Sacked, pillaged
SEATTLE _ Losses don’t get much more painful than this one.
Seattle lost starting quarterback Matt Hasselbeck to a knee injury, witnessed the end of its 12-game regular-season winning streak at Qwest Field and saw its defense and special teams get roughed up repeatedly during a 31-13 setback to Minnesota on Sunday.
The Seahawks slipped to 4-2 and into a first-place tie in the NFC West with idle St. Louis. Of more immediate concern is the condition of Hasselbeck’s right knee. He’s scheduled for an MRI today. Seahawks coach Mike Holmgren declined to speculate how long Hasselbeck might be sidelined.
“Anytime you lose your Pro Bowl quarterback it takes a little wind out of your sails,” fullback Mack Strong said. “I thought Seneca (Wallace) stepped right in with confidence, threw some nice passes and we still had some chances to make some plays.”
But it was the Vikings (4-2) who made virtually all the big plays in the second half to pull away from a 10-10 halftime tie. Seattle seemed to suffer a letdown on both sides of the ball after Hasselbeck left the game early in the third quarter.
“It is special; I’m not going to lie,” said Minnesota guard Steve Hutchinson, whose controversial exit from Seattle was well documented in the offseason and the week leading up to the game. “This was the showdown that had been made up by you (media) guys, actually. As much as I tried to avoid all the hoopla about it, it’s over.”
Sunday’s game was over fairly quickly after Hasselbeck’s departure. Facing third-and-goal at the 15, Minnesota fooled Seattle with a halfback option pass as tight end Jerome Wiggins made a fingertip catch in the end zone, giving the Vikings a 17-10 lead.
Wallace threw an interception three plays later, but the Vikings failed to capitalize, missing a field goal.
After another ineffective series, Seattle punted and pinned Minnesota on its 5-yard line. Chester Taylor took a handoff up the middle, but found no room. He drifted left, found a seam and raced 95 yards for a touchdown. It was the longest run in Vikings’ history and also the longest allowed by the Seahawks, who have been showing up on highlight reels for years after Bo Jackson’s 91-yard jaunt _ not counting his yardage sprinting up the tunnel _ at the Kingdome in 1987.
“I was locked up on ‘Hutch’ on the outside, trying to find him (Taylor),” linebacker Julian Peterson said. “All of a sudden I saw him running (free). We had the perfect defense and I thought everybody got to the right spots. It was like, ‘Where did he come from?’ “
Taylor, who finished with a career-high 169 yards, waited patiently for a hole to develop and then outraced safety Michael Boulware.
“We needed that,” said Vikings quarterback Brad Johnson, who added 171 yards passing and one touchdown. “The crowd was going nuts and you could barely hear in the huddle. We called one of our best runs and they jammed it, there really wasn’t much there. Chester did a great job keeping his legs alive and took it around the side.”
Seattle closed within 24-13 on Josh Brown’s field goal early in the fourth quarter, but the Vikings sealed it when linebacker Ben Leber sacked Wallace, forcing a fumble that was recovered by Kevin Williams in the end zone midway through the fourth quarter.
The Vikings used many of their 190 return yards to gain an edge in field position in the first half, which ended tied at 10. Otherwise, the statistics were just about as close as the score. The teams were separated by 17 total yards and a couple first downs. Neither team had a turnover. Both had problems protecting their quarterback. Both struck for long touchdown passes _ Hasselbeck to Darrell Jackson covering 72 yards on Seattle’s first possession while Johnson hit Marcus Robinson on a 40-yarder in the second quarter.
The Seahawks now face the difficult task of trying to regroup, likely without Hasselbeck at the helm.
“We can’t panic,” Strong said. “We’re still 4-2. We still control our own destiny. We just have to get ready for Kansas City next week.”