Game Thread: Minnesota Vikings @ Seattle Seahawks MNF 5:30

[Anointed One]

Are they making a bigger deal out of the blocked FG than it needs to be? Didn't look like he leveraged his teammates to get over the pile to me...

 

[fknhippie]

The Vikes always live down to my expectations of them.

 

[Judge Fudge]

I just saw Hawks/Chiefs flexed to SNF.

No. I think that it was always there

 

[jerseyhawksfan79]

No. I think that it was always there

Was it? I don't remember. Kind of tired here on the east coast. Actually, I think it's bed time. Nice to be 8-5 and keep things rolling.

 

[Cave_Johnson]

Stats don't show it but that was a dominating performance by Seattle. Fuck yeah.

 

[Tapey]

Now just need a win against the 49ers OR Cardinals to clinch a playoff spot

 

[Hillbillyzombie]

Now just need a win against the 49ers OR Cardinals to clinch a playoff spot

Had someone talking shit yesterday about that. Said the only chance Seattle has is to beat the Cardinals. He said SF is playing better now and they just beat the broncos that beat Seattle... I was going to explain to him that’s not how the NFL works but he had a hard enough time looking at me when he talked and not the floor or wall.

 

[flyerhawk]

Are they making a bigger deal out of the blocked FG than it needs to be? Didn't look like he leveraged his teammates to get over the pile to me...

I think people are misreading the rule.

 

[MKHawk]

I just saw Hawks/Chiefs flexed to SNF.

Not flexed, it's always been there. But I think it's locked in at this point (they won't flex it out)

 

[Mariners_44]

Not flexed, it's always been there. But I think it's locked in at this point (they won't flex it out)

Assuming that both teams play the game at full strength, this will be a great test for the Hawks. Kind of crazy to think the Hawks can lock up a playoff spot next week and literally have two weeks of unimportant games remaining. As long as Russ got out his bad game of the year and left it on the field last night this team is going into January dangerous.

 

[Dr. Strangelove]

Horrible passing game by Russ at 10/20 and 72 with a 39 something rating just shows how meaningless stats can be at times. 40 rushes for over 200 yds vs. what is widely considered one of the top fronts in the game. That is impressive. Would I have liked to see better play in the red zone and better passing by Russ? Sure, but this was a dominating win and I think we can put aside all the "yeah buts" and say fuck it and move on. Our defense, led by the best middle LB in football is playing great and this run game can travel. now, of course, the Vikings offense was all time awful and Cousins is what he is but it was still great and exactly what our team needed. I have no doubt that Russ will bounce back from that performance too. On to San Fran next week. Go Hawks.

 

[JMR]

Wow, what a game. It was frustrating to see the offense not finish those drives -- should have been 13-0 at the least at half time -- but the running game and defense (especially the defense) were fantastic. And as rough of a game as Russell had, he found a way to make the play that pretty much salted it away on that 40 yard run.

It was Russell's lowest passer rating game of his entire career. Even still, the O moved the ball pretty well most of the night. I think his game looks a lot different but for that out-of-body dumb turnover and Moore not getting that 2nd foot down on what would have been a TD. He'll bounce right back.

Can't say enough about the D. They clamped on the run, got after the QB, tackled well, and the secondary was glued to those guys almost the whole game. Probably could have had 3 INTs.

Didn't understand the "facemask" call against Bobby. No real good looks of it in the stands, but it appeared to me he grabbed hair. 2 other controversial calls -- I don't think Cousins had his entire body plus the ball beyond the line (as the rule states), so looked like the right call there....."leverage" on the FG, didn't see a good shot of that either but the rule says the contact must be done to gain additional height in order for it to be illegal.

Had a fan behind me holler to challenge the Thielen toe-tap catch in the red zone toward the end of the game when it was 21-0. I told him teams cannot challenge in the final 2 minutes, and his response was that we needed to preserve the shutout. ??? Rules ignorance is both hilarious and maddening.

 

[Screamin12th]

1-5 in the redzone is brutal, And Russell was BAD. Some of you say " well at least he got his bad game out of the way" not so fast he has had a few "BAD" games this year. Games at a level we have not seen him play at since his rookie season and even worse than his rookie season. Lets hope he pulls his head out because another game like that in the playoffs and the Hawks are going home lol.

This game showed me that we need WR help as there was no separation at ALL with our WR's. These guys rarely if ever had a step on people. Being at the game really allowed me to focus on the separation or LACK THERE OF. I think 2 maybe 3 times all game i saw a WR have a step on someone that was it.

 

[JMR]

1-5 in the redzone is brutal, And Russell was BAD. Some of you say " well at least he got his bad game out of the way" not so fast he has had a few "BAD" games this year. Games at a level we have not seen him play at since his rookie season and even worse than his rookie season. Lets hope he pulls his head out because another game like that in the playoffs and the Hawks are going home lol.

The only 2 games you can say are bad (or "BAD") for him are this one and the SD game in the last 11. I know you like to sensationalize things, but he was rolling at a high level for quite a while up to last night's game. Prisoners of the moment will get their keystrokes in today, but he's still sitting at a career best 111 passer rating for the season. Some credit needs to be given to Minn's D.

