RENTON, Wash. (AP) – Despite all of his rapid optimism, there came a point in the NFC wild-card game where doubt creeped into Pete Carroll’s mind.
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He hit three field goals from 22, 43 and 47 yards in the first three quarters and lined up to send the Vikings to the next round and eliminate the two-time defending NFC champions, but with Seahawks cornerback Richard Sherman breathing down their necks, Locke put the ball down with the laces facing toward Walsh, and the kicker pulled it well left. “The Seahawks under Carroll have also become that unique team that has no problem with falling behind in playoff games”.
“I’ll be more confident going into next year”, Walsh said. That would have allowed the Seahawks to save their final two timeouts and get the ball back with potentially enough time to score a touchdown of their own. Made it kind of fun.
“I thought he played really tough”, Carroll said of Michael. At minus-6, it tied for the third-coldest game in National Football League history and the coldest game in Vikings history. The kick was shorter than an extra point.
“It’s so quick that I don’t know what happened”, a teary-eyed Walsh said after the game via ESPN. “Because you take things for granted – I’ve joked around and said, ‘Yeah, I done put the ball on the turf but how many have I lost it?” “It was considerably faster, so for whatever reason they sped up their mechanism”.
“We’ve got to go to tomorrow and make sure he’s OK after today”, Carroll said.
The Seahawks scored their first touchdown of the game early in the fourth quarter to cut the Vikings’ lead to 9-7. But two plays after Wilson’s TD pass, Chancellor stripped Adrian Peterson and watched defensive lineman Ahtyba Rubin recover the fumble for the Seahawks at the Vikings’ 40. After all, while Russell Wilson might not be a read option quarterback per se because he can throw too, he runs when his team needs yards, and he is highly effective when he does, according to the team’s website.
After giving credit to his teammates for showing him so much support and compassion in the hours following the loss, Walsh said he believes they respect him because he’s been able to do a lot for the team. It was play after play after play of continuing to do the right thing.
After graduating, Walsh played for the University of Georgia’s football team, where he set an NCAA record after kicking at least one field goal in 45 straight games. Joe Cardona has done a great job snapping.
The Seahawks seemed very optimistic that Lynch would play last Sunday, but the veteran back decided at the last second that he would be unable to go.
“This is his first surgery ever and it happens to be right in his core”, said Carroll. “There’s nothing we can do about that”.
But for the most part we’ve done it really well. Tight end Luke Willson, who missed the game because of a concussion, is expected back.
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In other injury news, the the only player who came away from Sunday’s game with an issue was fullback Will Tukuafu, who suffered a hamstring injury. Seattle will play at Carolina for the fourth time since the 2012 season.
