Seahawks knocking on playoff door

Holding back Seattle Seahawks linebacker Bobby Wagner (center) stops Minnesota Vikings running back Latavius Murray on a fourth and 1 in the third quarter Monday at CenturyLink Field in Seattle. The Seahawks held the Vikings scoreless until the fourth quarter as they won 21-7 to move to the brink of wrapping up a wild-card spot in the NFC.
Holding back Seattle Seahawks linebacker Bobby Wagner (center) stops Minnesota Vikings running back Latavius Murray on a fourth and 1 in the third quarter Monday at CenturyLink Field in Seattle. The Seahawks held the Vikings scoreless until the fourth quarter as they won 21-7 to move to the brink of wrapping up a wild-card spot in the NFC.

SEATTLE -- Bobby Wagner leaped over the line of scrimmage, swatted Dan Bailey's field-goal attempt and sparked the Seattle Seahawks to two late touchdowns.

Whether or not what Wagner did was entirely legal, he frankly didn't care.

"I'm not stressing about that. I made the play. They called what they called," Wagner said. "There's times in games where things happen all the time. I'm not stressing on it. It was a big block, and we'll definitely take it. It was amazing."

Wagner's block midway through the fourth quarter was the catalyst in a 21-7 victory over the Minnesota Vikings on Monday night that pushed Seattle to the brink of a playoff berth.

Chris Carson followed the blocked kick with a 2-yard touchdown run with 2:53 left, and Justin Coleman capped off the Seahawks' fourth consecutive victory with a 29-yard fumble return for a touchdown 18 seconds later.

What was an ugly and mostly forgettable first three quarters turned into a Seattle party in the fourth as the Seahawks (8-5) moved to the brink of wrapping up a wild-card spot in the NFC. One victory in Seattle's final three games -- including matchups with lowly San Francisco and Arizona -- should be enough to put the Seahawks into the postseason.

"It's really about the defense," Seattle Coach Pete Carroll said. "I loved the way they played, they played so hard and so spirited."

Minnesota (6-6-1) twice had scoring chances in the fourth quarter when it was still a one-score game but was turned away each time.

"Part of it is being better on third downs. We haven't really done a good job there. Part of it is being better in the red zone," Vikings Coach Mike Zimmer said. "We had the ball on the 2-yard line and didn't score."

But much of the conversation centered on Wagner's block of Bailey's 47-yard attempt with 5:38 left and whether it was entirely legal. Wagner's jump through a gap in Minnesota's offensive line was fine, but it appeared he used his teammates to gain leverage, which allowed him to come through and block the kick. A flag was initially thrown but was picked up by the officials.

Wagner said he attempted it four times in practice without a problem but acknowledged it could be tough to pull off the play during the fourth quarter of a tight game.

"When I did it in practice, I was pretty fresh," Wagner said.

Zimmer said he asked for an explanation of what happened but wasn't given one. He was told he couldn't challenge.

"Quite honestly, I didn't see what happened. I was told what happened," Zimmer said.

Seattle took possession and Russell Wilson immediately scrambled 40 yards deep into Minnesota territory. Five plays later, Carson scored and Seattle finally had a cushion. Two plays after that, Jacob Martin sacked Minnesota's Kirk Cousins and the ball popped to Coleman, who weaved his way for the clinching touchdown.

Cousins threw a 6-yard touchdown pass to Dalvin Cook with 1:10 remaining, but Seattle recovered the onside kick.

"I feel like all of our losses we, as an offense, we are so slow," Vikings wide receiver Adam Thielen said. "Our defense is keeping us in games. And we're not pulling our side of the bargain."

Sports on 12/11/2018

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