Vikings Fall 20-13 to Seahawks in Seattle

The Vikings first-team offense and defense played more in the second preseason game, but the units didn’t get the results they wanted in a 20-13 loss to the Seahawks in Seattle on Friday. The Vikings first-team defense allowed a touchdown on the opening drive of the game. The Seahawks covered 77 yards on 11 plays in 5:24. Minnesota’s offense answered with an 11-play, 76-yard drive, moving all the way from its own 12 to the Seattle 12, but was forced to settled for a 29-yard field goal. The Vikings second-team defense also allowed a touchdown drive before Russell Wilson headed for the sidelines. Minnesota’s Sam Bradford finished 7-of-11 passing for 95 yards and a passer rating of 91.1 after three series. He was replaced by Case Keenum with 1:57 left in the first half. Keenum finished 12-for-18 for 70 yards, and Taylor Heinicke was 6-of-9 passing for 84 yards. Heinicke also gained 25 yards on three scrambles.Minnesota’s young players made several plays on offense and defense, but it wasn’t enough to complete a comeback in the second half. Ifeadi Odenigbo forced a fumble that linebacker Eric Wilson recovered at the 3 and returned 16 yards. Odenigbo and Tashawn Bower each recorded sacks, and Jaleel Johnson recorded two tackles for loss. The offense responded to the fumble recovery with Heinicke leading a touchdown drive that he capped with a 21-yard pass to Bucky Hodges, but it wasn’t enough to rally Minnesota. The Seahawks gained 406 net yards, compared to 320 by the Vikings and were 8-of-15 on third downs. Minnesota was 5-of-13 on third downs. Russell Wilson completed 13 of 18 passes (72.2 percent) for 206 yards and two touchdowns for a passer rating of 147.0.He was replaced by Trevone Boykin, who completed 5 of 8 passes for 55 yards and a rating of 82.8. Austin Davis followed Boykin and completed 2 of 5 passes for 21 yards. Seattle spread its carries between Eddie Lacy (six for 20 yards), Chris Carson (six for 27 yards), Alex Collins (10 for 58) and Mike Davis (six for 37). The Vikings fell to 1-1 this preseason and 13-2 in preseason games under Mike Zimmer. Minnesota will host San Francisco at U.S. Bank Stadium on Sunday, Aug. 27, in a game that will be televised nationally by NBC’s Sunday Night Football.Vikings players are off Saturday and will return to practice at Winter Park on Sunday. Here’s more on what happened in the first half and on special teams for the Vikings:First half offense The first-team offense opened in a noisy environment with a rookie center (Pat Elflein), and left side of the offensive line without much experience (left tackle Rashod Hill and left guard Nick Easton) but managed to move the ball from its own 12-yard line to the Seattle 12 before a false start, failed screen, gain of 1 and delay of game penalty forced Minnesota to settle for a 29-yard field goal by Marshall Koehn. Sam Bradford opened the Vikings first drive with a quick 12-yard completion to Michael Floyd. Bradford also connected with Stefon Diggs three times during the drive for gains of 10, 5, and 39 yards.Like much with the preseason, the drive had good and bad elements. It was great for the Vikings to move the ball against a strong defense, but the stumble in the red zone is the kind of thing that can make the difference in a close game. Keenum completed six of nine passes in leading a hurry-up drive that covered 41 yards over 10 plays in 1:48. Kai Forbath capped it by drilling a 51-yard field goal. Dalvin Cook led the Vikings with seven carries for 40 yards and caught one pass for 10 yards. The Vikings trailed 14-6 at halftime. First half defense After Seattle drew a holding penalty against Terence Newman on the first snap of the game, and Russell Wilson opened blazing hot. He connected with Doug Baldwin twice before throwing a jump ball to Kasen Williams that the receiver grabbed with one hand against Xavier Rhodes for a gain of 27. Another completion to Baldwin followed for 16 more. Mackensie Alexander fell when trying to track Baldwin. Newman stopped Baldwin shy of the goal line but was injured when making the tackle. He was replaced by Marcus Sherels.Sherels (5-foot-10 and 175 pounds) made a nice pass breakup against Jermain Kearse (6-1, 209) in the end zone on second down, but Wilson connected with Williams (6-1, 219) on a similar throw for a 1-yard touchdown. Danielle Hunter sacked Wilson for a loss of 13 to end the Seahawks second possession, and Minnesota’s second-team forced a 53-yard field goal by Blair Walsh that hit the crossbar and bounced back toward the field. Wilson led another touchdown drive against the Vikings second team, capping the possession with a short throw that became a 22-yard catch-and-run for running back Mike Davis. Special teams The Vikings continued evaluating players at the kicker, punter, kickoff returner and backup punt returner positions. Koehn was good from 29, and Forbath made a 51-yard pressure-packed kick before the half. Koehn was good on an extra point in the fourth quarter. Ryan Quigley and Taylor Symmank each executed punts from plus-50 territory by booting the ball with it point down. Quigley’s netted 32 yards and caused a muff by J.D. McKissic, but Seattle recovered at its own 15. Symmank’s netted 24 yards and was fair caught at the 20.Quigley also executed a 46-yard punt that was downed by Sam Brown at the Seattle 3-yard line. Symmank had a 49-yard punt in the second half. Rodney Adams fumbled the opening kickoff of the second half. He totaled 34 yards on two returns. Stacy Coley returned one kickoff 17 yards. Jerick McKinnon returned Seattle’s first kickoff 10 yards. Sherels returned one punt for eight yards, Adams returned one for 9, R.J. Shelton returned one for seven yards, and Coley lost a yard during a return.

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