Seahawks vs. Vikings score: Russell Wilson cooks up game-winning drive, hits D.K. Metcalf to pull out victory

Wilson was magical on his final drive of the night to cap off a back-and-forth second half

Score another one for the Let Russ Cook movement. Even after falling behind 13-0 and running only 18 plays prior to halftime, the Seattle Seahawks found a way to improve to 5-0 thanks to the heroics of their superstar quarterback, Russell Wilson. Wilson completed 20 of 32 passes for 217 yards, three touchdowns, and an interception in the game, but his shining moment came on a 13-play, 94-yard drive to give his team a victory. The drive was preceded by a fourth-down stop from the Seattle defense, which had been battered and bruised by the Vikings' run game all evening but tightened up at the most opportune moment. 

Wilson continually connected with D.K. Metcalf to matriculate the ball downfield, finding the monster-sized wideout on two different fourth-down plays -- including the game-winning touchdown. Seattle was helped by two Kirk Cousins turnovers, both of which led to Seahawk scores, helping erase that aforementioned 13-0 lead. 

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In the end, the Seahawks earned an improbable 27-26 victory to remain undefeated and further boost Wilson's MVP candidacy. The Vikings, meanwhile, dropped to 1-4 and fell further back in the NFC North race.

Let's get into some takeaways from the thrilling Seahawks win.

Why the Seahawks won

Their quarterback is the MVP, and his No. 1 wide receiver is a freak of nature. There's no other way to put it. The Seahawks had a very ugly night, by their standards, and Russell Wilson was not perfect under center, initially struggling to lift Seattle out of an early-game funk. But then, with his back against the wall, No. 3 started slinging it like he's done all year. D.K. Metcalf, meanwhile, overcame a last-second touchdown drop to secure Wilson's game-winning throw -- after helping Seattle get in scoring range to begin with. The Wilson-Metcalf duo, to put it simply, is magical.

The Seahawks' front four deserves some credit for coming up with a crucial fourth-down stop and at least temporarily reversing momentum with a second-half interception of Kirk Cousins, but this one wouldn't have landed in the "W" column if it weren't for those top offensive playmakers. Pete Carroll can rest easy knowing that, pretty or not, he's got an undefeated squad with nearly unshakeable leaders.

Why the Vikings lost

Everyone's going to point to Mike Zimmer's failed fourth-down gamble that gave Seattle new life instead of an eight-point hole late in the fourth, and that's fine. But more blame belongs with his entire defensive unit, which crumbled in crunch time after keeping Wilson and Co. under wraps for the majority of the prime-time contest. We know Metcalf, Tyler Lockett and the rest of Seattle's weapons are good, but there's no way Minnesota's secondary should've looked so lost with the game on the line. Thing is, the D played like a cohesive, gritty contender for big chunks of the game, with everyone from Eric Wilson to Eric Kendricks stepping up with highlight-reel plays. But none of it mattered when things matter most.

Offensively, it's hard to pin any blame on the ground game, in which Alexander Mattison emerged as a first-down machine filling in for Dalvin Cook, and Kirk Cousins was mostly efficient, especially when hitting Adam Thielen. But his turnovers proved pretty costly, too.

Turning point

The easy answer is the Vikings' failed fourth-and-1 from the Seahawks' 6-yard line when Bobby Wagner wrapped up Mattison with two minutes to go to give Seattle possession and offer Wilson one last opportunity at a comeback. But if you go way back, the moment Dalvin Cook was forced out of action marked a significant turning of the tides. The Vikings stormed back to go in front well after Cook's departure, riding Mattison's consistency onto the scoreboard, but Seattle arguably woke up once Cook first hit the locker room. Here's the sequence of series from that moment: Vikings punt, Seahawks TD, Vikings fumble, Seahawks TD, Vikings INT, Seahawks TD. Everything was going Seattle's way, and Wilson perhaps finally began rising to the occasion.

Play of the game

It just so happened to be the biggest play of the game. Fourth-and-goal. Seahawks down five. And then Wilson uncorks a perfect laser to Metcalf, who hangs on for the win:

What's next

The Seahawks (5-0) will get some well-earned rest in Week 6, when they have a bye in advance of a divisional showdown with the Arizona Cardinals (2-2) on Oct. 25. The Vikings (1-4), meanwhile, will be welcoming the winless Atlanta Falcons (0-5) to town, though the Falcons could be a wild-card opponent with coach Dan Quinn fired on Sunday night.

[Oct 11, 2020 at 11:31 pm ET · Jared Dubin]

What a game. Russell Wilson is just magic, folks. I'm pretty sure he's gonna get that MVP this year.

[Oct 11, 2020 at 11:24 pm ET · Jared Dubin]

Incredible. Metcalf makes a ridiculous grab in traffic and Russ does it again.

[Oct 11, 2020 at 11:23 pm ET · Jared Dubin]

I'd just have Metcalf run a slant right here and hope he boxes out the corner to make the catch.

[Oct 11, 2020 at 11:22 pm ET · Jared Dubin]

The Seahawks showed Minny the exact same look, motioning Metcalf to the right to get an isolation route, but went for a fade instead of a quick out -- and Hughes wasn't fooled.

[Oct 11, 2020 at 11:21 pm ET · Jared Dubin]

Mike Hughes sure gave DK Metcalf a bunch of cushion right there. He had a free run to the front corner of the end zone and seemingly came down with a TD catch but Hughes knocked it free at the last moment.

[Oct 11, 2020 at 11:19 pm ET · Jared Dubin]

Russ is cooking with gas now...

[Oct 11, 2020 at 11:17 pm ET · Jared Dubin]

....what was Cameron Dantzler doing there? He completely overran the play.

[Oct 11, 2020 at 11:16 pm ET · Jared Dubin]

Eric Wilson in on the pressure again. Now we've got a fourth-and-10, last shot for Seattle to keep its hopes alive.

[Oct 11, 2020 at 11:15 pm ET · Jared Dubin]

Russ missed low on back to back throws to David Moore, seemingly with plenty of time and room in the pocket. Pretty rare to see him miss like that.

[Oct 11, 2020 at 11:13 pm ET · Jared Dubin]

Looks like Mattison came up short! Great stop by the Seattle defense. Now the Seahawks have 1:57 and 1 timeout to go 94 yards.

[Oct 11, 2020 at 11:12 pm ET · Jared Dubin]

Good analysis here:

https://twitter.com/minakimes/...