Can the Vikings stop Russell Wilson? Here's the Seahawks scouting report

The Seahawks, like the Vikings, are coming off a final-play loss entering Sunday's game at U.S. Bank Stadium.

September 24, 2021 at 4:16PM
Russell Wilson (Jennifer Stewart, Associated Press/The Minnesota Star Tribune)

Sunday: 3:25 p.m. at U.S. Bank Stadium (Ch. 9 and KFAN-FM 100.3)

ABOUT THE SEAHAWKS

• Seattle (1-1) blew a 30-16 lead in the fourth quarter last Sunday at home and lost to Tennessee 33-30 in overtime. The Titans scored 17 straight points, 12 of them on Derrick Henry's two touchdown runs, before Randy Bullock kicked a 36-yard field goal to win it.

• D.K. Metcalf and Tyler Lockett form one of the NFL's best receiver tandems, and lead Seattle with 16 targets apiece. Lockett, the deep threat, has been lights out while catching 12 passes for 278 yards and three touchdowns. Only San Francisco's Deebo Samuel has more receiving yards through two games.

• Linebacker Bobby Wagner, a six-time All-Pro selection, leads a vulnerable Seahawks defense that surrendered 532 yards — 212 rushing — in the Titans loss. Wagner has been the Seahawks' leading tackler for five straight seasons.

• Safety Jamal Adams signed a four-year deal worth up to $70 million, making him the NFL's highest-paid safety. Adams is the only safety making more than the Vikings' Harrison Smith, who recently signed an extension worth $16 million per season.

PLAYER SPEAK | QB Russell Wilson

• Wilson is completing 74.1% of his passes for 597 yards, six touchdowns and no interceptions. This is his first season under offensive coordinator Shane Waldron, who spent 2017-2020 with the Rams.

• Wilson, 32, already has a league-leading four completions for at least 40 yards. His connection with Lockett, who has three of those deep grabs, is the main reason. This is their seventh season together.

• Wilson's assessment of Lockett: "Tyler, he's magical out there ... he understands the game. Any great receiver, they see the game through the eyes of a quarterback. I think that's what he does extremely well. Obviously, he catches everything you throw at him."

• Vikings co-defensive coordinator Andre Patterson on Wilson's 10th season: "He runs the whole thing. A lot of it is no-huddle. He can escape when he wants to. He doesn't run around as much as he used to when he was younger, but he knows how to get out, and he knows how to make plays with his feet."

COACH SPEAK | Pete Carroll

• Carroll is in his 12th season as Seahawks head coach with a 113-64-1 record (.638) record in the regular season, 10-8 in the playoffs and one Super Bowl championship. He's the fifth-longest-tenured head coach in the NFL, trailing only New England's Bill Belichick, New Orleans' Sean Payton, Pittsburgh's Mike Tomlin and Baltimore's John Harbaugh.

• Carroll, who turned 70 this month, is the oldest active NFL head coach. His Seahawks are the reigning NFC West champions, a division where the average age of the three other head coaches — Sean McVay, Kyle Shanahan and Kliff Kingsbury — is 39.

• Carroll on Metcalf's league-leading five penalties: "He's played really strong. He was really jacked for both games, early in the games, and just tried a little too much to have an impact. But he's finding his way. He was so prepared to go for it. He had a couple penalties that were costly because he's going overboard a little bit. We've talked about it. He's ready to go."

• Carroll on allowing 212 rushing yards last week: "We had 28 plays with 4 [yards] or less, or whatever, which is a lot of plays at the line of scrimmage. We gave up, really, the one big play. But they ran it 40 times, so you're going to get numbers when you do that. And when you give up 60 yards, your numbers are screwed up. We played scheme-wise well with a couple of exceptions."

about the writer

about the writer

Andrew Krammer

Reporter

Andrew Krammer covers the Vikings for the Star Tribune, entering his sixth NFL season. From the Metrodome to U.S. Bank Stadium, he's reported on everything from Case Keenum's Minneapolis Miracle, the offensive line's kangaroo court to Adrian Peterson's suspension.

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