Seahawks-Vikings FINAL SCORE: Trevone Boykin throws game-winning touchdown again but to the wrong team

They didn’t go to overtime!

The Seattle Seahawks fell to the Minnesota Vikings 18-11 on Thursday, which isn't the desired outcome but certainly an acceptable one for a preseason game. Seahawks backup Trevone Boykin and running back Troymaine Pope helped guide Seattle to a come-from-behind tie at 11-11, concerning millions with the prospect of a preseason overtime game, but it wasn’t meant to be.

After Vikings kicker missed a go-ahead field goal try (again), Boykin seemed to be leading the Seahawks on another potential game-winning drive, much like the one he had a week ago against the Kansas City Chiefs in their 17-16 win. Instead, he threw a pick-six to Minny CB Marcus Sherels with under two minutes remaining.

Boykin did lead another incredible drive down the field, going nearly 75 yards in a little over a minute to bring the offense to the Minnesota 5, but the last attempt was incomplete to Antwan Goodley.

Seattle may not have won, but at least they didn’t play more football than necessary. Nobody will remember their preseason record a month from now.

Russell Wilson took all of the QB snaps in the first half, finishing 5-of-11 for 77 yards. It seems like an oddly-extended amount of time for a franchise QB in the second preseason game of the year, especially while they’re still trying to figure out what they have in his two backups. It was even harder to watch him play considering that Wilson was sacked four times in the half, including the final play of his night which twisted his leg around in a way that Seahawks’ fans never want to see.

Wilson did manage a 31-yard dart between two defenders to Tyler Lockett though.

Christine Michael had 10 carries for 55 yards in the first half, plus a nine-yard catch. It was another very encouraging performance for the fourth-year back who seems to finally be getting it. Starter Thomas Rawls didn’t play but was in full pads and working out with the team before the game; he’s expected to perhaps get a few carries in Seattle’s preseason finale in two weeks.

But in the second half, they finally got something going.

Running back Troymaine Pope looked lightning fast, breaking off a 27-yard run in the third quarter then scoring the Seahawks first touchdown to make it 11-6; Trevone Boykin added a two-point conversion to make it a three-point game. Pope is an undrafted rookie free agent out of Jacksonville State who wasn’t even signed by Seattle until after training camp had started as an insurance policy following a rash of injuries to the running back corps; he rushed for 1,788 yards and 19 touchdowns during his senior season in college. Will he be able to crack this roster after coming up against such long odds as a street free agent two weeks ago who has to compete on a team that already has Rawls, Michael, Alex Collins, CJ Prosise, and Zac Brooks?

That remains to be seen, but Pope had 86 yards on 10 carries, so it’s worth monitoring his progress. He may have at least bought himself an extra week after the first round of cuts following the next preseason game.

The first score of the game didn’t come until 2:20 left in the first half, with the Vikings scoring on a one-yard yard by Jerick McKinnon, then adding a two-point conversion from Shaun Hill to Matt Asiata. They added a field goal to lead 11-0 at half.

The Seahawks pretty much dominated the second half defensively as well, which is a fairly positive sign for their backups, but they were also playing against quarterback Joel Stave.

Seattle plays the Dallas Cowboys next Thursday, August 25 at 7 PM PST.

• The Vikings chose to start Shaun Hill over Teddy Bridgewater, with the only information during the game being that it was a "coach’s decision." That was confirmed by Minnesota head coach Mike Zimmer who told the TV crew at the start of the second half, "Yeah, it’s my decision" without further clarification. Bridgewater was interviewed on the sidelines during the third quarter by the broadcast crew and also didn’t go into details about why he was on the bench.
• Steven Hauschka was short on a 53-yard field goal attempt. He was 6-of-6 on field goal tries of 50+ last season. Hopefully this isn’t a sign of him reverting back to his pre-2015 play in which he wasn’t known for having a very big leg. Hauschka was 9-of-17 from that distance prior to last year.
• Collins had just 13 yards on six carries.
• Goodley had 65 yards on five catches.