Rapid Reaction: Seahawks’ Defense Suffocates, Stacks Turnovers in 26-0 Romp vs. Vikings
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Seattle Seahawks defensive end Leonard Williams (99) celebrates after a sack against Minnesota Vikings quarterback Max Brosmer (12) during the first half at Lumen Field. Mandatory Credit: Steven Bisig-Imagn Images [/caption]
Though it was anything but the prettiest of wins, the Seattle Seahawks used an 85-yard interception returned for a touchdown by Ernest Jones and four Jason Myers field goals to land a commanding 26-0 shutout win over the Minnesota Vikings.
Making up for Sam Darnold’s quiet day with just 128 passing yards and 4.9 yards per attempt, Ken Walker III rushed for 56 yards and Zach Charbonnet added a 17-yard touchdown to put the game away in the fourth quarter. Jones stuffed the stat sheet with a team-high 12 tackles and two interceptions, while Coby Bryant and Riq Woolen added interceptions of their own to lead a suffocating defensive effort against Minnesota’s hapless offense.
Here are five quick takeaways from Seattle’s convincing Week 13 victory at Lumen FIeld.
1. Subpar pass protection against Minnesota’s blitz packages grounded Darnold, Seattle passing game.
Labeled as Darnold’s “Revenge Game” since the schedules came out in May, everyone had Sunday circled on the calendar as one of the biggest games of the season. But for as dominant as the Seahawks were on the scoreboard, the quarterback wasn’t a big part of that blowout result, barely completing 50% of his pass attempts and failing to hit 150 passing yards. He also had just two completions for 23 yards to Jaxon Smith-Njigba. Those numbers weren’t really on him, however, as the quarterback found himself under siege from several of his former teammates from the outset with defensive coordinator Brian Flores mixing and matching pressure packages, limiting the ability to get much going throwing the ball downfield.
In the first two quarters, Darnold took a total of four sacks, almost matching a third of his season total prior to Week 13. He took a 13-yard sack on Seattle’s opening series, leading to a Michael Dickson punt after immediate pressure from Jonathan Greenard off the edge. One series later, linebacker Eric Wilson came unblocked through the A-gap past an unsuspecting Anthony Bradford and got to Darnold on third down again to force a punt. He would be sacked twice more in the second quarter, including a strip sack that the Vikings recorded inside the Seattle 20-yard line late in the half. Fortunately, he didn’t take another sack after halftime as the team leaned on the run to put the game away.
2. Ken Walker III, budding run game continue to make progress with another 100-plus yard game.
Averaging under four yards per carry, the Seahawks had far from their most efficient nor effective effort on the ground on Sunday. But with Darnold getting ambushed by defenders in the pocket by an incredibly aggressive Vikings defense, Walker and Charbonnet provided more than enough punch out of the backfield to pick up the slack with the aerial attack failing to take flight. Even with a few negative plays sprinkled in during the game, Walker ripped off a 24-yard run and produced nearly 80 all-purpose yards to help set up multiple scoring drives, regularly finishing runs and catches with authority lowering the boom on tacklers.
Meanwhile, despite Walker getting the heavier workload in the first half, Charbonnet made his presence felt as the game progressed and started to rack up carries, gradually wearing down on Minnesota tacklers with his bruising style. Two runs for 13 yards that went into the red zone set up a Myers field goal in the second quarter and then in the fourth quarter, he bounced a red zone run out to his left before turning on the jets and following a splendid lead block by tight end Nick Kallerup to find pay dirt for a 17-yard touchdown run to all but ice the game. The two backs combined for 108 yards and a touchdown on the ground, marking a fourth straight game Seattle hit that mark as a team.
