The 2-7 Minnesota Vikings tasted a rare victory last week, but their 4:25 EST / 1:25 PST road game today against the Seattle Seahawks will probably stop their mini winning streak at one. The 9-1 Seahawks have rolled this season despite playing with a patchwork offensive line and a receiving corps without one starter (Sidney Rice) and minus its biggest off-season acquisition (Percy Harvin). Well, Harvin may return to the Seahawks lineup today. If you’re a Vikings fan, that’s not good news. If you care to watch the inevitable carnage, you can catch the game live on FOX or watch Vikings vs Seahawks online free using one of several different methods.
The last time the Vikings saw WR Percy Harvin, he was playing for them, not against them. Naturally, that both adds some drama and intrigue to the game as well as some motivation for Harvin to get back on the field. However, it’s not like Seattle will play him every down, since Harvin hasn’t played an NFL game in more than a year. Plus, the Seahawks should win against the Vikings today whether Harvin plays or not. So, they may use today’s live game on FOX as a warm-up to get Harvin re-acclimated to an NFL field before Seattle goes into a bye week and then heads into a Monday Night showdown against the New Orleans Saints.
If you’re the Vikings, or if you watch Vikings vs Seahawks online free, what’s more intriguing today is what the Seahawks offensive line can deliver. Today will likely be the first time the Seahawks O-line has all of its starters on the field together again since Week 2. That’s surely great news for two members of the Seahawks: quarterback Russell Wilson and running back Marshawn Lynch. For the season, Wilson has gone 163-257 for 2,132 yards and 17 TDs, and he’s been pretty efficient along the way, with a #12 QBR. He’s also been the team’s second-leading rusher, with 395 yards on the ground. Running back Lynch, however, has been an animal once again, with 871 yards on the ground in spite of not hitting “beast mode” as often as he’d like. With a healthy offensive line today against the Vikings, the beast may return.
Normally Lynch’s exploits would be followed by an ever greater praise of Vikings running back Adrian Peterson, but he’s been held largely in check this season. Although the Seahawks have been without their offensive-line starters, the Vikings offensive line has been, well, offensive this season, giving Peterson basically nothing to work with. Through nine weeks, Peterson has carried the ball 173 times for 786 yards and a 4.5 yards-per-carry average. He does have nine touchdowns, but when you consider that Peterson’s averaging 1.5 yards fewer per carry than quarterback Jake Ponder and has only five more rushing touchdowns than his QB, you know you’re not seeing Peterson at his best.
With that said, they might be able to run the ball effectively against Seattle. Last season, Adrian Peterson had one of his biggest games of the year against the Seahawks, so while Ponder might not have much success against Seattle’s defense, Peterson could have a rare 2013 breakout game today. It’s also hard to predict what the Vikings will see from Seattle’s run defense, which has been unpredictable this year. One week, they’ll completely shut down an opponent’s ground game, but the next week they’l give up 200 yards to the Rams or the Buccaneers. Naturally, the Vikings and Peterson will hope to see the latter rather than the former.
You can watch Vikings vs Seahawks online free on DirecTV’s website if you have the NFL Sunday Ticket with MAX Package. The package requires a subscription, but anyone who has one can watch the live streaming version free of any game, including today’s 4:25 EST / 1:25 PST NFL game on FOX between the Minnesota Vikings and Seattle Seahawks.