Game Recap
SEATTLE, Wash. - There really is no place like home.
Just ask the Seahawks, who ran their record to 5-4 on Sunday with their fourth victory at CenturyLink Field in as many games – this time a 30-20 win over the Minnesota Vikings before a crowd of 67,584.
The point total was a season high for the Seahawks, who also have knocked off the Dallas Cowboys, Green Bay Packers and New England Patriots at CenturyLink Field this season.
More good news: The Seahawks stay at home next week to host the New York Jets before having their bye week on Nov. 18.
This win came by way of three first-half touchdown passes from rookie quarterback Russell Wilson and some very timely running by Marshawn Lynch, who finished with 124 yards on 26 carries and a second-half touchdown. And the Seahawks needed it all to offset a 182-yard, two-touchdown rushing performance by the Vikings’ Adrian Peterson – who entered and left this game as the NFL’s leading rusher.
The first half turned into a battle of Peterson’s legs and Wilson’s arm, as the leading rusher in the NFL ran for 144 yards and two scores to give the Vikings a 17-14 lead. But Wilson threw three touchdown passes – matching his season high – and the last came with 44 seconds left to give the Seahawks a 20-17 lead.
Quicker than you could say, “Adrian Peterson leads the NFL in rushing,” he broke a 74-yarder to the Seahawks’ 1-yard line on the second play of the game. Peterson would have scored if not for a saving tackle by cornerback Brandon Browner. Defensive tackle Alan Branch missed Peterson in the backfield and linebacker Leroy Hill also missed him as he was turned the corner. Then, quicker than you could say, “The Seahawks need a big play,” nickel back Marcus Trufant forced Percy Harvin to fumble and recovered the ball at the Vikings’ 17 to set up Wilson’s TD pass to Tate.
Wilson also threw a touchdown pass to Sidney Rice in the first quarter, after the Vikings took the early lead on Peterson’s 1-yard scoring run. The rookie QB took advantage of Trufant’s big play to get the Seahawks even, then capped a nine-play, 78-yard drive with his 11-yard TD pass to Rice, a former Viking, on third-and-9. Wilson was 5 of 9 for 51 yards in the opening quarter.
The Seahawks’ 14 points were the most points they’ve scored in a first quarter this season. But they also lost leading tackler K.J. Wright to a concussion in the first quarter. He was replaced by Mike Morgan.
In the second quarter, Peterson’s second touchdown run of the game tied the score with 11:46 left in the half, and Blair Walsh’s 36-yard field gave the Vikings the lead with 5:25 to play. But, Wilson then threw his third TD pass of the half – the 11-yarder to Tate – to give the Seahawks back the lead with 44 seconds remaining.
Peterson not only scored his second touchdown of the game, capping an 11-play, 80-yard drive that started in the first quarter, he put the legs in the go-ahead field-goal drive with back-to-back runs of 24 and 15 yards. Wilson, meanwhile, led the 12-play, 80-yard drive to allow the Seahawks to regain the lead. Wilson was 4 of 4 for 48 yards.
On a third-and-4 play from the Seahawks’ 44-yard line, it appeared that Trufant had broken up Christian Ponders’ pass to Percy Harvin. But the officials flagged Trufant for a 24-yard pass interference penalty. Peterson scored four plays later. But, Wilson prolonged the Seahawks’ last scoring drive by keeping for a 1-yard gain on fourth-and-1. And, Tate scored after taking a short pass and leaping into the end zone.
The Seahawks extended their lead to 27-17 in the third quarter, as they drove to a 3-yard touchdown run by Marshawn Lynch with 4:09 left. But the Vikings then drove 44 yards in six plays to a 55-yard field goal by rookie Blair Walsh with 1:47 left. On the TD drive, Lynch also carried for 3, 23 and 4 yards on the drive.
The Seahawks also lost another player during the quarter as Max Unger went out with a hand injury. Lemuel Jeanpierre stepped in a center for the final five plays of the nine-play, 72-yard TD drive. Unger returned on the next series.
The Seahawks’ final three points came on Steve Hauschka’s 40-yard field goal with 6:23 left in the game, and it was Lynch’s 23-yard run to the Vikings’ 40-yard line that helped set it up. Seven plays later, Hauschka kicked his field goal to extend the Seahawks lead to 10 points.
Then, when the Vikings got the ball back cornerback Brandon Browner intercepted Christian Ponders’ third-and-5 pass to Percy Harvin.