This game showed me that we need WR help as there was no separation at ALL with our WR's. These guys rarely if ever had a step on people. Being at the game really allowed me to focus on the separation or LACK THERE OF. I think 2 maybe 3 times all game i saw a WR have a step on someone that was it.

Again, some credit to their defense. They have a strong DL and very good secondary. Their guys get paid too. Russell missed a couple deep balls where WRs did have a step, and there was a 3rd where Moore needed to make a better effort to get that 2nd foot down. WRs are flashy objects and don't really drive team success. Would you rather have Thielen, Diggs & Cousins, or Lockett, Moore & Wilson? It's not even close.

 

[Screamin12th]

Broncos, Bears, Cards, Vikings, Chargers. All games he was no where close to a top 15 QB in the league. Wilson didn't post a QBR rating OVER 55 till October. QB's can have a very bad game and still post a rating of 80-90 because it's a out dated metric but they can not have a bad game and post a QBR rating in or above the 60's.

We know Wilson is better than this and he has had way to many games this year where he doesn't even remotely look like the Franchise QB he is. Is it him or is it the lack of talent and injury ( Baldwin ) at WR? i think it's the lack of talent at WR and the fact Russell looks out of shape. I think he needs to stop that 5000 calorie diet he was on ( eating 10 meals a day ) lol.

Do any of you remember reading that article about his diet a year or two ago? lol

 

[Screamin12th]

that INT in the Vikes game was a play only a moron makes.

Hawks Defense was lights out against the Vikes though that's for damn sure.

 

[JMR]

The only 2 games you can say are bad (or "BAD") for him are this one and the SD game in the last 11. I know you like to sensationalize things, but he was rolling at a high level for quite a while up to last night's game. Prisoners of the moment will get their keystrokes in today, but he's still sitting at a career best 111 passer rating for the season. Some credit needs to be given to Minn's D.

that INT in the Vikes game was a play only a moron makes.

Right on cue.

 

[Mariners_44]

1-5 in the redzone is brutal, And Russell was BAD. Some of you say " well at least he got his bad game out of the way" not so fast he has had a few "BAD" games this year. Games at a level we have not seen him play at since his rookie season and even worse than his rookie season. Lets hope he pulls his head out because another game like that in the playoffs and the Hawks are going home lol.

This game showed me that we need WR help as there was no separation at ALL with our WR's. These guys rarely if ever had a step on people. Being at the game really allowed me to focus on the separation or LACK THERE OF. I think 2 maybe 3 times all game i saw a WR have a step on someone that was it.

There were multiple times where our WR's had a step or two on the defender but Russ short armed the throw. David Moore looks faster and faster each game, but Russ needs to drop it over the top a bit better; Moore needs to drop that second foot better too.

 

[BSUSeahawk]

That was a really frustrating game to watch at times, but hard to complain much about the end result.

Thoughts:

- Russell was AWFUL last night. I'm going off memory here, but I don't think he completed a pass where the ball traveled more than 7-8 yards in the air. The throw to Moore wasn't bad (he should have gotten the feet down), but everything else was off. The play before halftime was just terrible. When you have no timeouts in that situation and no one is open on the first look, get rid of it then. As soon as he started doing the spins I knew something bad was going to happen. Hawks were actually quite lucky that Kendricks fell down or else that's probably 6 for Minnesota.

- Carson is so fun to watch. Almost without fail, once he gets hit he pushes forward for 2-3 more yards. I've expressed my reluctance to this style of football several times, but if they're going to stick to it, Carson's a great guy to lead the rush attack because he almost always gets positive yards. Penny looks great too, but I'm not a huge fan of his home-run mentality. That was a great run last night, but it could have been a disaster.

- Offensive line has been the story of the season, IMO. I don't consider myself an OL guru by any stretch, so I won't pretend like I know what's changed specifically, but all I know is that whatever Solari has them doing is much better than the previous years.

- We need receiver help next year. I'd be fine with the Seahawks moving on from Baldwin and saving the $7M, but reinforcements will be needed. I have a good view of the entire field, and there weren't a lot of open receivers last night. Russ missed Lockett pretty badly on that one play-action, but outside of that, not much.

- Defensive line had their best game of the season, IMO. Both inside and out. Clark was all over Cousins, and the interior was getting a lot of good push as well. Cook had a couple nice runs, but the huge gains of the last couple weeks were fixed.

- Secondary also had it's best game of the season. I thought the gameplan was awesome and they clearly were content to let Minnesota try and beat them with anyone that wasn't Thielen or Diggs. On top of that, Flowers was really good both in coverage and making a couple big tackles and Griffin was lockdown all night. As I expected earlier, Cousins completely flopped again in prime time. Enjoy that contract, Minny.

I admit I underestimated this team, and more directly, this coaching staff. Hard to argue with what Carroll is doing, even if it's unconventional by today's standards. I'd love to see the Hawks lock up that playoff spot in the ghost town that is Levi Stadium next week right in front of Sherman.

 

[BSUSeahawk]

There were multiple times where our WR's had a step or two on the defender but Russ short armed the throw. David Moore looks faster and faster each game, but Russ needs to drop it over the top a bit better; Moore needs to drop that second foot better too.

I forgot about that one. Yeah, that was the worst throw of the night, outside of the one before half. That should have been an easy 6.