Seahawks close to wild card with win over Vikings

The Seattle Seahawks edged closer to a wild-card berth on Monday after grinding out a 21-7 victory against the Minnesota Vikings.

Two field goals from veteran kicker Sebastian Janikowski in the first and third quarters gave Seattle a 6-0 lead as the Vikings once again struggled on offense.

Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson then scrambled for 40 yards (36 meters) in a decisive fourth-quarter drive to set up a crucial touchdown.

Wilson’s run took Seattle within striking distance and it was running back Chris Carson who delivered the killer blow, crashing over from two yards for the score.

Wilson then found Tyler Lockett in the end zone for a successful two-point conversion to make it 14-0 for the hosts.

A miserable night for Vikings quarterback Kirk Cousins got worse on the next possession when he fumbled and the ball was recovered by Justin Coleman, who galloped in from 29 yards out to make it 21-0.

Minnesota got on the board with just over one minute remaining in the game when Cousins connected with Dalvin Cook from six yards, but the score was too little too late for the visitors.

The win saw Seattle improve to 8-5 in the National Football Conference (NFC), leaving them firmly on course for a wild-card spot.

The Vikings have little room for error after a loss which left them at 6-6-1, second in the NFC North behind the Chicago Bears (9-4).