Seahawks, Vikings to face frigid weather in state-of-the-art undergarments

The Seahawks often deploy an eighth man in the box, and have fast, physical, sound tacklers in the back seven, from Pro Bowl safeties Earl Thomas and Kam Chancellor (expected to return from a three-game absence due to a pelvic injury) to two of the game’s fastest ‘backers, Bobby Wagner and K.J. Wright. Even though they are underdogs heading into this Sunday, this is a totally different team that Seattle will be facing than when these two teams first met this season. Out of all the indicators that we can point to for the success of the Vikings this year, their ability to protect their young quarterback has proven to be one of the top indicators.

While it may seem insane to play in zero-degree weather, it’s still not the coldest of all time.

The coldest game in NFL history was minus-13 for the NFL Championship on December 31, 1967, between Green Bay and Dallas at Lambeau Field, famously dubbed “The Ice Bowl”.

Minnesota Vikings QB Teddy Bridgewater in for a tough test this week.

Bring the Heat In the Cold – One of the few weak spots for the Seahawks this season was that Russell Wilson was sacked 45 times, which ranked Seattle 28th in the league in sacks allowed per pass play. “He does a great job with it. He walks guys up in the A gap, brings guys off of each side and just presents you with issues”. We’ve seen numerous breakdowns of Bridgewater’s play this season, and while he holds the ball a little longer than he should on occasion, the vast majority of that pressure comes from the ineptitude of his offensive line in pass blocking.

Both teams have heated benches that include blowers for helmets. While flags are hard to predict, nine penalties are simply too many for a team that needs to play mistake-free to take out the two-time defending conference champs.

Conclusion: Both of these teams are very strong on special teams, but rough Minnesota weather conditions could make the kicking game an adventure. A tremendous season for the Vikings, but the Seahawks move on rather easily.

“The first thing is, we need our fans to make it an advantage for us”, Minnesota coach Mike Zimmer said of the frigid forecast. “We’re going to play ball the way we normally do”.

Bare-chested fans, beware: Sunday afternoon’s National Football League postseason game in Minneapolis would be a downright unsafe place to go shirtless.

As for Bridgewater, he will be wearing gloves because that’s what he always does.

The Packers have won five of the past six meetings between the two teams but they haven’t played since early in the 2013 season, a 38-20 Green Bay home win. “I think the way he’s throwing the ball has been the most impressive to me”. But when you’re moving around you get pretty warm quickly. “I’d give it to him hands down”.

“I’m not looking with a critical eye”, Parcells said.

And if needed, Wilson and the rest of the Seahawks can always join Sherman on that virtual beach in Tahiti.