Seeking a bounce-back win with the margin for error to win the NFC West now razor thin, the Seattle Seahawks will host the upstart Minnesota Vikings in a critical regular season home finale choked full of playoff ramifications for both teams.
Unable to seize the moment in prime time, a slow start on both sides of the football doomed Seattle in a 31-13 loss to Green Bay, dropping coach Mike Macdonald’s squad out of first place in the division with only three games remaining. As for Minnesota, the NFC North front runners took out Chicago for an easy Monday night victory to improve to 12-2, remaining in the mix for not only a division title, but the top seed and a first round bye.
Which matchups will determine who snags a crucial Week 16 win? Here are six positional battles to keep an eye on as the Seahawks and Vikings spar at Lumen Field:
The Vikings have allowed the second-fewest points in the NFL this season, but they have been vulnerable giving up chunk plays in coverage, allowing 46 pass plays of 20-plus yards, the ninth-most in the league. Though Week 16, while he has picked off six passes, Murphy has given up 623 yards in coverage, the fifth-most among cornerbacks this season. Griffin, a former Seahawks draft pick, has been susceptible to getting beat downfield, yielding 14.7 yards per reception on 23 catches. Before missing a couple games with an injury, Gilmore yielded a 66 percent completion rate and three touchdowns, getting exposed more in the quick passing game and allowing yardage after the catch.
