters turned into a Seattle party in the fourth as the Seahawks (8-5) moved to the brink of wrapping up a wild-card spot in the NFC. One win in Seattle's final three games - including matchups with lowly San Francisco and Arizona - should be enough to put the Seahawks into the postseason. ''It's really about the defense. I loved the way they played, they played so hard and so spirited,'' Seattle coach Pete Carroll said. ''It was almost poetic after last week's game that Bobby would get to block the field goal and he pulled it off and did it. That was an incredible play. '' Minnesota (6-6-1) twice had scoring chances in the fourth quarter when it was still a one-score game but was turned away each time. Minnesota's chances of winning the NFC North took a major hit with its second straight loss, but the Vikings still hold the No. 6 spot in the NFC. ''Part of it is being better on third downs. We haven't really done a good job there. Part of it is being better in the red zone,'' Vikings coach Mike Zimmer said. ''We had the ball on the 2-yard line and didn't score. '' But much of the conversation centered on Wagner's block of Bailey's 47-yard attempt with 5:38 left and whether it was entirely legal. Wagner's jump through a gap in Minnesota's offensive line was fine, but it appeared he used his teammates to gain leverage, which allowed him to come through and block the kick. A flag was initially thrown but was picked up by the officials. Wagner said he attempted it four times in practice without a problem but acknowledged it could be tough to pull off the play during the fourth quarter of a tight game. ''When I did it in practice I was pretty fresh,'' Wagner said. Zimmer said he asked for an explanation of what happened but wasn't given one. He was told he couldn't challenge. ''Quite honestly, I didn't see what happened. I was told what happened,'' Zimmer said. Seattle took possession and Russell Wilson immediately scrambled 40 yards deep into Minnesota territory. Five plays later, Carson scored and Seattle finally had a cushion. Two plays after that, Jacob Martin sacked Minnesota's Kirk Cousins and the ball popped to Coleman, who weaved his way for the clinching touchdown. Cousins threw a 6-yard touchdown pass to Dalvin Cook with 1:10 remaining, but Seattle recovered the onside kick. ''I feel like all of our losses we, as an offense, we are so slow,'' Vikings wide receiver Adam Thielen said. ''Our defense is keeping us in games. And we're not pulling our side of the bargain. '' Wilson had one of the worst passing games of his career, completing 10 of 20 attempts for career-low 72 yards and a baffling interception late in the first half, one of the many mistakes by Seattle that allowed Minnesota to hang around. But Seattle's ground game was outstanding against one of the better run defenses in the NFL. The Seahawks finished with 214 yards rushing, led by 90 yards from Carson. Sebastian Janikowski hit field goals of 37 and 35 yards to account for all of Seattle's scoring until the closing minutes. ''If you run it 40-something times, you ought to win. That was pretty good,'' Carroll said. FOURTH QUARTER WOESMinnesota hung around despite failing to run a play in Seattle territory until there was 4:16 left in the third quarter. Cousins was 20 of 33 for 208 yards, most of that coming late. But he failed to get the Vikings into the end zone from inside the Seattle 5 while trailing 6-0 early in the fourth quarter. The Vikings had first-and-goal at the Seattle 4 but turned the ball over on downs with 9:06 remaining. Two short runs and an incompletion brought up fourth-and-goal at the 1, and Cousins' pass for Kyle Rudolph was knocked away by Bradley McDougald. Bailey's field goal was blocked on Minnesota's next drive. REACHING 100Minnesota fell to 0-6 when allowing its opponents to run for at least 100 yards. The Vikings came in to the week giving up 99 yards per game on the ground, good for seventh-best in the NFL. Seattle had 136 yards rushing in the first half. OTHER CENTURY MARKThielen tied Cris Carter as the fastest Minnesota player to reach 100 receptions in a season, both accomplishing the feat in 13 games. Carter did it in 1994 when he finished the year with 122 catches. Thielen is the first Minnesota receiver to get to 100 catches since Randy Moss in 2003. But Thielen didn't get his first catch until midway through the third quarter. He finished with five catches for 70 yards. UP NEXTMinnesota: The Vikings return home to host Miami on Sunday. Seattle: The Seahawks play their final road game Sunday at San Francisco. ---More NFL: https://apnews. com/NFL and https://twitter. com/-NFL"> Vikings vs. Seahawks Pick Center - 8:15 PM ET (12/10/2018) - NFL Football - CapperTek
