Coe: Strong start among 3 keys for Seattle

It’s must-win time.

It’s been an up-and-down season for the 8-6 Seahawks, but they find themselves in control of their own destiny to win the NFC West with three games to go. The first of the three final hurdles, though, is perhaps the toughest.

The Minnesota Vikings will feature their own one-time Jets bust at the helm in Sam Darnold for Sunday’s game at Lumen Field (1:05 p.m., FOX TV, KIRO Radio). Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith and Vikings signal-caller Sam Darnold both left New York in years past after what many called failed tenures only to turn their careers around in other cities with less dysfunctional organizations.

Darnold, the third overall pick in the 2018 draft, finally has a competent head coach and has his team headed to Seattle with a 12-2 record and Super Bowl aspirations. The Seahawks, meanwhile, are trying to stay in the playoff race. If the Rams win in New York and the Seahawks lose tomorrow, Seattle will need help to get in.

Here are 3 keys for the Seahawks to stay in the NFC West pole position.

Get off to a fast start

Or even a medium-speed start. There’s been a lot of talk about the crowds at Lumen Field lately. There are two aspects of this — the number of opposing fans in the stands and how the Seahawks fans who are there impact the game. I’ll save the former for another day, and I previously wrote about it here a few weeks ago.

Part of the reason the fans rarely get going early is that the team rarely gets going early. It’s a symbiotic relationship. Fans usually show up for the first drive, and they did that in Sunday’s loss to the Green Bay Packers. But the Seahawks can’t get completely outclassed in the first few minutes of a game and expect Twelves to be rocking the place all afternoon.

Get a sack. Get an early stop. Make a couple of big plays. Don’t let the other team take the crowd out of the game. Start doing that more consistently, and that probably leads to fewer fans selling off tickets. Last Sunday, the Packers won the toss, took the ball and drove down the field in 10 plays to open their 30-13 win. The pro-Seattle folks made some noise on third-and-3 at the Seahawks 24, but Josh Jacob picked up five yards on a crowd-hushing run.

“As you continue through this season, you’ve got to understand, we all have to understand as a defense that really you’re in a world where every play does matter,” Seahawks defensive coordinator Aden Durde said. “I know they’re cliche things to say, but as you go through this, you just have to understand that how we start is ultra important and then how we continue and they’re the things you’re chasing every week, like to be a team that’s playing at the end of this month. They’re the things you’re chasing and we’ve just got to keep improving.”

The Seahawks punted after 4 plays on their opening offensive possession, and Green Bay quelled the Twelves once again with an 80-yard drive for a 14-0 lead and chants of “Go Pack Go” from the Cheesheads in attendance.

When Arizona was in Seattle on Dec. 8, the Cardinals faced a raucous audience. While there were far fewer and perhaps more mild-mannered Arizona fans in attendance. the Twelves were hooked on the first drive when Boye Mafe sacked Kyler Murray on second down, and Tyrice Knight got him again on third down.

A large number of Vikings fans is expected at Lumen on Sunday. The Seahawks can make them relatively irrelevant if they put Darnold on his back early in the game. If he gets the time to find receivers Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison for a first-drive score, it’ll be Vikings skål chants all afternoon.

Running the ball well early

Another crowd-noise killer is getting stuffed on running plays. If Minnesota has a weakness, it’s pass defense. They’re second in the NFL with 89.1 rushing yards allowed per game, so expect some early passing from the Seahawks offense. Assuming Kenneth Walker III is able to play, though, Seattle needs a couple of runs early — something that gets a couple of yards past the line of scrimmage.

“Anytime you have a guy like that and you’re working against a good defense and you’re working just to get cracks in daylight, having a guy like Ken is obviously advantageous,” Seahawks offensive Ryan coordinator said.

Get points in the red zone

The 2024 Seahawks are probably not going to suddenly turn into a consistent touchdown-scoring red zone team. But they need to get points. The inability to run the ball inside the 20 has allowed teams to tee off on Smith. There are times when Smith needs to throw the ball away and let Jason Myers get three points. And as Mike Macdonald said a couple of week ago, they need to have a better plan.

“It’s just something to work on, something we’ve got to strive to perfect,” Smith said. “We’ve got to get better at it. We’ve got to execute better. It always goes back to that. I always say this, ‘The coaches can only do so much for us.’

“We’ve got to go out there and play the game. Something I’m working hard on, studying, and doing everything I can to make sure we can get better in that area. Something that I feel like we definitely need in order to go where we want to go.”

Where they go this season is something that may be decided on Sunday.

The pick: The Vikings are a very good team and come in with relatively good health. The Seahawks, for most of the season, have beaten bad teams and lost to good teams. They win on the road and struggle at home. That all adds up to:

Minnesota 27, Seattle 16

This story originally appeared in seattlesportsnow.com, of which Aaron Coe is a co-founder.