Analysis: cold = a factor

John Wooden said that, “luck is when preparation meets opportunity.” And the ending of the Seahawks-Vikings game in a frozen over Minneapolis is proof of just that.

The analysis of the game is simple, both teams played like crap offensively. All week in the media the frigid temperatures were noted and dismissed. Understandable being that a lot of us are is western Washington where we rarely, if ever, experience such cold. If we were to be hit with such a cold front, surely us Seattleites wouldn’t play football in it, we can barely drive in it! 

Turns out, the cold was a HUGE factor in Sunday’s game. Russell Wilson said after the game that he had trouble communicating on the field because his face was frozen. That makes it easier to understand why they got hit with their share of delay of game penalties.

Adrian Peterson said the Vikings “dominated” for three quarters. Not really sure that’s a fair assessment. The cold definitely did, but AP himself finished with only 45 yards on 23 carries. Hardly a dominating performance.

The team that made plays won

What the game came down to was the team that won was the team that made plays when they needed to. Russell Wilson is probably the only quarterback in the NFL that can get a big gain out of that snap over his head. That’s an example of making a play when it needs to be made.

The Vikings meanwhile, botched it late, when they needed to come through. The aforementioned Peterson if you remember, fumbled late in the fourth quarter, and he likely would have been the scapegoat had Teddy Bridgewater not driven Minnesota to within field goal range.

Blair Walsh did everything right, too bad the no other Viking did

Ah, that field goal. No commentary about Sunday’s Wild Card game would be complete without its mention. With victory in reach, no one involved on that kick executed well enough for success. Cullen Loeffler snapped the ball high, Jeff Locke couldn’t get the laces out (again)(LACES OUT DAN!!), and of course Blair Walsh shanked the 27-yard chipshot.

You gotta feel for Walsh, a lot of people are going to overlook that he was their entire offense, scoring all nine points. Had they won, he would surely have been their MVP. So maybe when Peterson was saying the Vikings were dominating, he meant Walsh was dominating as the score was really Blair Walsh-9, Seattle Seahawks-0.

You gotta feel for Walsh even more because fans aren’t going to look at him as the reason they even had a chance at winning there. Or how he was still booming kickoffs out of the end zone, taking away the threat of All=Pro rookie return man Tyler Lockett. Not to mention the fact that his head coach, Mike Zimmer, ICED HIS OWN KICKER!!

I get what Zimmer was trying to do, he was trying to milk as much of the play clock as he could so he could whittle down the game clock as much as possible. He definitely was able to do that, as he called timeout with about 26 seconds remaining in the game. But do you really want your kicker to stand on the sidelines even longer after he stood on the sidelines for an entire game in those freezing temperatures?

Maybe he thought it didn’t matter, because he could not have gotten any colder right? Maybe Zimmer thought Walsh could warm his leg up in those three minutes during the timeout. Either way it obviously didn’t help.

We all feel for Walsh I think, especially as we Seahawk/Seattle sports fans have endured our own share of heartbreak. But as Zimmer said postgame, “gotta make that kick.”

 Photo: Flickr/Ben Rea