It certainly wasn’t a pretty game to watch, and given the extremely low temperature at kickoff (tied for the third coldest playoff game in NFL history), nobody was expecting a high-scoring extravaganza. The game turned on two plays: a bad snap to Seattle quarterback Russell Wilson that he somehow turned into a big gain and a missed field goal by Blair Walsh that ended the Vikings’ hopes. 1500ESPN‘s Andrew Krammer:
They made the gap feel closer than 27 yards.
This wasn’t like any of the Vikings’ other five losses in the second season under Mike Zimmer. The same team that was thoroughly handled by San Francisco, Green Bay and Seattle proved to be the better defensive team in Sunday’s 10-9 loss and first-round playoff exit at the hands of the Seahawks. They were the better offensive unit up until kicker Blair Walsh missed a chip shot, shorter than an extra point, into the open, windy end of TCF Bank Stadium.
They showed signs of a potential NFC force turning the corner, giving traction last week to their shock-the-world mission by walking out of Lambeau Field with a division title. The first 59 minutes and 34 seconds through Sunday’s bone-chilling game put the odds in the Vikings’ favor — Walsh was 30-of-31 in his career from inside 29 yards.
But their shot at dethroning the reigning conference champions ended at Seattle’s 9-yard line, where Walsh pushed a 27-yard attempt wide left.
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Though it was more than a missed kick that ended the Vikings’ season.
A botched fourth-quarter snap gave life to the Seahawks. Wilson chased the snap 15 yards behind the line of scrimmage, recovered and evaded a duo of Vikings’ blitzers in cornerback Captain Munnelryn and linebacker Eric Kendricks. Wilson scrambled right, and the coverage followed. That left receiver Jermaine Kearse wide open in the middle of the field. Kearse outran cornerback Xavier Rhodes and picked up 35 yards to the Vikings’ 4.
“Honestly, I thought the ball still was on the ground,” Munnerlyn said of Wilson’s recovery. “He had a knee down and I’m like, ‘Man, is he going to get up and run with it?’ He picked it up and [spun] out and found the open guy. At that point, I wish I could take that play back and go up field…I didn’t know where nobody was. I was just trying to make a play and that’s one play I regret.
At the Daily Norseman, Ted Glover is feeling numb, but still managed to crank out the post-game Stock Market Report:
Blue Chip Stocks:
Trae Waynes, CB: For a guy that took a lot of heat from the moment he was drafted, Waynes took a huge step today. He was excellent in coverage, and had a big interception at a critical moment of the game. I’m not sure if Terence Newman comes back next year or not, but I really like the Vikings secondary moving forward. Well, at least I really like Waynes, Xavier Rhodes, and Harrison Smith. They need a safety opposite Smith, but overall, this is a very good unit moving forward.
Teddy Bridgewater, QB: When you look at the stats, you might think this is an undeserving spot. But when you’re playing the top ranked defense in the NFL in brutal weather conditions, I don’t think it’s an overstatement to say Bridgewater played a whale of a game. He kept the Vikings moving, didn’t make any major mistakes, and drove the Vikings down the field in the 4th quarter and put them in position to win the game with a chip shot and DAMN IT MAN HOW DO YOU MISS A 27 YARD FIELD GOAL…but I digress.
Bud Grant, Original American Bad Ass: You’re 86 years old, it’s 20 below with the windchill and you’re asked to be an honorary captain and do the opening coin toss. What’s your chosen attire? You’re Bud Grant, and you are impervious to things like the ‘cold’ and the ‘elements’. You look at old man winter, unzip your fly, and piss in his goddamn face. You’re Bud Grant, immortal, which means you wear a short sleeve polo shirt and a baseball hat. You only wore pants because somebody made you, or otherwise you go out there sans khakis telling everyone to kiss your frostbitten ass.
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Buy: Playing with house money. If I’m being honest, I went into this game thinking the Vikings were going to win this game. But I also thought that win or lose, this has been one hell of a season. No one…and I mean NO ONE…saw the Vikings winning the division and getting the number three seed in the playoffs this year. At best, we thought the Vikings could contend and maaaaaybe sneak in to a wild card spot. By just about any measure, they far exceeded the expectations we had for this season. It was, for the most part, a hell of a fun season watching this defense mature into a force, while watching Teddy Bridgewater and Stefon Diggs develop what we hope to be long term chemistry.
Sell: Happy with how this season ended. That said, losing this way sucks, man. Sucks. I think I would have rather been blown out, if I’m being honest with you guys.
Buy: This was a gut punch loss. You just hate watching your team lose like this. It sucks, you feel empty inside, and you question every decision in your life that brought you to be a fan of the Vikings on days like this. I mean come on…it was a 27 yard field goal. I’m fat, out of shape, and right now I’m half in the bag drunk…but even I could make a 27 yard field goal. It’s not how this team was supposed to go out.
Sell: This doesn’t crack the top ten of gut punch losses. But for all of you who are like THIS IS THE WORST LOSS EVER FIRE NORV CUT WALSH FIRE ZIMMER CUT PETERSON B URN IT ALL TO THE GROUND RAWR RAWR RAWR…chill the fuck out. In the pantheon of ‘gut punch, get your teeth kicked in, what in the ever loving sweet Jesus did I just sit through’ losses…this doesn’t even register on my meter. Just off the top of my head, I got four Super Bowls, Hail Mary, Darrin Nelson, Wide Left, 41 doughnut, Nate Poole, and Bounty Gate that come before this, along with about another half dozen if I sat and thought about it. And for folks that think this is worse than Gary Anderson’s wide left–please close your grocery hole, rookie. That was for the damn Super Bowl, not a wild card game.
Seriously, stop. Stop. STAHHHHHHHHHP.
