What a game last night! Imagine being the San Francisco49ers on Sunday morning, waking up as the #1 seed in the NFC. Then on Mondaynight, going to bed as the #5 seed. Well, that’s what happened after theSeahawks defeated the Minnesota Vikings in prime time matchup at CenturyLink.

The Seahawks received the ball to start the game. Duringtheir first drive, RB Chris Carson was shaken up and had to leave the field.They ended up punting the ball away to the Vikings who were able to drive theball 83 yards and score to take the early 7-0 lead.

Russell Wilson and company didn’t panic as they marched downthe field on the ensuing possession for a 75-yard touchdown drive. Carson cameback into the game and ran the ball in from the one-yard line.

Carson wasn’t the only player to get injured. At the 8:56mark in the first quarter, Dalvin Cook took a shot to his collarbone that lefthim out for the rest of the game. During the hit, he fumbled the football,which was recovered by Bradley McDougald. Alex Mattison, who finished the gamewith 51 receiving yards (primarily screen passes) and 22 rushing yards,replaced Cook.

In the second quarter, things started to start feeling alittle sketchy—you know that feeling that the game takes a turn for the worst?That feeling. Wilson threw a pass intended for Jacob Hollister that was battedback to him, where he went to swat it down—directly to Harris who returned itfor a score. Vikings took a 14-7 lead.

The Seahawks and Vikings were able to get field goals totake a 17-10 Vikings lead into halftime.

Then the third quarter happened. Chris Carson and RashaadPenny is a lethal duo. Honestly, they’re probably the best 1-2 backs in theleague right now. Sure, I can think of better RBs than Carson, but I can’tthink of a better duo on any team other than Carson and Penny. During thisthird quarter, the Seahawks scored 17 unanswered points with a run by Penny, afield goal, and a 60-yard bomb to David Moore.

To start the 4th quarter scoring, Rashaad Pennytook a 13-yard pass to the house to put the Seahawks up 34-17. Things startedto crumble for the Seahawks from there. Kirk Cousins linked up with LaquonTreadwell for a 58-yard touchdown in, what appeared to be, blown Seahawkssecondary coverage. On the next Seahawks possession, D.K. Metcalf fumbled thefootball, which resulted in a Kyle Rudolph touchdown to bring the score to34-30.

After burning through their timeouts, the Vikings turned theball over on downs to the Seahawks who were able to put up 3 more points tomake it a 37-30 ballgame with :21 left. The Vikings special teams fumbled thekickoff to seal the game for the Seahawks.

With this win, the Seahawks are now the #2 seed in the NFC.

Digging deeper: Seattle’s defensive front is stout. Theywere able to stymie the Vikings’ running game, even when Cook was in theballgame. They put a lot of pressure on Cousins who seemed inaccurate most ofthe night. The Vikings success came on screen passes. The Seattle defense isgaining momentum as we move into the winter months of football, where theSeahawks generally flourish. Additionally, the Seahawks secondary is beginningto show more signs of life. The addition of Quandre Diggs was what they needed.Take away the blown coverage of Treadwell’s TD, the secondary limited Diggs to25 yards and Rudolph to 50 yards.

Coming out of halftime, the Seahawks offense was able to generate 24 unanswered points, 17 in the 3rd quarter and 7 in the 4th. Rashaad Penny and Chris Carson are killing it on the ground. Carson finished with 102 rushing yards and Penny finished the game with 74, while the combo combined for 3 total touchdowns. Carson held on to the rock all night, and I was able to notice him cradling the football with both arms, making it difficult to turn it over. D.K. Metcalf, however, turned the ball over yet again. He seems to do so when he is trying to extend plays. His focus should be ball security, then turning up field.

Looking ahead, the Seahawks take on the Rams in Los Angelesthis Sunday night at 5:20 PST. Every game from here on out is of the highestimportance to keep San Francisco as the 5 seed in order to get the Seahawks afirst round bye.