Vikings’ Blair Walsh takes blame for ‘ridiculous’ miss

Minnesota, their quest to avenge last year’s Super Bowl loss almost frozen before it began.

The sixth-seeded Seahawks (11-6) are now headed to Charlotte for a date with the top-seeded Carolina Panthers in the divisional round this Sunday.

Despite all of his rapid optimism, there came a point in the NFC wild-card game where doubt creeped into Pete Carrolls mind.

It would be fair to say the Seahawks are fortunate that they are still in the playoffs the way they played yesterday.

The Super Bowl past year between the Seahawks and Patriots was a pick-em. I’m the only one who didn’t do his job.

But that’s not the case for next weekend’s games as all four home teams are favored to win with Arizona a 7-point favorite over Green Bay, New England five points over Kansas City and Denver seven over Pittsburgh.

Thawed out from the sub-zero temperatures in Minnesota, the Seahawks were moving forward on Monday after one of the more memorable playoff games in their history.

The Vikings defense kept Wilson in the pocket most of the game.

The Seahawks pulled off another miracle playoff win Sunday when Blair Walsh missed a 27-yard field goal in the final 30 seconds. I though he ran hard all day”, Carroll said, then adding – with room to read between the lines, “I thought he ran hard all day long….

Though Walsh certainly will stew over the 10-9 heartbreaker for the better part of the offseason, his girlfriend isn’t the only supporter in his corner.

In 1983, the Seahawks were huge underdogs to the Dolphins in Miami, but they scored the go-ahead touchdown in the final couple of minutes and sealed the upset with a field goal while getting fumble recoveries on two kickoffs. “He just missed it… he made a mistake”.

“That’s called grace”, Chancellor said.

McCallum played nine seasons with B.C. – winning Grey Cups in 2006 and ’11 – before returning to Saskatchewan last season. The laces were facing the wrong way, sure, but Walsh took all the heat for the miss. “I’m somebody who’s really confident in my abilities”, Walsh said. “Just wait and see and take it one day at a time”.

It was because of this scene that many fans felt they had just witnessed the pivotal scene from the film in real life.

Instead, Walsh stood up at his locker with tears in his eyes and took responsibility for his failure.

Vikings coach Mike Zimmer was in no mood to sugarcoat the miss for Walsh.

Carroll said that Lynch didn’t suffer a setback in his recovery, he just didn’t feel he was going to be able to play after going through the week of practice. Willson missed the past two games after suffering a concussion in Week 16 against St. Louis…. The Vikings managed only 58 yards rushing and became the seventh team in the past eight games Seattle has held under 100 yards rushing. Walsh, whose third kick was almost blocked by Sherman, jogged out for the defining moment. It’s a chip shot. “He’s got to make it”.

This season, the special teams trio has performed at an elite level.

HAPPY NEW YEAR: The Vikings, who will have the 23rd pick in the first round of the draft this spring, have a busy year ahead with their move into U.S. Bank Stadium. For the first au naturel postseason game here since the NFC championship game in 1976, the grizzled coach of that team, Bud Grant, served as an honorary captain.