The Minnesota Vikings come to CenturyLink Field to take on the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday Night Football. It has been smooth sailing for the Seahawks with four wins and four covers in as many games, as they come off a 31-23 win over the Miami Dolphins on Sunday. The Vikings also had a good week, earning their first win on the road against the Texans, 31-23. They are back on the road this week and look for a huge win to jump-start their season after a rough 0-3 start.
Hope for Minnesota
The Vikings have it tough to open the season against the Packers, Colts, and Titans, followed by road games at Houston at Seattle. After the one-point loss to the Titans, they were able to get in the win column. We saw a very efficient Kirk Cousins on Sunday, accurate and keeping mistakes to a minimum. Adding hope to his cause is a Seattle secondary that has been getting lit up through four games. It’s been harder to notice with the Seahawks winning every game, as they put on offensive extravaganzas of their own. But opposing quarterbacks have been putting up huge totals against Seattle through the first quarter of the season.
The blossoming of rookie receiver Justin Jefferson has given Cousins a real weapon. Having Adam Thielen and Kyle Rudolph is nice, but Jefferson gives them a true number-one type receiver, and with 278 combined yards in the last two games, he is starting to click into gear. It is taking what had become a moribund Minnesota air-attack and giving it a real edge the last few weeks. Dalvin Cook has started flashing his form of a season ago, running for 130 yards and two touchdowns on Sunday.
Why This Could Be a Good Spot for Seattle
The Seahawks are at home, and even without the home contingency, it’s still a nice home-field advantage to have. And coming off another road game on Sunday, maybe the Vikes will be a tough road-weary with their third road game in four weeks. And waiting for Seattle to have an off-week could be a futile game to play, as they always seem to deliver. Sure, at 4-0 and facing a one-win team might have the Seahawks at less than a fever pitch. And for what it’s worth, their week four win over Miami was probably the least-fearsome we’ve seen them this season.
Still, the Seahawks are pitting their feared offense against a Minnesota defense that hasn’t really been pulling its weight this season, underperforming to quite a degree. It went a little better on Sunday, but they’ve generally been poor and well off expectations. Maybe coach Mike Zimmer is helping get that part of the team in order. But they’ll have a lot to contain. Russell Wilson is in terrific form, with 16 TD throws on over 75% completions. With Wilson and Chris Carson, they can run the heck out of the ball, but Wilson has really seen the aerial-game take off, with DK Metcalf, Tyler Lockett, David Moore, Greg Olsen, and Carson also chipping in. At an average of 35.5 points a game, they’ve started becoming one of the more explosive offenses in the league.
- Get more details: Minnesota at Seattle Week 5 Match-up Stats
Why Seattle is the More Appealing Choice
Undoubtedly, the Vikings have some betting appeal here. With a tough schedule to open, they seemed to stumble upon something good. Seattle’s urgency might be waning a tad, and that was partially evident the way they struggled to put Miami away last week. And Seattle’s secondary and other issues on defense looms as a constant threat to upend the whole operation. Additional injuries in the secondary for Seattle only heighten that condition, as their whole defense is actually starting to get battered with injuries. The same applies to the Vikings. But with Minnesota, you also have an offense that has struggled massively, with a defense that hasn’t been what anyone expected to see. Kirk Cousins will have big days, then inexplicably peter-out the next week. That type of erratic form comes more to light when pitted against the steadily-operating team the Seahawks have become.
