Seahawks’ playoff hopes take major dent in costly loss to Vikings

SEATTLE – As rookie defensive lineman Byron Murphy II grasped onto Sam Darnold’s face mask the Seahawks lost control of their season.

OK, so it’s not fair to place the blame for Sunday’s 27-24 loss to the Minnesota Vikings on any one play or player.

But after a loss that left their playoff hopes as faint as the noise from the Lumen Field crowd as it filed out, the sequence of a Murphy penalty negating a sack and the resulting Vikings game-winning touchdown a play later seemed an all-too-fitting symbol for the season.

For an instant, the Seahawks appeared to have forced Minnesota into a third-and-18 from their own 38 with just over four minutes left and clinging to a 24-20 lead.

Then the flag flew, the Vikings moved to the 39, and after 12 seconds of game time after the sack, the Vikings had a 39-yard Darnold to Justin Jefferson touchdown that proved to be the game-winner.

Much else would happen – the Seahawks were forced into attempting a desperation 60-yard field goal to tie it and a final desperation Geno Smith interception to end it.

Had Murphy’s hand simply not grasped the helmet of Darnold, the Seahawks could still be talking hopefully of the playoffs.

Murphy later termed it “some BS because I never grabbed it. Felt like I just scraped his face mask and they ended up calling it.”

Murphy, the Seahawks’ first-round pick out of Texas, taken 16th overall, said the play “killed me cause that right there would have sealed the game. We would have won. … It hurt a lot.’’

As coach Mike Macdonald noted after the game, the loss meant that the Seahawks’ “destiny is not in our hands right now, which is tough.’’

When it came to the playoffs, just about everything that could go bad for the Seahawks on Sunday did, notably the Rams beating the Jets 19-9.

That means L.A. is 9-6 to Seattle’s 8-7.

That means the Seahawks could be done by next Saturday after the Rams host Arizona.

A loss by the Seahawks in Chicago on Thursday night and a win by the Rams against Arizona at home would clinch it for the Rams.

The Rams could win it with just a win over Arizona regardless of what the Seahawks do thanks to holding the upper hand in almost every tiebreaking scenario.

As of Sunday night, there remained scenarios – if remote – where the Seahawks could win a strength-of-victory tiebreaker against the Rams.

Realistically, the Seahawks need to win their final two games, on the road against the Bears and Rams, while L.A. loses to Arizona and Seattle, each at home, to have a chance.

“A break here or there and we’re right back in it, we’re rolling,’’ Macdonald said hopefully. “So we’ll dust ourselves off, chin up, chest out and move forward.”

The quiet in the locker room indicated that may be easier said than done.

“Still got games to be played, and that’s all there is,’’ safety Coby Bryant said.

For a while, this one seemed destined to be another desultory day of disappointment at home as the Vikings jumped out to a 17-7 lead, and got the ball back late in the first half with a chance to add to the lead.

The Seahawks got a stop and Smith led a quick, 88-yard TD drive capped by an 18-yard pass to Jaxon Smith-Njigba that made it 17-14 at the half.

The Seahawks tied it to start the second half. The Vikings regained the lead on their next drive and two aimless drives by the Seahawks that followed led to an ominous feeling.

But the defense matched the Vikings in stops, and the Seahawks mustered one of their gutsiest marches of the season, moving 68 yards in 11 plays with Smith hitting rookie tight end AJ Barner for a 4-yard TD to put them ahead for the first time all day at 24-20 with 4:21 left.

The Vikings responded by moving to their own 46, where on second-and-10, Murphy brought down Darnold to momentarily send Lumen into a frenzy.

Then came the flag.

“You’ve got to be careful where your hands are,’’ Macdonald said. “And there’s a lot of stuff going on in that moment, too.’’

On the next play, Darnold moved up in the pocket and spotted standout receiver Justin Jefferson sneaking behind cornerback Riq Woolen down the sidelines. Julian Love tried to close as Darnold fired, but the ball got to Jefferson first and just like that, the Vikings had a 27-24 lead.

Macdonald didn’t single anyone out for blame saying, “They made a great play. I think we (had) Cover 2 to that side and (they) threw a seven cut. Just couldn’t get there.’’

Vikings coach Kevin O’Connell said Jefferson adjusted his route as he saw the coverage.

“Those guys were on the same page,’’ O’Connell said.

Smith again rallied the offense, hitting Noah Fant and Kenny McIntosh for gains of 18 and 15. And suddenly the Seahawks were in field-goal range at the Vikings’ 37 with 3:04 left. On first down, Smith was sacked for a loss of 6 and the next two plays gained only a yard.

That left the Seahawks facing fourth-and-15 at the 42 with two minutes left. During the timeout that followed, they appeared to bat around a few ideas.

Ultimately, Macdonald settled on sending out Jason Myers for a 60-yard field goal. Myers has a long of 61 against the Rams at SoFi Stadium in 2020.

“That was the top range of where we felt we could make it,’’ Macdonald said.

This one came up well short.

“You got three options: kick it, punt it and try to play for a field goal with less than a minute to go, or try to make it and tie it up and try to go win the game,’’ Macdonald said. “You talk about those situations; we want to go win the game. We’re not trying to play defensive. … So we wanted to call an aggressive game. We felt like that was the best decision at that time.’’

The Seahawks got the ball back at their own 17 with 55 seconds left and no time outs. Hope lasted just one play as a Smith pass to Metcalf – which fittingly followed a presnap penalty – was picked off.

It left Macdonald thinking back to the face mask and how quickly the Seahawks’ fortunes turned.

“We could have had a third-and-18 with two downs to go to try and seal it, and all of a sudden two plays later now we’re down three,’’ he said. “So, that’s how close we are. But we’re not there yet obviously.’’

Macdonald chose to spin that sequence forward and positively.

“That’s an example of the fight in the guys and how they’re playing,’’ he said.

Just how much fight the Seahawks have will be tested with their playoff hopes regarded as slim only because they aren’t officially none.

“You know, it should hurt,’’ Macdonald told his team. “We’ve worked incredibly hard. We have been through a ton of adversity as a team. We’re going to stick together and go back to work.

“So we’re fighting for the right to stay alive, on a short week. What are you going to do?’’