Inside the matchup: Seahawks vs. Vikings

This is an important game for each team’s playoff seeding. The Minnesota Vikings are currently tied for their division lead with the Green Bay Packers (8-3). Green Bay currently owns the tie-breaker in the NFC North as they beat the Vikings early in the year. If the season ended today the Seahawks (9-2) would be the 5th seed and the Vikings (8-3) the 6th seed in the playoffs. Since head to head matchups are the first tie-breaker when determining playoff seeding, if these teams ended the season with identical records the higher seed would go to the winner of this game. Because both teams have a chance at winning their divisions this year it could actually be the 1st or 2nd playoff seed at stake.

Statistically, both quarterbacks have similar numbers this year. Kirk Cousins has 21 touchdowns to go with 3 interceptions and a passing rating of 114.8. Russell Wilson has 24 touchdowns and 3 interceptions with a passing rating of 112.1. Russell has thrown for more yards but Kirk has been more accurate. This is a draw.

The Vikings have the edge at running back. #33 Dalvin Cook is one of the top three running backs in the league this year and is also a receiving threat. He has passed 1,000 yards rushing and averages 134 yards of total offense per game. He also has eleven of Minnesota’s fourteen rushing touchdowns this year. Chris Carson will need to do better than the 26 yards he had against Philadelphia this past week.

On the receiving side, Tyler Lockett played this week but wasn’t thrown to as much as usual. Hopefully, he is in better health for this game. If not, #14 Stefon Diggs will be the top rated receiver for either team and the edge will go to Minnesota.

The kicking game is a draw as well. Minnesota’s Dan Bailey has 75 points on the year to Jason Myers 74. The only real difference between them, Bailey is 2-2 in field goals over 50+ yards this year while Myers is 1-3 from the same distance.

If you look strictly at the statistics, Minnesota looks to be the better team in this matchup. However, looking deeper at the quality of competition tells another story. The combined record of all the teams Seattle has played this season is 59 wins, 59 losses and 1 tie. Seattle is 3-2 against teams with winning records and 6-0 against teams with losing records. The combined record of all the teams Minnesota has played this year is 50 wins, 70 losses and 1 tie. They are 2-2 against teams with winning records and 6-1 against teams with losing records. This indicates that the Vikings statistics are a little inflated from a weaker schedule so the edge goes to Seattle for this game.

Three keys to the game for Seattle:

Russell Wilson out plays Kirk Cousins

Two of Lockett, Metcalf, Gordon need to score.

Limit Dalvin Cook’s total yards below 100.