Seahawks escape with 10-9 win over Vikings after Walsh miss

Now, in 2016, Seattle and Minnesota have given us the Meat Locker Bowl.

Vikings kicker Blair Walsh had a chance to send Minnesota on to the Divisional Round, but his 27-yard field goal sailed wide left with 22 seconds remaining.

The Seahawks will take on the Carolina Panthers next Sunday.

Temperatures in Minneapolis dipped below freezing in Fahrenheit, making the game the third coldest in the league’s history, although the Vikings’ 88-year-old former coach Bud Grant made light of it when he came out wearing a short-sleeved polo shirt to make the coin toss.

The second coldest game ever was the 1981 AFC championship clash between the Cincinnati Bengals and the San Diego Chargers, where the temperature was at minus nine. This is Pete Carroll’s eighth playoff win as the head coach of the Seahawks. The cold looked more biting than it had all day.

According to ESPN Stats and Information, NFL kickers had made 188 of 190 field goals this season on attempts 27 yards and shorter.

On the previous possession, Wilson picked up an errant snap from the shotgun, scrambled, then found Tyler Lockett for a 35-yard gain.

Cornerback Richard Sherman, who said his eyelashes froze during warmups in the minus-25 wind chill, claimed that doubts never entered the Seahawks’ minds.

Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson threw a 3-yard TD to Doug Baldwin to cut Minnesota’s lead to 9-7 early in the fourth quarter.

“Sometimes, things might not be going your way, we may not be clicking on offense for whatever reason, but the score was still reachable”, Wilson said. “I had the first down, and my mentality is, trying to scratch for a few yards”.

Can we find some sympathy for our neighbors to the north?

“Let me just one last thing Dan [Patrick]”, said Harrison on Sunday as they were wrapping up the broadcast.

“Missed opportunities”, Peterson said. Offensively, we gave ourselves a shot toward the end. “The football gods were with us today”.

The Vikings (11-6) took the ball back with 1:42 left at their 39 and, aided by a pass interference penalty on Kam Chancellor, drove deep into Seattle’s territory. “I can tell you this, it was my fault”.

“We just needed a game like this to get our mojo back and get our confidence going”, Rodgers said. “Jeff did his job, (long snapper) Kevin (McDermott) did his job”. I’m the only one who didn’t do his job.

The Vikings call is great because the broadcasters are hyping up Walsh’s kick and reciting his achievements with the full assumption that he’s about add to them, then the call switches from 100 to 0 real quick as he misses the kick. His miss of the game-winning chip-shot field has to be the worst miss of his career.

Seattle outgained Minnesota 226-183 on the day, getting 142 yards and a touchdown from Wilson on 13-of-26 passing.

Peterson was able to muster just 45 yards on 23 carries. The difference between this and past Seattle defenses is the Seahawks struggled against the tight end, giving up 75 catches for 873 yards and eight touchdowns. “This team has a lot of fight, a lot of heart”.

“I worked real hard to get myself to a place where I was very consistent for this team all year”.

Those were the only three points of the first half, but Walsh converted from 43 and 47 yards in the third quarter after promising Vikings drives were halted. But Rodgers responded in the second quarter, leading the Packers to 17 points and a 17-11 halftime lead.

NOTES: Seahawks RB Marshawn Lynch did not make the trip after practicing fully all week. His status for next week against the Carolina Panthers is uncertain. Seahawks TE Luke Willson did not play because of a concussion….

Green Bay will play Arizona next weekend. And when playoff games hang in the balance, that’s when people have to answer for their mistakes.