Minnesota Vikings Continue to Write Their Own Story After Close 27-24 Victory over Seahawks
The Minnesota Vikings notched another close win, this time against the Seattle Seahawks. But it's also the end of an era of rivalry and the beginning of the Vikings' new story.
What else could it come down to than another one-score game for the Minnesota Vikings? Unlike many of their other one-score wins, their 27-24 victory over the Seattle Seahawks was genuinely close. Indeed, when the Seahawks scored their final touchdown with just 4:26 remaining, they had a win probability of 70 percent.
The Vikings have won multiple blowouts, multiple one-score games that were never close and multiple one-score games that were genuine nail-biters. Against a quarterback coming off of a knee injury – one that clearly impacted his mobility – a struggling offensive line and a running back group who seemed just as likely to be down two players as fully healthy, the offense had to do more than the defense to secure the win.
They did barely that, scoring the final seven points with 1:55 left in the game on a beautifully threaded throw to Justin Jefferson to put him at 144 yards on the game off of ten receptions.
Still, the defense successfully rode out one more drive in order to put a nail in the coffin; they rose to the occasion. Backup safety Theo Jackson, replacing Vikings legend Harrison Smith, secured the game-winning pick just 30 seconds after Seattle began their last possession.
Though the two teams will meet again in the future and perhaps even in the postseason this year, it feels like the end of a relentless cycle of defeat.
For over a decade, Seattle had seemingly made a habit of making the most of former Minnesota Vikings. Percy Harvin and Tarvaris Jackson, sure, but also Sidney Rice, Antoine Winfield, Justin Coleman, Heath Farwell, Kevin Williams and Derrick Coleman. And Pete Carroll, in a sense.
And while they were accumulating former Vikings, they were putting up numbers against the team; they were 7-1 against Minnesota since hiring Carroll, only losing their 2021 matchup.
Along the way were a number of Vikings heartbreakers, including a loss in 2020 after a fourth-down run stop deep in Seattle territory set up a Russell Wilson comeback game-winning drive and a 2015-2016 one-point loss after a 27-yard chip shot from Blair Walsh careened wide left.
Oh, add Blair Walsh to that list.
Both teams have entered new eras. The Vikings, once demonically bad in close games, are now the best team in the league at these tight contests. The Seahawks, once built off of fourth-quarter comebacks, can no longer regularly overcome themselves or their weaknesses to take advantage of their outstanding strengths.
Two teams who had some of the oldest coaches in the league now have some of the youngest.
The Vikings won. It was close and it wasn’t the best example of why they’re a team to fear in the playoffs. But it feels good to win the worrisome ones.
Keep reading with a 7-day free trial
Subscribe to Wide Left to keep reading this post and get 7 days of free access to the full post archives.