Seahawks grades from a brutally beautiful win over Vikings

The Seahawks defeated the Vikings on Monday in a game that should propel them to the postseason. The grades aren’t all beautiful but a win is a win.

Your Seattle Seahawks are now 8-5 with two games left against bad teams and one against a good one. If Seattle can win one of their last three they will definitely make the playoffs. On Monday, Seattle won 21-7 in a win that felt very 2012.

Here are the grades.

Offense

Quarterback Russell Wilson

Well, goodness. Wilson was pretty terrible on Monday. He had just 37 yards passing and a quarterback rating of 72. Plus, Wilson made an unfathomably awful throw near the goal line which was intercepted. This cost Seattle a chance for easy points before the half. Still, he rumbled for 40 yards when Seattle had to have a first down in the second half and few quarterbacks can do what he did.

Grade: D+

Running backs

Chris Carson ran for 90 strong yards and had a touchdown. Rashaad Penny 5.5 yards per carry on eight rushes. Overall, the Seahawks backs ran for 156 yards against a good Vikings run defense.

Grade: A-

Receivers/tight end

Wilson really missed Doug Baldwin. Baldwin was out for the game with a hip injury. Tyler Lockett wasn’t able to get an explosive play, though Seattle tried. But 10 catches on 11 targets means at least the receivers were catching most everything thrown in their area. Yet, if only David Moore had been able to get that left foot down…

Grade: C

Offensive line

Playing without D.J. Fluker, the line opened some nice holes for the running backs. Wilson was sacked just twice and one of those can be blamed on him. And Jordan Simmons was once again good in place of Fluker. Seattle’s top two rushing games of the season have come when Simmons started. And the Vikings are not a soft defense.

Grade: B

Defense

This was a game where the defense can be given credit for almost single-handily winning the game. Minnesota might not have a good offensive line but all their skill players were available and Seattle held the Vikings to a bit over 200 yards until the late meaningless touchdown drive.

Defensive line

Jarran Reed and Frank Clark? These two need to be in the Pro Bowl. And both need to be extended by the Seahawks and wear a Seattle uniform for the next five years, at least. Reed did what very good defensive tackles do. That is, not see a lot of tackles on the stat chart but create ungodly havoc on the opposing offense.

Grade: A

Linebackers

Mychal Kendricks was back and he made his presence felt. But Bobby Wagner was once again possibly the best player on the field. Say what you will about Wagner’s blocked field goal attempt but he only put his hands on the shoulders of his teammates after the zenith of his jump and not to propel himself forward.

Grade: A

Secondary

How about those young cornerbacks for the Seahawks? Stefon Diggs and Adam Thielen are no slouches and while combined they had 146 yards receiving most of those yards were meaningless and late in the game. Tre Flowers made important tackles (eight tackles total!) and a pass defended. Shaquill Griffin had back to back broken up passes. And Bradley McDougald played like a Pro Bowler. Again.

Oh, and Justin Coleman had a nice little run.

Grade: A

Special teams

Sebastian Janikowski made both his field goal attempts. Wagner, of course, had the blocked field goal. Michael Dickson may have had his worst day as a pro but still averaged 44 yards a punt on five kicks, including a 55-yarder.

Grade: B