The 2019 Seattle Seahawks are must see television. You don’t have to be much of a Seahawks fan, or even a fan of football to watch them. Almost every game that they have played this season has been an adventure worth watching. If you like high drama, continual plot twists, maybe even a dash of comedy, the 2019 Seahawks are for you, and almost miraculously, they now sit at 10-2, and have gained the lead in their division.

There have been very little clean games in these victories. The cleanest came down in Arizona early in the season where the team handily took care of an inferior division opponent 27-10.

At first, it was Russell Wilson carrying the team on his back when the defense couldn’t stop anybody. Then when the defensive finally started to round into shape, the schedule got tougher, and Russell’s other world QB play came back down to Earth some.

These last three wins have been most impressive. All have come against teams playing for either their playoff lives, or division dominance late in the NFL season. This is as close to playoff football as it gets in the regular season, and Seattle is, so far, 3-0 against the 49ers, Eagles, and now the Vikings. Seattle did not play clean games against these teams, but these are teams that are hard to play clean against. In order to win, you have got to dig deep at key times. Credit the entire team for doing that. There is legitimate grit on this roster.

Let’s break it down a bit.

The Good

After starting the game with a horrible series that gave up an easy scoring drive, Seattle’s defense tightened down the hatches, and played pretty good ball against an explosive Vikings offense. They didn’t let star running back Dalvin Cook make much impact, and they eventually knocked him out of the game. The defensive line didn’t sack Kirk Cousins, but they pressured him into bad passes that killed drives.

Defensive ends Jadeveon Clowney and Rasheem Green both had great games. Green is quietly coming along in his second season and has been making an impact play almost every game lately. Last week, it was a critical strip sack against Carson Wentz. Against the Vikings in this match, it was a key forced fumble on Dalvin Cook. I know a lot of people talk about Seattle needing more pass rush, but Green seems like a good young player who is coming along nicely. It’s really good to see this. Seattle needs youth to step forward on the defense, and he is doing this.

Tre Flowers had a strong game at cornerback, getting another interception, and suddenly, it feels like Seattle’s corner situation is looking pretty solid as we move towards the playoffs.

Outside of throwing one of the weirdest pick 6’s that I have ever seen, Russell Wilson had another efficient day leading the offense, and his gorgeous deep touchdown pass to David Moore was a thing of beauty.

Jacob Hollister had another solid productive game at tight end. He’s been showing that he is a perfectly reliable receiver, but against this tough Viking defense, he also made some key blocks that freed running backs. Jacob Hollister is a player. I dig this guy.

Outside of a fumble, DK Metcalf had a solid game catching the rock. His 19 yard catch and run in the first half was very Marshawn-esque. I love this guy’s potential.

The fake punt Travis Homer run play was awesome in the fourth quarter, which brings me to the following.

The real heroes of this game were running backs Chris Carson and Rashaad Penny, and the entire offensive line. That Viking’s defense is not easy to run on, but with great run blocking, these two dynamic backs stole the show (Carson, 103 yard on 23 carries and a TD. Penny, 74 yards on 15 carries and a TD plus 4 catches for 33 yards and a pass catching TD). This production, right here, is the exact formula that Pete Carroll probably most wants to win with. This team ran for 218 yards against one of the top defenses on the planet, and that is as big of a reason as any as to why Seattle was ultimately able to fend off those scary Vikings.

Go Hawks.

The Bad

The opening series of the defense was one of the worst series that they had had all year. It was disheartening. Veteran linebacker KJ Wright horribly missed a routine tackle on a silly dump off to the fullback that went for a stupidly big gain. Then in the red zone, half of the defense decided to miss Stefon Diggs on a jet sweep for a big gain. When these two plays happened, I abandoned all hope that Seattle would play a clean game. I was like, “welp, looks like it’s gonna be another adventure.”

As stated above, Wilson’s weird pass batted back to him and him battling it back into an eventual pick 6 was just.. weird. It was weird. Then I knew for certain what kind of game I was getting. It was hard to lay off the coffee after that one. He also didn’t make it easier on me when he took that stupid sack for a big loss midway through the fourth quarter, either.

Bradley McDougald, who had been playing pretty well up until this game, badly blew his coverage for a late Viking score that put Minnesota back into this match instead of putting them away. This play instantly gave momentum back to a desperate Vikings club.

Tyler Lockett didn’t catch a pass and wasn’t targeted much. It’s worth noting he was had been sick with the flu, but this is also the third game in a row where his production has been significantly down.

The Ugly

Viking corner Xavier Rhodes makes my skin crawl, and Kirk Cousins has some of the worst body language in football when things aren’t going his way. The Vikings did not look like a team having much fun, at least these two guys didn’t. If I’m a Vikings fan, I’m not digging that.

Moving forward

The Seattle Seahawks are 10-2. It’s practically a given that they will be a playoff team, and now they can control their own destiny in winning the NFC West. They win out these next four games, they win the division, and have a first round bye in the playoffs. That’s what this victory meant.

Will they? I don’t know.

The Rams look like they could be a pretty tough match on the road this Sunday night after what they just did to the Cardinals. Like the Eagles were last week, they will be playing for their playoff football lives, and, if we’re being honest, they are a much more talented club than the Eagles. Also, the 49ers in Seattle will surely prove to be a tough match up again.

Here’s the thing, though. The Vikings were a really tough match, and I don’t know if there’s a tougher match than going down into Santa Clara and playing the 49ers a few weeks ago. Seattle has won both of these games.

Also, I would venture that the fundamental difference between the Vikings and the Seahawks can easily come down to quarterback play. Russell Wilson, in big games and big moments, has been there and done that time and time again in his eight NFL seasons. Kirk Cousins, on the other hand, after eight seasons has not. If it comes down to the wire between the Rams and 49ers again, I will gladly take Russell Wilson over Jared Goff, or Jimmy Garoppolo.

Simply put, with Russell Wilson, Seattle has played and won tough games that have come down to the wire almost all stinking year. They know how to win these kind of games. With their thrill junky head coach, they practically live for them.

I’m liking their chances more and more down the stretch because of all this, and either way, one thing for certain, it is going to be must see TV. Bank on it.

Go Hawks.