Seattle closing in on playoff berth
SEATTLE — Bobby Wagner leaped over the line of scrimmage, swatted Dan Bailey’s field-goal attempt and sparked the 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 are 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 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 score 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 the lowly 49ers and Cardinals — 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 head 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’s chances of winning the NFC North took a major hit with its second straight loss, but the Vikings (6-6-1) 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,” Minnesota head coach Mike Zimmer said. “We had the ball on the 2-yard line and didn’t score.”
Much of the conversation centered on Wagner’s block of Bailey’s 47-yard attempt with 5:38 left and whether it was 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 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. Tim Booth is an Associated Press writer.