Controversial Win For The Seattle Seahawks On MNF

Seattle Seahawks made a late push against the Minnesota Vikings and clinched a huge triumph in the last three minutes of Monday Night Football. The final result 21-7 for Pete Carroll’s boys.

But what casted a shadow on their win was a controversial decision made by the official with 5:38 left until the end.

Dan Bailey was about to kick the ball when Bobby Wagner blocked his shot. Completely legitimate you would say.

But what was the problem, is that Wagner broke the rules, when he used his teammates’ back as a surface from which he bounced off and jumped over the defenders. Now, according to the rules, using teammates or rivals to gain height to block kicks, or to jump through gaps, which he did, is something which is strictly forbidden.

Bobby Wagner got hops for the blocked field goal.https://t.co/ZU4TworNoN

— DraftKings (@DraftKings) December 11, 2018

The official threw the flags, but they picked them up pretty fast, stating that there were no illegal actions during the play.

It was fourth-and-9 for the Vikings from 47-yard line. If there were a penalty, the guests would have a new first down from 32 yards. Having in mind that Seattle led 6-0 at that points, it would have a huge impact on the game.

Bobby Wagner doesn’t care about “what would be”.

“I’m not stressing about that. I made the play. They called what they called,” he said. “There’s times in games where things happen all the time. I’m not stressing on it. It was a big block and we’ll definitely take it. It was amazing.”

His move set the game in the right direction for the hosts, as they scored right away in their next drive. Chris Carson rushed for two yards, and after that, a two-point conversion followed which lifted Seattle to a 14-0 lead.

And while Wagner might have made a huge defensive play, Russell Wilson made it on the offensive side of the field. During that drive, the 2012 Rookie of the Year, scrambled for 40 yards, bringing his Seahawks to only 21 yards from the end zone. Though his night was awful, this one move was crucial.

He just kept going 🏃‍♂️💨 @DangeRussWilson https://t.co/B6GLE7K2Ao

— The Checkdown (@thecheckdown) December 11, 2018

Wilson had only 72 yards through the air, which is his worst record in the professional career, with 10 of 20 and one interception. After the game he was praising his defensive teammates, saying that, in fact, they won the game.

“We’ve been really explosive on our offense, and scored a lot of points. Tonight we weren’t able to, and our defense really picked us up in a big way. So that was just really cool to see.” Wilson said.

Seattle’s QB already found a perfect candidate for the DPOY award.

“Bobby Wagner was special tonight,” he told the media during the press conference “Him blocking that field goal… he’s got to be Defensive Player of the Year, the way he’s playing what he’s doing, things he’s doing.”

Meanwhile, the fans in Minneapolis found the person to blame for this loss. Kirk Cousins once again failed to prove his hefty deal signed this summer.

He was 20 of 33 for 208 yards and one touchdown, but when needed the most, Captain Kirk wasn’t there. With some 9 minutes to go Minnesota was 4 yards away from Seattle’s end zone, with four downs at disposal. In the end, they turned the ball away to the hosts.

He also suffered a sack just 18 seconds after Seattle’ first touchdown, fumbled the ball, which was recovered by Justin Coleman, who ended this contest with a 29-yard TD return. It was 21-0 for the 2013 Super Bowl champs.

TOUCHDOWN Justin Coleman!! #Seahawks

Jacob Martin speed rushes around the edge and uses his motor to finish Kirk Cousins for the strip-sack. Justin Coleman returns it for six.pic.twitter.com/QRsbNP4uiG

— Samuel Gold (@SamuelRGold) December 11, 2018

Pete Caroll was delighted the way his defense played last night.

“It’s really about the defense. I loved the way they played, they played so hard and so spirited,” Seattle’s coach told.

Minnesota had only 77 rushing yards, which was one of their worst performances this season. On the other side, their rivals had 214. The seventh-best rush defense in the NFL was shredded into small pieces.

But there is no time for despair, as they host the Miami Dolphins next week, in a game which could be a decisive one for their playoff hopes. With 6-6-1 the Vikings are the last team who holds the wild-card place, with several teams behind them having 6-7.

Seahawks are 8-5, and they are looking to secure the home-field advantage in the wild-card round. Caroll’s team goes to San Francisco next week and after that has two more games at home before the end of the regular part of the season.