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Highlight: Vikings at Seahawks SEATTLE Bobby Wagner leaped over the line of scrimmage, swatted Dan Bailey's field goal attempt and sparked the Seattle Seahawks to two late touchdowns. Whether or not what Wagner did was entirely legal, he frankly didn't care. ''I'm not stressing about that. I made the play. They called what they called,'' Wagner said. ''There's times in games where things happen all the time. I'm not stressing on it. It was a big block and we'll definitely take it. It was amazing. '' Wagner's block midway through the fourth quarter was the catalyst in a 21-7 win over the Minnesota Vikings on Monday night that pushed Seattle to the brink of a playoff berth. Chris Carson followed the blocked kick with a 2-yard TD run with 2:53 left, and Justin Coleman capped off the Seahawks' fourth straight victory with a 29-yard fumble return for a touchdown 18 seconds later. What was an ugly and mostly forgettable first three quarters turned into a Seattle party in the fourth as the Seahawks (8-5) moved to the brink of wrapping up a wild-card spot in the NFC. One win in Seattle's final three games - including matchups with lowly San Francisco and Arizona - should be enough to put the Seahawks into the postseason. ''It's really about the defense. I loved the way they played, they played so hard and so spirited,'' Seattle coach Pete Carroll said. ''It was almost poetic after last week's game that Bobby would get to block the field goal and he pulled it off and did it. That was an incredible play. '' Minnesota (6-6-1) twice had scoring chances in the fourth quarter when it was still a one-score game but was turned away each time. Minnesota's chances of winning the NFC North took a major hit with its second straight loss, but the Vikings still hold the No. 6 spot in the NFC. ''Part of it is being better on third downs. We haven't really done a good job there. Part of it is being better in the red zone,'' Vikings coach Mike Zimmer said. ''We had the ball on the 2-yard line and didn't score. '' But much of the conversation centered on Wagner's block of Bailey's 47-yard attempt with 5:38 left and whether it was entirely legal. Wagner's jump through a gap in Minnesota's offensive line was fine, but it appeared he used his teammates to gain leverage, which allowed him to come through and block the kick. A flag was initially thrown but was picked up by the officials. Wagner said he attempted it four times in practice without a problem but acknowledged it could be tough to pull off the play during the fourth quarter of a tight game. ''When I did it in practice I was pretty fresh,'' Wagner said. Zimmer said he asked for an explanation of what happened but wasn't given one. He was told he couldn't challenge. ''Quite honestly, I didn't see what happened. I was told what happened,'' Zimmer said. Seattle took possession and Russell Wilson immediately scrambled 40 yards deep into Minnesota territory. Five plays later, Carson scored and Seattle finally had a cushion. Two plays after that, Jacob Martin sacked Minnesota's Kirk Cousins and the ball popped to Coleman, who weaved his way for the clinching touchdown. Cousins threw a 6-yard touchdown pass to Dalvin Cook with 1:10 remaining, but Seattle recovered the onside kick. ''I feel like all of our losses we, as an offense, we are so slow,'' Vikings wide receiver Adam Thielen said. ''Our defense is keeping us in games. And we're not pulling our side of the bargain. '' Wilson had one of the worst passing games of his career, completing 10 of 20 attempts for career-low 72 yards and a baffling interception late in the first half, one of the many mistakes by Seattle that allowed Minnesota to hang around. But Seattle's ground game was outstanding against one of the better run defenses in the NFL. The Seahawks finished with 214 yards rushing, led by 90 yards from Carson. Sebastian Janikowski hit field goals of 37 and 35 yards to account for all of Seattle's scoring until the closing minutes. ''If you run it 40-something times, you ought to win. That was pretty good,'' Carroll said. FOURTH QUARTER WOESMinnesota hung around despite failing to run a play in Seattle territory until there was 4:16 left in the third quarter. Cousins was 20 of 33 for 208 yards, most of that coming late. But he failed to get the Vikings into the end zone from inside the Seattle 5 while trailing 6-0 early in the fourth quarter. The Vikings had first-and-goal at the Seattle 4 but turned the ball over on downs with 9:06 remaining. Two short runs and an incompletion brought up fourth-and-goal at the 1, and Cousins' pass for Kyle Rudolph was knocked away by Bradley McDougald. Bailey's field goal was blocked on Minnesota's next drive. REACHING 100Minnesota fell to 0-6 when allowing its opponents to run for at least 100 yards. The Vikings came in to the week giving up 99 yards per game on the ground, good for seventh-best in the NFL. Seattle had 136 yards rushing in the first half. OTHER CENTURY MARKThielen tied Cris Carter as the fastest Minnesota player to reach 100 receptions in a season, both accomplishing the feat in 13 games. Carter did it in 1994 when he finished the year with 122 catches. Thielen is the first Minnesota receiver to get to 100 catches since Randy Moss in 2003. But Thielen didn't get his first catch until midway through the third quarter. He finished with five catches for 70 yards. UP NEXTMinnesota: The Vikings return home to host Miami on Sunday. Seattle: The Seahawks play their final road game Sunday at San Francisco. ---More NFL: https://apnews. com/NFL and https://twitter. com/-NFL" onerror="this.src='images/twitter-pick-center-nfl.jpg';" class="img-fluid" style="min-width: 100%;">
