Little goes right in Seahawks’ blowout loss to Vikings
MINNEAPOLIS – So much for progress.
When the Seahawks lost last week, at least they saw signs of improvement in defeat. The offense made strides, particularly in the run game, and Seattle coach Jim Mora focused on the positives despite that loss in Arizona.
Sunday was a different story. There was little to like for the Seahawks in a 35-9 loss to Minnesota, Seattle’s fourth double-digit defeat in five games.
“We weren’t good in any of the areas we thought we’d be good at today,” quarterback Matt Hasselbeck said. “We were not ourselves today. We were not very good.”
But after a 3-7 start, it appears that “not very good” is the Seahawks being themselves.
On offense, the Seahawks couldn’t move the ball until the second half when the game was well out of reach, and defensively they were no match for 40-year-old quarterback Brett Favre, who threw for four touchdowns, and the Vikings offense. Even special teams contributed to the blowout loss, with Ben Obomanu fumbling a kick return late in the first half to set up Minnesota’s third touchdown of the second quarter.
During their early season struggles, the Seahawks battled a number of injuries, most notably on the offensive line. The hope for Seattle was that things would get better as players returned to health. Yet 10 games into the season, the Seahawks are as healthy as most teams this far into the season and the struggles continue.
“We know there’s a long ways to go,” Hasselbeck said. “My feeling is we just can’t get used to this, we can’t get used to losing. We work too hard to figure out how to win here, and we’ve just got to keep fighting.”
Mora believes his team will do just that. The team is down, he said, but not defeated. He believes improvement is coming, regardless of how things looked Sunday.
“I don’t think it ever feels like a step back for me,” Mora said. “I think you are always moving forward, it just doesn’t feel like it after a game. … We will go back tomorrow and we will get it done eventually, we’ll get it done.”
The numbers from the latest Seahawks loss show just how far they are from the elite teams of the NFC. The Vikings more than doubled the Seahawks’ yardage total (431 to 212), had 18 more first downs (28 to 10), were substantially better on third-down conversions (62 percent to 10 percent), dominated time of possession (42:11 to 17:49) and held the Seahawks to a franchise-low rushing total of 4 yards.
“They do not have a weakness on their football team, quite frankly,” Mora said of the Vikings. “They’re good all around. They’re big and physical and fast.”
The offense did little right, punting on all five first-half possessions, and didn’t get past midfield until the third quarter.
“You can call it a step backward, say we turned a corner, we hit a U-turn, whatever you want to say,” receiver T.J. Houshmandzadeh said. “We just played terrible today. I didn’t break a sweat probably till like five minutes left in the game.”
Vikings 35, Seahawks 9
| Seattle | 0 | 0 | 3 | 6 | — | 9 |
| Minnesota | 0 | 21 | 7 | 7 | — | 35 |
Min—Harvin 23 pass from Favre (Longwell kick)
Min—Shiancoe 8 pass from Favre (Longwell kick)
Min—Berrian 3 pass from Favre (Longwell kick)
Min—Rice 7 pass from Favre (Longwell kick)
Sea—FG Mare 40
Min—Rice 34 pass from Jackson (Longwell kick)
Sea—Forsett 1 run (pass failed)
| Sea | Min | |
| First downs | 10 | 28 |
| Total Net Yards | 212 | 431 |
| Rushes-yards | 13-4 | 37-160 |
| Passing | 208 | 271 |
| Punt Returns | 2-13 | 3-30 |
| Kickoff Returns | 5-103 | 2-35 |
| Interceptions Ret. | 0-0 | 1-0 |
| Comp-Att-Int | 19-29-1 | 28-33-0 |
| Sacked-Yards Lost | 2-23 | 2-19 |
| Punts | 7-51.3 | 5-43.2 |
| Fumbles-Lost | 4-1 | 0-0 |
| Penalties-Yards | 10-64 | 5-31 |
| Time of Possession | 17:49 | 42:11 |
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
RUSHING—Seattle, Forsett 9-9, Hasselbeck 2-4, Griffith 1-0, S.Wallace 1-(minus 9). Minnesota, Peterson 24-82, Taylor 11-73, Jackson 2-5.
PASSING—Seattle, Hasselbeck 19-26-1-231, S.Wallace 0-3-0-0. Minnesota, Favre 22-25-0-213, Jackson 6-8-0-77.
RECEIVING—Seattle, Forsett 8-80, Burleson 6-100, Houshmandzadeh 4-36, Branch 1-15. Minnesota, Shiancoe 8-78, Rice 6-89, Harvin 5-79, Peterson 4-16, Taylor 2-12, Berrian 2-11, Tahi 1-5.
MISSED FIELD GOALS—None.