Second Half Avalanche and Late Heroics Help Seahawks Turn Away Vikings, Improve to 5-0

All night long, the Seahawks looked poised to drop their first game of the season. But with two separate second half rallies, Russell Wilson and company found a way once again to snatch victory from defeat late against the Vikings to keep their record unblemished and improve to 5-0 for the first time in franchise history.

For the first two quarters of action against the Vikings on Sunday Night Football, the Seahawks couldn’t muster anything offensively, producing 45 total yards and no points on the scoreboard. It was a shock to the system for a team that had averaged north of 30 points per game in a red-hot 4-0 start.

But coming out of the break, after watching Dalvin Cook and Minnesota churn out three first half scoring drives on over 20 minutes of possession time, Russell Wilson and a once-dormant Seattle offense came to life with a basketball-style scoring run. Rattling off three touchdowns in under two minutes and aided by a pair of turnovers, the Seahawks turned a 13-0 deficit into a 21-13 lead early in the third quarter in a scoring avalanche rarely seen in the NFL.

Still, that explosion of points almost didn’t matter in another wild game between these two familiar foes. Minnesota bounced right back, scoring two consecutive touchdowns to retake a 26-21 lead, requiring more late-game magic from Wilson to hit DK Metcalf for a game-winning six-yard touchdown on a fourth down conversion with just 15 seconds left to play.

Here are five takeaways from Sunday's latest cardiac-arrest inducing thriller as the Seahawks improved to 5-0 for the first time in franchise history.

1. Wilson overcomes his lengthy history of struggles throwing in the rain at the perfect time.

While being shutout in the first half, Wilson completed all six of his passes but for just 31 yards. He struggled to find open receivers and Minnesota's pass rush was consistently getting home, sacking him four times to thwart several promising drives. Weather also played a factor in the struggles getting the ball downfield, as Wilson has historically had trouble throwing in rainy conditions like the ones present at CenturyLink Field on Sunday. When Seattle executed its 21-point barrage in the third quarter, the rain had dissipated, but the soggy, windy conditions returned during the final quarter. It looked for a moment as if Wilson had lost the game for his team, throwing a costly interception to Eric Wilson with under six minutes to play. But the MVP front-runner bounced back in tremendous fashion with the game on the line as he's done countless times in his career. Despite three straight incompletions that were uncharacteristically inaccurate and may have been off target partially due to throwing a wet football, he responded by firing a 39-yard completion to Metcalf. Moments later, again facing a game-deciding fourth down, he went back to the rising phenom on a crossing route to seal the win with a perfect pass where only his receiver could catch it.

2. Though Wilson was sacked four times in the first half, the offensive line turned in another solid outing.

It's easy to point at sacks and blame the offensive line for Seattle's offensive struggles in the first half on Sunday, but once again, the majority of the times the Vikings got to Wilson in the first two quarters can't be attributed to the blocking in front of him. One of the sacks in the second quarter came on a screen play destined for disaster from the snap, as Minnesota wasn't fooled and had multiple defenders swarming Chris Carson. Another sack earlier in the half happened after Wilson had held onto the football for four seconds and no receivers came open, forcing him to eat it and take the big loss. Those players destroyed drives, setting the Seahawks way off schedule with several 3rd and 15 or longer situations. In the run game, with the exception of a botched duo run where a blitzing Eric Kendricks was left unblocked on a blitz and blew up Carson on 3rd and 1, the group up front did a quality job creating holes. Carson finished with 52 yards on eight carries, including a spectacular 29-yard touchdown to give Seattle its first lead of the game. Travis Homer added 14 yards on three carries, while Wilson himself had 58 rushing yards. This much-improved group continues to play well, allowing Wilson to cook and the run game to find success.

3. It’s officially turnover or bust for the Seahawks defense.

Now five games into the season, there’s a large enough sample size to be able to reach the verdict the Seahawks simply don’t have a good defense, at least for now. Pete Carroll’s unit continues to surrender yards in bunches and while the team has found ways to make clutch plays when needed such as K.J. Wright's "Spiderman" one-handed interception and two strip sacks, the inability to consistently get opposing offenses off the field nearly came back to haunt them on Sunday night. Even after Seattle soared back to capture an eight-point lead midway through the third quarter, the defense allowed Kirk Cousins to dice them up and gave up several 20-plus yard runs to Mattison, allowing Minnesota to regain a five-point lead in the fourth quarter. If they aren't turning the ball over, they're giving up long drives ending with points, which has to be driving Carroll nuts. Though the Vikings were held to 43 percent conversion rate on third downs, they still picked up six of them and also converted two fourth downs, extending multiple scoring drives and chewing up tons of clock in the process. At some point, the Seahawks won't be able to pull a rabbit out of their hat when backed deep in their own territory and they will lose a winnable game as a result.

4. The Seahawks’ run defense finally got tested and nearly flunked the exam.

Looking more specifically, the Seahawks entered Sunday’s game ranked third in the NFL for rushing yards given up and yards per carry. But both of those numbers will balloon after Minnesota’s offensive line manhandled and bullied Seattle’s defensive line, rushing for over 200 yards even after starting running back Dalvin Cook left with a groin injury. Guards and centers were consistently climbing to the second level and blocking linebackers, creating big creases for all of the Vikings' backs. Backup Alexander Mattison came in and rushed for 112 yards on 20 carries, with most of that production coming after halftime with Cook sidelined. If there's a silver lining, just as the group did back in Week 2 against the Patriots, the front line held firm for a late fourth down stop and Cody Barton stuffed Mattison at the line to give Wilson a chance to win the game. Nonetheless, it's very evident the team will need some "Snacks" Harrison after the bye to shore up a deficiency that had been masked the first four weeks in part due to the ease of throwing against Seattle's secondary to this point.

5. Michael Dickson and Seattle's special teams deserve a ton of credit for this victory.

While some fans may have been aggravated to see Carroll decide to punt on the opening drive of the game with the Seahawks at the Vikings 37-yard line, Dickson immediately pinned the opposition at their own two-yard line. He punted five times total on the night and Minnesota never started closer than its own 15-yard line, twice beginning a drive inside the three in the shadows of their goal post. Ugo Amadi caught one of those gorgeous punts on a play that emulated a receiver hauling in a pass from Wilson. Then on kickoff during Seattle's third quarter onslaught, defensive end Damontre Moore may have taken Minnesota return man Ameer Abdullah's soul when he leveled him with an impressive open field hit stick, firing up the sidelines. While the defense continues to search for answers in terms of giving up yardage and points, special teams has remained a surprising strength for the Seahawks and been critical to the team's undefeated start.