Playoff implications surround Vikings’ visit to Seahawks
Associated Press
SEATTLE — Just like a year ago, there’s no avoiding the importance of this Monday night matchup in the Pacific Northwest between Minnesota and Seattle.
Except this time around, a division title is still very much in play for both teams.
“This is a huge game for both of us. We know the stakes. Everybody knows the stakes,” Vikings linebacker Eric Kendricks said. “Monday night makes it a little bit bigger, in Seattle. But I mean, you’ve got to live for these kind of moments, you know what I mean?”
For the second straight year, the Seahawks will host the Vikings in a late-season, prime-time matchup filled with playoff implications. But unlike that last meeting — won by Seattle 21-7 — when a wild-card berth was the target, both the Vikings and Seahawks are in the middle of division title races this time.
Seattle (9-2) is one game behind San Francisco in the NFC West and trying to avoid any stumbles prior to a Week 17 meeting with the 49ers at home. The Vikings (8-3) are even with Green Bay in the NFC North, but the Packers already have a win over Minnesota with a Week 16 matchup still to come.
Both teams would need to suffer a significant slide in the final month to put their playoff hopes in jeopardy. The Vikings have a two-game lead on the Los Angeles Rams in the wild-card race. Seattle is a game better.
But the shot at a division title raises the stakes significantly.
“We got a terrific schedule coming up, challenges and all that,” Seattle coach Pete Carroll said. “We’re going to have to play really well. I do think, though, that it leads us to our best football still ahead of us.”
QBs
While the playoff implications are the primary focus, the quarterbacks will certainly get their share of attention. It’s deserved as both Seattle’s Russell Wilson and Minnesota’s Kirk Cousins have been among the best in the league said. “He got into a little rhythm in the second half, and when he gets in that rhythm, he can get going.”
Defensively, the Warriors struggled as the visiting Cougars scored several routine layups.
“It doesn’t matter what we do offensively if we can’t stop anybody on defense,” Broom said. “We played timid. We weren’t willing to apply the pressure like we did last night and that’s what hurt us in the end.”
Broom said the younger guys on the team got some valuable varsity experience toward the end of the contest. this season. Cousins leads the league in passer rating; Wilson is second. Wilson has 24 TD passes; Cousins 21. Both have thrown just three interceptions. Both are completing better than 67% of their passes.
Time for a refresher
After missing four starters in their previous game against Denver on Nov. 17 — wide receiver Adam Thielen, right guard Josh Kline, nose tackle Linval Joseph, free safety Anthony Harris — the Vikings had the advantage of the latest possible bye week to heal for the most challenging game of the final stretch. This was the second-latest bye week in team history, with only the break in 1991 falling later on the calendar. The Vikings are 2-7 in the last nine seasons in their games immediately after the bye.
“They did really well,” Broom said on the underclassmen. “They came out with a little effort … and I’m proud of them for that and hopefully that experience will help them down the road when we definitely need them in a close ballgame.”
The Warriors are off for Thanksgiving break and will begin preparation for their Region 7-AA opener at Model on Dec. 3.
“Our No. 1 focus is our next game and that’s Model,” Broom said. “We know what they’re going to do and we’ve got to come back Sunday and get prepared for them.”