Dec 06, 2018Being one win away from a Super Bowl appearance last season and armed with an upgrade at quarterback, the Minnesota Vikings expected to be one of the front-runners for the Lombardi Trophy in 2018. While quarterback Kirk Cousins has lived up to his mega-deal for the most part, the Vikings have been a disappointment in the standings, currently sitting in second place in the NFC North with a 6-5-1 record and fighting for their playoff lives. Playoff positioning with a month left in the regular season should come dashed with a grain of salt; much can still happen in the NFL to affect the playoff picture. The Vikings know the realization well. They know, despite holding the final wild-card spot in the NFC heading into Week 14 and Monday night's game at Seattle, that the next four weeks will determine everything. "Which means all of the work we did through OTAs, training camp, preseason, regular season, it comes down to four games," Cousins said Thursday about being the current sixth seed. "It comes down to other teams are in the hunt, other teams are fighting for their division title and whoever has the best four-game stretch. It doesn't really matter what happened before. " Despite these struggles, Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll holds great respect for the Vikings heading into Monday's "tough matchup" with postseason implications galore. He's especially concerned about the presence of Cousins piloting Minnesota's high-octane passing attack. "It just seems he's at his very, very best," Carroll said when assessing Cousins. "As the guys keep growing, he's the same year I think as Russ (Wilson), they just keep getting better as they grow and learn and they have great coaching and they just take advantage of it. They continue to become more in command of the game. He looks like he's totally got it wired. " After signing a three-year fully guaranteed deal worth $84 million in March, Cousins has thrown 23 touchdown passes and completed a career-best 71. 3 percent of his throws in his first season with Minnesota. He's quickly developed a rapport with top targets Adam Thielen and Stefon Diggs, connecting on 15 combined touchdown passes with the league's best receiving duo. Thielen has evolved into one of best receivers in the game, as the ex-Minnesota State product has already caught 98 passes for 1,166 yards this season. As for Diggs, despite battling through some injuries over the course of the year, he has still produced 84 receptions and 839 receiving yards. "They seem extremely well connected with Cousins. The intricacies of the things that they're running, the timing that they're able to show consistently on really good concept stuff," Carroll said in regard to Thielen and Diggs. "The guys come through and make the catches, they're both good after the catch, they both get down the field. They're possession guys, they're down-the-field guys, they have all that ability in them. . . . The execution is as good as it gets. " The Seahawks ranked among the league's best at defending the pass during the first half of the season, but Carroll's secondary has regressed over the past few weeks. Two weeks ago, Panthers quarterback Cam Newton completed all 14 of his first-half pass attempts. Even against a third-string quarterback in San Francisco's Nick Mullens last weekend, Seattle surrendered over 400 passing yards, a problematic development as the team pushes for a playoff berth. Playing against one of the best passing teams in the league, Carroll didn't sound overly concerned about the yardage totals given up in recent weeks. But he knows that a young secondary featuring second-year cornerback Shaquill Griffin, rookie cornerback Tre Flowers, and second-year free safety Tedric Thompson will have to tackle more effectively than they did last week when working against stud receivers such as Thielen and Diggs. Wanting to avoid a repeat performance from last weekend, Carroll told reporters, "We missed three crucial tackles that were worth about 80 yards after the miss. So, it's a couple errors we need to clean up and the tackling needs to be better and the game would be different. " Fitting in nicely with Carroll's primary theme about finishing, tackling will be vital on Monday. Thielen (309 yards) and Diggs (293 yards) both rank in the top 20 among NFL receivers in yards after the catch, possessing the ability to make defenders miss and pick up big chunks of yardage while presenting a major test for Seattle's secondary. As always, Carroll welcomes the challenge and understands what's at stake for his team with only four games left. He said, "We need tough matchups with teams that really challenge us in many ways and this is one of them for sure. So we've got to get it cranked up, have a good week, and get ready to go for a big opportunity on Monday night. "

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