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Without Lynch, the Hawks will be giving the ball to C-Mike, who has fumbled on more than one occassion... so there are others to lose as well.
Despite losing to the Seahawks in back in December by 31 points, the Minnesota Vikings are underdogs by less than a touchdown, according to Las Vegas odds makers.
And for good reason, they will be bringing back three defensive starters that were out the first time around, and head coach Mike Zimmer will likely stick with Adrian Peterson longer than he did previously.
Those two factors, along with answering some other questions, mixed in with some luck can put the Vikings over the top on Wild Card Sunday. Here are the biggest keys for a Minnesota victory:
Adrian Peterson must get the ball more than eight times
Peterson was understandably upset after the loss to Seahawks which saw him carry the ball a mere eight times. Minnesota immediately abandoned the run game, mostly because they found themselves down big early.
This time around, they must stick the run as long they can, if only to keep the ball out of Seattle’s hands. Seattle is executing very efficiently on offense, but if they can take up more clock, they could disrupt their rhythm or at the very least keep the Vikings defense off the field.
Using Harrison Smith, Anthony Barr and Linval Joseph to terrorize Russell Wilson
St. Louis has provided a good blueprint for how to beat the Seahawks, as they have beat them when Seattle was finding its way, and in the midst of their offensive renaissance.
In Week 16 we saw Aaron Donald consistently disrupt Wilson and lead a pass rush that sacked him four times and more importantly, put a hit on him 12 times. By getting to him so much, of course this disrupts the Seahawks’ newfound quick passing scheme.
Therefore using Smith, an ace in both coverage and blitzing, ditto for Barr can produce a similar result for the Vikings. Most notably however is Joesph at nose tackle. If there is any point within the Seahawks offensive line it is up the middle, and with Joseph back on the field, Russell Wilson will likely be feeling more pressure on Sunday.
That means Zimmer will have to stray from his philosophy of not blitzing, this year Minnesota ranked in the bottom five in the league in terms of running the blitz. But as the Rams showed, a solid rush up the middle might lead to a pick with Smith back to patrol deep.
Can they disrupt Wilson at all?
Last time around, Wilson has his way with Minnesota’s defense, completing 21 of 27 passes for 274 yards and three touchdowns. This time they have safety Harrison Smith back in the lineup, which should help.
Needless to say, if Wilson has anything resembling the day he had back in December, the Vikings might as well pack it in and call it a season.
Can Teddy Bridgewater step up if needed?
Coach Mike Zimmer has already come out and said that Bridgewater “needs to play better.” And he definitely will need to if the Vikings hope to overcome a defense that has led the league for a record four consecutive seasons.
In their regular season matchup the Vikings put the game in Bridgewater’s hands and he floundered. Many expect them to stick with the run game longer, but Seattle hasn’t allowed anyone to rush for 100 yards in a game since 2013, when Jamal Charles did so for the Chiefs.
If Bridgewater were to pick a time to breakout, there would be no better occasion than Sunday.
Image: Flickr/Mike Morbeck