Wilson magic gives ‘Hawks win over Vikings
SEATTLE » RussellWilson capped a 94-yard drive with a 6-yard touchdown pass toDKMetcalf on fourth-and-goal with 15 seconds left, and the Seattle Seahawks beat the Minnesota Vikings 2726 on Sunday night.
Seattle improved to 5-0 for the first time in franchise history withWilson providing somemore prime-timemagic andyet another late comeback.
Wilson was 20 of 32 for 217 yards and three touchdowns. It wasn’t his best performance — he had a pass intercepted by Eric Wilson on a careless attemptmidway throughthe fourth quarter— but he made the key throws late.
Seattle’s last drive included a fourth-and-10 conversion on a 39yard pass to Metcalf early in the possession. Seattle appeared to get a winning TD to Metcalf on second-and-goal, but he lost the ball as he was hit from behind. Given another chance on fourthand-goal, Metcalf flashed open cutting across the end zone and
Wilson delivered a fastball into a tight window.
Minnesota’s Kirk Cousins was 27 of 39 for 249 yards and two second-half TD passes to Adam Thielen. Alexander Mattison rushed for a career-high 112 yards in place of Dalvin Cook after he suffered a groin injury on the opening possession of the second half. ButMattison was stopped on fourth-and-1 at the Seattle 6 with 1:57 left setting the stage for yet another Wilson comeback.
It’s a decision by Minnesota coach Mike Zimmer that certainly will be questioned. A field goal would have given Minnesota a 2921 lead and forced Seattle to score a touchdown and get a 2-point conversion.
Instead, the Vikings (14) were tagged with another crushing loss in a challenging start to the season.
Meanwhile, the Seahawks head into their bye week riding the best start in franchise history. Not even the 2013 team that went on to win the only Super Bowl title for the franchise started 5-0.
It didn’t seem another Wilson comeback was in the making with Minnesota leading 13-0 at halftime. But Seattle suddenly ignited
in the third quarter, with a 21-point barrage that took less than 2 minutes. Wilson hit Will Dissly and Metcalf on TD passes sandwiched around a fumble by Cousins. After Cousins’ pass was intercepted by K.J. Wright, Chris Carson rumbled 29 yards and Seattle had a 2113 lead.
It took just eight combined plays and suddenly a 13-point deficit was an eightpoint lead.
But Cousins didn’t fold. Mattisonproved tobeamore than capable replacement for Cook, and Cousins got hot. He was 6 of 8 for 64 yards and a 3-yardTDpass toTheilen onMinnesota’s next drive cutting the deficit to 21-19.
After Seattle punted for a second time inside Vikings territory, Cousins led Minnesota 97 yards, capping the drive with a 6-yard TD pass to Thielen. The 15-play drive took 8 minutes off the clock and gave Minnesota a 26-21 lead with 7:08 remaining.
Over the two drives combined, Cousins was 10 of 13 for 104 yards and two TDs. KEEPCOOK(ING)» Cook’s first quarter TD run gave him a TD in every game this season. He joined Mike Evans and Tyreek Hill as the only player to score in each of the first five games this season. Cook is the first Minnesota player to accomplish the feat since Randy Moss in 2004.