3. Ageless Demarcus Lawrence keeps dishing out splash plays to the delight of the 12s.
A signing that somewhat hovered under the radar in March due to his advancing age, Lawrence continues to dip into the fountain of youth, and at this rate, play himself into All-Pro consideration as an anchor of Seattle’s vicious defensive front. Only three weeks removed from a two-touchdown performance against Arizona, the veteran edge wasted little time coming through with another impact play that resulted in points. With the Vikings going for it on 4th and 1 in the red zone after Darnold’s fumble, Lawrence chased down Max Brosmer on a bootleg and coaxed a desperation throw from the undrafted rookie, shot putting it right into the hands of Jones for his long pick six that pushed the score to 10-0. That play alone may have been a 10 or 14-point swing on the scoreboard.
Far from finished making big plays, Lawrence got to Brosmer on the ensuing drive for a third down sack, giving the Seahawks another shot to tack on a field goal before halftime and extend the lead to 13 points. Putting the ultimate play on film to showcase what a true NFL professional does on Sundays in the third quarter, he recovered from slipping in the backfield and sprinted after running back Aaron Jones in hot pursuit, catching him from more than 10 yards in trail before punching the ball out of his hands for a forced fumble that safety Ty Okada recovered along the sideline. With that turnover resulting in another field goal, the defender directly accounted for 13 of Seattle’s 26 points, putting on a one-man show with Minnesota unable to do anything to stop him.
4. All three levels proved to be far too much for Brosmer, punch-less Vikings offense to handle.
While the Vikings believed in their undrafted rookie quarterback and hoped to provide him with enough support for him to succeed, Brosmer faced an incredibly difficult, if not impossible, situation going against one of the best defenses in the NFL for his first career start. Things started off okay for the Minnesota product, as he completed four of his first five passes with his lone incompletion coming on a terrible drop by receiver Jordan Addison. But pressure got to him early and often, starting with an Uchenna Nwosu sack that was wiped out by a penalty in the secondary and a drive-killing sack by Leonard Williams moments later on the opening series. From there, things only went from bad to worse, starting with the ill-fated decision to unload the ball right into Jones’ lap instead of taking a sack on fourth down for a gift-wrapped pre-Christmas touchdown gift.
Continuing to bombard the rookie signal caller, the Seahawks racked up four sacks and seven quarterback hits on Brosmer, and that pressure took a toll on his accuracy. Passes regularly sailed over the heads of receivers throughout the afternoon, turning into interceptions for safety Coby Bryant and Jones, the second one of the day for the veteran linebacker. Even when the Vikings looked to be threatening to finally put points on the board in the fourth quarter, Brosmer got caught starting down Addison in the end zone and Riq Woolen undercut the throw for his first pick of the season. Adding in a fourth down sack by Drake Thomas that forced a turnover on downs, the Seahawks generated six quick changes of possession on the day in an utterly dominant outing overwhelming a quarterback who simply wasn’t ready for the big stage.
5. Another day at the office booting 50-plus yard field goals for the ever-reliable Jason Myers.
One could question the conservative play calling and time management employed by Seahawks coach Mike Macdonald at times on Sunday afternoon, including not using a timeout after Lawrence’s third down sack inside two minutes to play and going into the locker room with two timeouts still in his pocket. With that said, given how stifling his defense played throughout the day in a game where a 16-point lead felt like a blowout, the decision to lean on Myers to gradually add to the lead rather than force the issue against a hyper-aggressive defense that was out for blood early made a ton of sense, and the kicker once again paid it forward with his opportunities.
Extending his franchise record to 33 field goals of 50-plus yards, Myers split the uprights on 56 and 54-yard kicks before halftime, helping the Seahawks go into the break up two scores despite Darnold’s uncharacteristically quiet day throwing the football. He tacked on two more field goals in the third quarter, which might have felt like touchdowns on the Vikings’ sideline. Going a perfect 4-for-4, the veteran continues to earn his money week in and week out and such reliability makes it easier for Macdonald to live with just taking the points on fourth and short situations rather than risking a turnover by going for it. In a lower scoring game, his contributions undoubtedly stood out, and he continues to be quite the weapon on special teams for Seattle.
