The Minnesota Vikings held on to beat the Seattle Seahawks 20-7 at CenturyLink Field on Saturday night in a back and forth battle for momentum. The Hawks dominated the first quarter in everything but score, controlling the time of possession thirteen minutes to Minnesota's two. The Hawks had 103 yards of total offense to the Vikings 3. That's 3 yards of offense in the first quarter and the Vikings came out leading 7-0 thanks to a pick-six by Marcus Sherels off of a Golden Tate tipped pass.
A few plays proceeding that, Seattle's special teams had forced a turnover on a punt return when Malcolm Smith managed to punch the ball free. Aaron Curry picked up the loose ball and was home free for a fumble recovery touchdown but the referees had called the play dead, claiming it was not a fumble. They were wrong, and the play was reversed by replay. Unfortunately for the Seahawks, the referee's error proved costly and represented a two-score swing as Seattle's touchdown was eliminated and the Vikings picked off Jackson for a touchdown a few plays later.
The Vikings controlled the second quarter for the most part but the Seahawks managed to keep them out of the endzone. Minnesota's Ryan Longwell hit field goals of 36 and 47 yards to put the Vikings up 13-0 at the Half.
Tarvaris Jackson finished the first half with 11/21 passing for 75 yards and an interception. He also ran for 12 yards on 2 attempts.
The 3rd Quarter and early part of the 4th belonged to Charlie Whitehurst as he led the Seahawks on a 16-play, 89 yard touchdown drive capped off by a 3-yard pass to TE Anthony McCoy in the back of the endzone. On that drive, Charlie went 10 for 11 for 79 yards and looked very impressive in the pocket -- poised, confident and authoritative. It's all but guaranteed that, among fans anyway, a quarterback controversy is brewing.
Pete Carroll kept Charlie in the game until late in the game and the Seahawks were threatening on a drive late in the quarter. Their comeback was stalled by two key drops and the Seahawks were forced to punt. On the ensuing Vikings possession, running back Tristan Davis broke open a 35-yard touchdown run to seal put Minnesota up 20-7, and sealed the victory with 2:39 left in the game. Charlie's night was over at that point, and rookie Josh Portis came in to finish it up.
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