Seahawks vs. Vikings 2016 picks and predictions: Frigid Minnesota shouldn’t be a problem for red-hot Seattle
After a sluggish start to the season, the Seahawks are cruising into the playoffs as one of the league’s hottest teams and look primed to make a third straight trip to the Super Bowl.
The Seattle Seahawks might be the lowest-seeded club in the NFC bracket, but there are few people who doubt their ability to make a third straight trip to the Super Bowl in February. They are playing at an extremely high level right now and enter the playoffs as one of the league's hottest teams.
After a miserable 2-4 start during which they squandered a fourth-quarter lead in all four losses, the Seahawks rebounded to win eight of their final 10 games. They were even more dominant down the stretch, going 4-1 with a whopping plus-101 point differential in December/January. No other team in that span even had a scoring margin of at least 70 points.
Perhaps the most surprising part of their second-half run is that its being fueled by an offense that has reached full juggernaut status. From Weeks 11-17, the Seahawks won six of seven contests and ranked second in the league in both points and yards per game. Russell Wilson has the passing game operating at peak effectiveness, throwing an NFL-best 24 touchdowns with just one interception in that span.
Seattle begins its trek to Santa Clara (the home of Super Bowl 50) with a trip to freezing Minneapolis to take on the NFC North champions, airing on NBC. The Minnesota Vikings are making their first playoff appearance since 2012 and also head into this game on a roll, having won their final three games to clinch their first division title in six years.
However, two weeks before that three-game win streak started was an embarrassing 38-7 blowout loss to the same team they face Sunday. That game exposed a critical weakness in the Vikings offense, one that is limited by a mediocre passing attack and is highly dependent on a ball-control, ground-and-pound game plan. Seattle jumped out to a commanding early lead, the Vikings were forced to abandon the run early, and the results were disastrous.
Most of the experts are predicting a similar story for this weekend's rematch. ESPN's crew is unanimously picking Seattle, while seven of the eight guys at CBS Sports also have the Seahawks. All eight of our panelists at SB Nation are going with the road team, too.
| Wild Card | Ryan Van Bibber | Stephen White | Joel Thorman | David Fucillo | Danny Kelly | Matt Ufford | PFT Commenter | OddsShark |
| SEA vs MIN | SEA | SEA | SEA | SEA | SEA | SEA | SEA | SEA |
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