Seattle Seahawks close on wild card with win over Vikings
Patriots will bounce back after Miami meltdown: Brady
LOS ANGELES: The Seattle Seahawks edged closer to a wildcard 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 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 at Seattle’s CenturyLink Field.
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 NFC, leaving them firmly on course for a wildcard 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).
Meanwhile, New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady insisted his team would bounce back on Monday following their spectacular last-gasp defeat to the Miami Dolphins. The Patriots fell victim to what has been dubbed the “Miami Miracle” on Sunday, when the Dolphins conjured a remarkable winning touchdown off the final play of the game to snatch a 34-33 victory.
The sweeping 69-yard score, which featured two lateral passes before Kenyan Drake raced over in the corner, prevented the Patriots from clinching a 10th straight AFC East division title.
Brady however is confident the Patriots will pick themselves up for what is a traditionally daunting fixture against the Pittsburgh Steelers at Heinz Field next Sunday. “We’ve had a lot of tough losses over the years. We lost pretty important games,” Brady said Monday on Boston sports radio station WEEI.
“What’s the difference between losing by 14 down there, losing by 50, or losing by 1? They all count the same. “Mental toughness is mental toughness. You realize that a lot of things had to go right for them to win, and they did. You know, give them credit. They made some important plays.”
While the Patriots remain firmly in charge of their destiny, the defeat to Miami has lengthened the odds on Bill Belichick’s team managing to wrest homefield advantage from the Kansas City Chiefs during the playoffs. Brady said the Patriots would look to finish strong over their final three regular-season games. “We still have a lot of football to play,” he said. “There was a lot of positives from yesterday’s game that we have to kind of use going forward, that we will use going forward.
“Our whole season is ahead of us, so let’s make the most of it.” Brady also shrugged off suggestions that the defeat was further evidence to support the theory that the Patriots are fallible on the road. “We had every opportunity to win that game,” Brady told WEEI. “So it’s not that I don’t think we can win on the road. We’ve won on the road, played well on the road. We just have to close the deal,” added Brady.