Andrew Ortenberg
Show Bio
It wasn’t always pretty, but the Seattle Seahawks emerged with a 27-26 win over the Minnesota Vikings to move to 5-0 on the year. While they were far from flawless, it’s the fact that they were able to gut out a win on Sunday Night Football despite not being their best that shows why they’re true Super Bowl contenders.
The league’s truly elite teams, like the Chiefs, are often able to win close games even while making a string of mistakes. The Seahawks did exactly that on Sunday night, proving they belong in the NFL’s top tier.
The Seahawks’ defense can still make plays
Seattle’s defense has caught a lot of flak this season, deservedly so. But it’s a passing league nowadays, and the best teams usually don’t have extremely stout defenses, they have defenses that can make a play when it matters most. That’s certainly the case with this Seattle unit, and they showed that against the Vikings.
When the stakes were highest with just a couple of minutes to go, they came up with a massive fourth down stop to put the ball back in Russell Wilson’s hands and ultimately win the game. When they were down big at the half, they forced a crucial fumble and interception early in the third quarter.
They did it all without Jamal Adams, the biggest playmaker of this group who is a threat to make a game-changing play every time he’s on the field. This group isn’t going to hold opponents under 20 points all the time, but if they can get a big sack here and a turnover there, that’s all that Wilson needs.
KJ WRIGHT WITH THE ONE-HANDED PICK š¤
Primetime Kirk Cousins is starting to come out š¬
— Pickswise (@Pickswise) October 12, 2020
Wilson is as clutch as it gets
There are only a small handful of quarterbacks that one can truly feel good about for a last-minute drive, and Wilson is one of them. As soon as the Seahawks got the stop to get the ball back on their own five yard line with less than two minutes to play, it felt inevitable that they were going to march down the field and score.
Wilson kept plays alive with his legs, scrambling for 17 yards on the first play of that drive, and never blinked under pressure. Even when the Seahawks had a fourth and ten, it still always felt like Wilson was going to pull through, and he did.
That’s a special quality for a quarterback, and one they’re going to need to run through a very tough NFC in the playoffs. Seattle’s leader has been there and done that, and he isn’t fazed by the bright lights.
RUSS TO DK METCALF FOR THE WIN!!!
Unbelievable!!!
Mr. UNLIMITED is CLUTCH! pic.twitter.com/bkMs1py8o8
— Pickswise (@Pickswise) October 12, 2020
The bottom line
Tonight was bigger than just an early-season win over Minnesota. It showed that no matter how much this team gets down, they’re always a threat to come back. That no matter how improbable things look, Wilson can always pull it out. More than anything, tonight showed the Seahawks are legitimate contenders to win Super Bowl LV.
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