|
 Walsh, who had hit on 22, 43 and 47 yard field goals, looked poised
to send a chilled Minnesota crowd home happy until he pulled his
game-winning attempt wide left leaving both teams and a packed TCF
Bank stadium crowd stunned.
"Crazy things happen in the playoffs," said Seattle quarterback
Russell Wilson. "It was an ugly game, we didn't play very well on
offense and that's on me. I take the blame for that we've got to be
better.
"But we won, we kept battling. That is the great thing about it, you
have to keep battling in the playoffs, you have to keep battling
every opportunity you've got.
"Defense was lights out, they made so many big plays that kept us in
the game."
As the lowest remaining seed in the NFC at number six the Seahawks,
bidding for a third straight appearance in the Super Bowl, will now
head to Charlotte next weekend for a divisional showdown with the
number one ranked Carolina Panthers.
The Green Bay Packers will take on the Washington Redskins later on
Sunday to close out the Wild Card weekend with the winner facing the
Arizona Cardinals.
With the temperature sitting at minus-6 Fahrenheit (minus-21
Celsius) at kickoff, the game was the third-coldest NFL playoff game
ever and the Arctic like conditions left both offenses laboring.
Seattle's first possession ended with punter Jon Ryan unable to
handle a low snap and the Vikings took over and converted the miscue
into a 22-yard Walsh field goal.
[to top of second column] |
The Vikings built on their advantage with 43- and 47-yard field
goals in the third quarter before the Seahawks offense finally
heated up in the fourth.
Russell Wilson hit Doug Baldwin with a three-yard touchdown strike
to cap an 80-yard drive and chop the Minnesota lead to 9-7.
On Minnesota's next possession disaster struck when Adrian Peterson
fumbled on his own 40 and the Seahawks quickly turned that into a
46-yard Steven Hauschka field goal and a 10-9 lead that held up
after Blair's surprising miss.
(Reporting by Steve Keating in Toronto. Editing by Larry Fine)
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