Seahawks slain by Vikings, lose 27-24
By Jake Parr, edited by Charles Hamaker
Seattle, WA - Aiming to recreate the exploits of Alfred the Great of Wessex and fight off a Viking invasion, our Seattle Seahawks instead reenacted the sack of Lindisfarne, and lost at home to Minnesota by a score of 27-24. In a must-win game, the Seahawks kept it close, but were unable to overcome Minnesota's relentless offense attack in the end. Beset by the bugbear of the 2024 season, penalties, Seattle failed to make the game-winning stop and a late interception ended the dream of a 4th quarter comeback. With the 2024 season hurtling towards the finish line, the Seahawks find themselves backed into a corner.
Seattle SuperSonics legend Lenny Wilkens was in charge of raising the “12” flag prior to this game between the Minnesota Vikings and our Seattle Seahawks. (Photos from the Seattle Seahawks website by Garret Weintrob)
Heroism on the Field
Today’s game was always going to be tough for the Seahawks. The Minnesota Vikings are a venerable powerhouse this year, having only been bested twice as they’ve been led by Sam Darnold in an unlikely scenario. It seemed like the team was going to repeat last week’s miserable loss to the Packers when the Vikings opened the game with a touchdown and took an early lead. Indeed, it was more of the same when the Seahawks yet again failed to score an opening drive touchdown.
But the Hawks still had some fight in them, and on their second drive, pushing relentlessly into Vikings territory until Geno Smith and DK Metcalf joined forces like Mercia and Wessex at the Battle of Tettenhall and connected for a 25-yard touchdown. It was Metcalf’s first since all the way back in week seven when the Seahawks beat up on the Atlanta Falcons for a final score of 34-14. Metcalf, who was expected to be perhaps the major contributor to the Seahawks offense in 2024, has had something of a down year this season. Although for a player like Metcalf, a “down year” is still 14.7 yards per catch, and will likely approach 1,000 yards on the season after the next two games. Regardless, it is heartening to see him find paydirt again in 2024.
Seattle Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith connected with wide receiver DK Metcalf in the first half for a 25-yard touchdown pass, Metcalf’s first score since week seven in Atlanta. (Photo from the Seattle Seahawks website.)
Another Seattle hero of the day was second year receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba, who continues to bend gravity to catch every ball even remotely near him. In the last drive before the end of the first half, Seattle had to pick up 88 yards to score. JSN alone accounted for 61 of those, powered by two 18-yard receptions and one 25-yard catch that helped him cross the 1,000 yard mark on the year. The second 18-yarder only ended because JSN ran out of ground to carve up, putting six points on the board and dragging the Seahawks within three.
And when Jason Myers collected those three points at the start of the second half, it started to feel like the Seahawks might pull this game out. The Vikings pulled back in front with a field goal of their own, and after a few back-and-forth punts time was quickly running out on the game. Geno, a hero in his own right today, carved up the secondary, and even picked up eight yards on a scramble despite his weakened knee. Finally, on a desperate third and goal, after Kenneth Walker III and Zach Charbonnet couldn’t push through the Vikings’ shield wall, Geno connected with the rookie tight end AJ Barner for a four-yard touchdown that gave the Seahawks their first lead of the contest.
Seattle Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith connected with rookie tight end AJ Barner on a four-yard touchdown pass late into the game, giving the team their first lead of the afternoon against the Minnesota Vikings. (Photo from the Seattle Seahawks website)
But, like Edmund Ironside’s victory at the battle of Brentford in 1016, it proved to be too costly and too late. On the Viking’s very next drive, the Seahawks brought quarterback Sam Darnold down on a second & ten sack, but it was overturned on an egregious facemask by rookie defensive lineman Byron Murphy II. On the very next play Vikings wide receiver Justin Jefferson torched Riq Woolen on his route with safety Julian Love not getting over to help in time, and hauled in the ball for a 39-yard, go-ahead touchdown.
On the next drive the Seahawks attempted a desperation 60-yard field goal on 4th and 15 that failed, but then made a stop to get the ball back with a full minute left on the clock. Geno, perhaps attempting to reverse the narrative of the Danish Viking who held Stamford Bridge put the whole team on his right arm, but he didn’t see Theo Jackson sneaking up the left side. Geno released the ball deep for Metcalf, but Jackson sprinted up and speared it, securing the pick and the game in one fell swoop. You can make the argument that Smith made poor judgement on the timing of the route or that Metcalf didn’t run a crisp enough route, but at the end of the day the Seahawks had too many issues before that game ending interception that played a role in today’s defeat.
Seattle Seahawks kicker Jason Myers attempted a game tying field goal from 60-yards out late into the fourth quarter, just a yard shot of his career long, but the kick fell just short. (Photo from the Seattle Seahawks website)
The Season in Miniature
As much as any game is, today’s was a microcosm of the 2024 season since week four. As much as it was tough to watch, the Hawks were never quite out of it, and right at the end it looked like they were going to pull it back, before falling just short of the finish line. And the problems that led to today’s loss were the same as the problems that have led to every other loss this year.
The first, penalties. Seattle has been one of the most penalized teams this season, and it is sabotaging any chance the Hawks have at winning games. Today’s facemask penalty that led to the Vikings’ winning touchdown obviously jumps out, but there were others that swung the momentum of the game. Leonard Williams’ defensive holding penalty to start the second half jumps out here. All-in-all, Seattle suffered through 11 penalties and gave up 77 yards to the Vikings. And today was a mild day for penalties. Perhaps this is just a symptom of having a young and first-year head coach, but Seattle will need to clamp down on these going forward.
And the second major problem is, of course, interceptions. Geno Smith has been a tremendous passer this year, even despite the interceptions. He has a bad habit of trying to turn nothing into something. But that’s because he is often playing from behind and presented with nothing in the first place. The Seahawks’ interception problem is a team problem, not a Geno problem, but it is a problem and it has cost them games this year. And in a season where it’s starting to seem like the Seahawks will miss the playoffs by one game, that’s a tough pill to swallow.
What’s Next? Not Much
But I am getting ahead of myself. With the regular season coming to a close, the Seahawks are heading on the road for the last two games of the year. Both of these are must-win games in order for Seattle to make the playoffs, with the added wrinkle that the Los Angeles Rams also have to lose their contest next week to the recently eliminated Arizona Cardinals. While the Rams are playing Arizona, the Seahawks will be in Chicago taking on the 4-11 Bears. The Bears have had a difficult season, losing today to the Lions 34-17. Although their quarterback, number one overall selection in this past draft, Caleb Williams, is having a remarkable passing year, having picked up the sixth most yards in team history. That game is in just four days, on Boxing Day (that’s December 26th for the Americans out there). Kickoff will be at 5:15PM PST, and will be available to stream on Anazib Prime Video. If you’re celebrating a throwback to the 30s this holiday season, you can listen to the radio broadcast at either Seattle Sports 710AM or KIRO Newsradio 97.3 FM.
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Check out our previous Seattle Seahawks articles here.
Check out our previous articles written by Jake Parr here, and his Lookout Landing articles here.
Cover photo and photos in this article from the Seattle Seahawks website.
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