Countdown to training camp: Seahawks win ugly over Vikings on Monday Night Football

Training camp for the Seattle Seahawks is just two weeks away from opening, and in order to help the days go by, I’m counting down by taking a quick look at each Hawks game from 2018 in reverse order. The countdown kicked off with a look at the loss to the Dallas Cowboys in the Wild Card round of the playoffs, followed by the matchups against the Arizona Cardinals in Week 17, the upset over the Kansas City Chiefs in Week 16 and then the upset loss to the San Francisco 49ers in Week 15.

Now we arrive at one of the ugliest games the Seahawks played in 2018, the showdown against the Minnesota Vikings on Monday Night Football. Some fans thought the game was ugly because they dislike the Seahawks neon uniforms. Some fans thought the game was ugly because the Seattle offense had its lowest offensive output in terms of yardage all season, while the Vikings managed their fifth lowest output of the season. Some fans thought the game was ugly simply because Russell Wilson threw one of the ugliest interceptions of his career just before halftime.

When that pass was thrown, I thought for sure it was going to go the other way for a Minnesota touchdown. However, luckily it was bobbled and the game went to halftime with Seattle still up 3-0. The score stayed that way well into the second half, as it wasn’t until early in the fourth quarter that Sebastian Janikowski kicked a second field goal to give the Hawks a 6-0 lead.

Then, with less than three minutes to go in the game, the Seahawks got two quick touchdowns. The first came on a two yard run from Chris Carson, and the second was Justin Coleman scoring his third touchdown in two seasons with the team.

That gave the team a commanding 21-0 lead, a lead which was one hundred percent secure against a Vikings offense that simply could do nothing right that night. However, as noted it wasn’t just the Minnesota offense that couldn’t do anything right that night. The Hawks struggled to move the ball consistently most of the night, with Wilson throwing for just 72 yards in the game. The offense was able to move the ball on the ground at time, but never consistently enough to score until very late.

That all said, the lackluster offensive performance by the Hawks may have been somewhat responsible for one of the lasting images of the 2018 season, and that is Angry Doug Baldwin brooding on the sideline as offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer calls plays.

In any case, hopefully 2019 doesn’t bring any offensive performances that are as ugly or as maddening as that night’s game, and while no one can ever replace Baldwin, hopefully one of the many younger receivers can step up and fill at least a piece of the void left when Baldwin walked away from the game.