Seattle Seahawks, 10 Minnesota Vikings, 9
This was Old School Football. The cold was crippling and creaked through every player on every play. Truly, the game simply looked a little slower in -4 degree weather and this seemed to benefit the Defenses. QB Russell Wilson and QB Teddy Bridgewater combined for only 288 passing yards (148 and 142, respectively). RB Adrian Peterson had 23 attempts for 45 attempts. That's dreadful. RB Christine Michael for the Seahawks had 21 attempts for 70 yards.
In the 4th Quarter, the Vikings led 9-0. A quick combination of a Doug Baldwin TD, an Adrian Peterson fumble, and a Haushka Field Goal suddenly put the Seahawks were ahead with 8:09 remaining. The Defenses both locked back down, each team punted twice more before the end of the game. The final punt gave the Vikings 1:42 in good field position to get Blair Walsh into range. A questionable pass interference followed by a very smooth 24-yard completion to TE Kyle Rudolph, set up a chip shot 27 yard FG for K Blair Walsh... and he missed it. That's really all you can say.
MVP: DE Cliff Avril and DE Michael Bennett were in the backfield all day. The Seahawks Offense was dreadful through 3 quarters, and if not for Avril and Bennett's constant disruptions who knows if the Seahawks would have kept the game in reach.
KEY PLAY: The biggest play is easy to remember in a game with 4 field goals, 10 punts and only 1 TD. To set up Baldwin's 3 yard TD catch, Russell Wilson took a shotgun snap below his ankles, rolling about 10 yards behind him. At this point, there was Russell and about 6 Vikings on screen- he somehow eluded them. As he got toward the line of scrimmage, he somehow found a wide open rookie WR Tyler Lockett who took it towards the opposite sideline for 24 yards to the 3. It was a wacky, wild play- ultimately the only time Seattle made it into the Red Zone and the game changing moment
Green Bay Packers, 35 Washington Redskins, 18
The momentum of these teams' respective late season games carried right into this game. The Redskins were on fire through the air to TE Jordon Reed and even on the ground with RB Alfred Morris. The Packers were sluggish on Offense, scattered on Defense. QB Kirk Cousins found WR DeSean Jackson for an nice crossing TD but Jackson had no awareness of where he was. He never brought the ball to the end zone. In fact he was so unaware, he didn't even try. The play was challenged and the Packers D performed a Goal Line Stand. The score could have been 15-0 but instead it was 11-0 when the Packers returned to form.
That's right. The spark came back to QB Aaron Rodgers. The protection got a little better, and Rodgers showed why he's one of the best players in the NFL, forcing the rag-tag Packers Offense down the field 80 and 60 yard TD drives before Halftime, then for two more TD drives in the 2nd half. For Kirk Cousins, Jordon Reed (who finished with 120 yards) and the Redskins this was surely a painful loss of momentum.
MVP: QB Aaron Rodgers is the heart of the Offense and of course the MVP but it didn't hurt that RB James Starks and RB Eddie Lacy both had good, surprisingly equal games - each with 12 carries for about 60 yards and 1 TD.
KEY PLAY: It also didn't hurt that WR DaVante Adams made some plays. Adams has been a goat of the Packers' late season struggles as he has visibly struggled to get open or make plays. Near the end of the 1st half he caught a deep sideline lob for 20 yards, and then a short slant from the 10 to the End Zone, just two plays later. This halftime TD rather than a FG was crucial.
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