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Seahawks escape on Vikings' missed field goal

The playoff gods were kinder to the Seattle Seahawks in their first playoff game since the Malcolm Butler Super Bowl disaster.

The Minnesota Vikings were about to take the lead in the waning seconds of a defensive grinder in the bitter cold, lining up for a 27-yard field goal — shorter than an extra point — that almost certainly would have delivered them a win.

Laces out! Image: NFL
Laces out! Image: NFL

But kicker Blair Walsh, who had made all three of his field-goal tries in the game to that point, botched the kick. TV replays showed that for the second try of the game, the ball’s laces were facing toward the kicker, which is a no-no.

The first one earlier in the game didn’t hurt. This one did, and the Seahawks escaped with an improbable 10-9 victory.

The game turned in a little less than two game minutes in the fourth quarter after the Vikings had dominated most of the game and were sitting on a 9-0 lead. Russell Wilson, who had played a relatively poor game to that point, made a heroic recovery of a bad snap and hit Tyler Lockett for a 35-yard gain that set up the only touchdown of the game.

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On the ensuing possession, Adrian Peterson fumbled, giving the ball back to the Seahawks, who took the lead midway through the fourth quarter on a Steven Hauschka field goal that would provide the winning margin.

That didn’t look to be the case when the Vikings took over in the final 102 seconds, driving from their own 19-yard line to the Seahawks’ 9. But Walsh missed the poorly held kick, and the Seahawks advanced.

It was their third bizarre playoff game in a row. The Seahawks rallied from down 16 in the fourth quarter to beat the Green Bay Packers in overtime in the NFC title game last season. They blew a 10-point fourth-quarter lead in the Super Bowl loss as Butler picked off Wilson at the goal line in the final minute. And now this.

Yes, the game was cold — historically so — and it did appear to have an effect on the contest. At minus-6 degrees and 25-below for the wind chill, it registered as the coldest game in Vikings history — a record that might stand a long time in Minnesota, anyway — and the third-coldest in NFL history behind the Ice Bowl in 1967 and the Freezer Bowl in 1982.

On the Seahawks’ first drive, punter Jon Ryan couldn’t handle a low snap and was forced to run, gaining only 4 yards on 4th and 7 well into Seattle territory. So the Vikings got the ball in business on the 29-yard line but bogged down inside the 10-yard line and settled for a Blair Walsh field goal to open the scoring with a 3-0 Vikings lead.

The kicking game was flawed early, with punts not hanging in the air long and the ball not traveling far. The Seahawks had a fruitless series midway through the second quarter, driving to the Minnesota 25-yard line but not coming away with points. A loss of three on the ground and a delay of game convinced Pete Carroll to go for it on 4th and 13, and Wilson’s throw to Fred Jackson — eight yards short of the sticks — didn’t get it done, resulting in a turnover on downs.

On their final possession of the first half, the Seahawks started a promising drive spurred by a 41-yard pass-interference call against Vikings cornerback Xavier Rhodes. But they stalled at the Minnesota 38, after three Wilson incompletions. This time, the Seahawks opted to punt instead of going for it, and the first half ended with a 3-0 Vikings edge.

On the Seahawks’ opening drive of the second half, they once more moved into Minnesota territory just outside field-goal range and once more went for it on fourth down. Wilson was flushed out of the pocket and threw back against his body to little-used tight end Chase Coffman. The throw was off-target and it tipped into the hands of Vikings rookie corner Trae Waynes, who returned it to midfield.

Wilson was struggling, but his Vikings counterpart — Teddy Bridgewater — played with poise, if not producing modest statistics, but making more things happen. After a roughing-the-quarterback foul by Cliff Avril, Bridgewater connected on two passes and helped set up another Walsh field goal and a 6-0 lead midway through the third quarter.

Back-to-back sacks on Wilson on the ensuing drive — with the Vikings rushing four both times — backed the Seahawks up well into their own zone. They punted from their own 5-yard line, and a horse-collar tackle on the return had the Vikings back in business again quickly in Seattle territory.

Even though the Vikings struggled to get much going in the run game all day (28 rushes, 58 yards), they stuck with it. On the drive, they ran the ball five times for 15 yards with three different players and worked the ball into field-goal range, where Walsh connected again — a 9-0 lead heading into the fourth quarter.

This field goal almost was blocked by Richard Sherman. The Vikings previous kick had the laces pointed right at Walsh as he kicked it. Even with less-than-perfect execution, the Vikings were quietly dominating the game.

But the Seahawks were not done yet. Wilson broke out of his slump to make magic. After a shotgun snap went high and through his hands, Wilson recovered the ball, gathered himself and found a wide-open Tyler Lockett for 35 yards down to the Minnesota 4-yard line. Two plays later, Wilson hit Doug Baldwin — covered by third-string corner Josh Robinson, in the game because of injuries — for the touchdown, cutting the Vikings’ lead to 9-7.

Then, momentum swung even more the Seahawks’ way. Peterson took a swing pass 10 yards for a would-be first down, but Seahawks safety Kam Chancellor ripped the ball out, recovered by nose tackle Athyba Rubin at the Minnesota 40. It was Peterson’s eighth fumble of the season — or ninth, if you count one that was negated by penalty — and his second in the fourth quarter in the past two months.

After converting a big third-down pass to Jermaine Kearse to the 29-yard line, the Seahawks had to settle for a Steven Hauschka field goal, but it gave them their first lead of the game at 10-9 with 8:09 remaining.

The Vikings had to punt on their next possession, and the Seahawks had a chance to grind the clock. But a questionable play call and execution on a 3rd and 1 play with 4:33 left had Wilson throwing incomplete on a throwback — why? — and the ball almost being intercepted, to boot, with safety Andrew Sendejo unable to make the play on the errant throw.

After the teams traded punts, the Vikings took over on their own 39-yard line with 1:42 left. Tight end Kyle Rudolph hadn’t caught a ball all game to that point, but he drew a huge pass-interference against Chancellor and then beat him for a massive 24-yard catch on an out route down to the Seattle 18.

Peterson hung onto the ball for three timeout-burning runs, and Walsh badly missed the short try.