Preview: Vikings aim to pull off upset against undefeated Seahawks

SEATTLE — Throughout its franchise history, the Seattle Seahawks have never started a season 5-0.

Not in the years Seattle was a contender in the old AFC West. Not after it moved to the NFC. Not even the year the Seahawks won their only Super Bowl.

Then again, the Seahawks have never had a quarterback playing as well as Russell Wilson has in leading Seattle to a 4-0 record heading into Sunday night’s matchup with Minnesota.

“I think we’re playing at the highest level that we’ve ever played,” Wilson said.

While the Seahawks are looking for a bit of franchise history before their bye week, the Vikings (1-3) are seeking validation that they can still be contenders for a playoff berth after a disappointing start. The Vikings have given up more points and yards than has been the norm for a Mike Zimmer team, and struggled with turnovers for the first few weeks.

But the Vikings did get their first win last week in a 31-23 victory at Houston. They do have the league’s leading rusher in Dalvin Cook. They have familiarity playing in Seattle for the third straight year and facing the Seahawks for the fifth time since 2015. And they’ll get a break as CenturyLink Field will be silent outside of what gets piped through the stadium speaker system.

“Before when we played there, that crowd noise was definitely an impact on what we had going on,” Cook said. “And today’s society is different without fans, so we’ve got to get used to that, and I think it might help us at the end of the day going against that type of environment.”

RECORD START

Wilson’s start to the season has placed him firmly in the MVP conversation at the quarter mark of the season. He tied Peyton Manning’s record with 16 TD passes in the first four games. He’s completing 75% of his passes, has just two interceptions and has topped 300 yards in three of the four games. Perhaps most impressive are the big shots Wilson has taken and completed. He already has 16 completions of more than 20 yards and is averaging 9.4 yards per attempt.

“They’ve changed a little bit. They’re obviously letting Russell Wilson be more explosive. I think they’re No. 1 in the league in pass average. They’ve got terrific receivers, they’re all fast,” Zimmer said.

COOK(ING) WITH FIRE

One of the bright spots for Minnesota has been Cook’s start to the season. He leads the league with 424 yards rushing and is averaging 5.7 yards per carry.

He’ll be facing a Seattle defense that ranks third in the league in yards rushing allowed, but hasn’t necessarily been tested. Todd Gurley in Week 1 and Ezekiel Elliott in Week 3 both had 14 carries against Seattle. That’s the most by any running back against the Seahawks this season. If Minnesota can stay with the run game, it could be the first significant test if Seattle’s run defense is very good.

“It’s definitely fun to watch him run the ball,” Seattle linebacker Bobby Wagner said. “It’s going to be fun to play against him and get into the backfield and really just tackle him.”

END ZONE EQUALS FRIEND ZONE

The Vikings have shown their share of vulnerabilities over the first quarter of the season, but they’ve been at their best near the end zone on both sides of the ball. The offense is tied for eighth in the NFL in goal-to-go touchdown rate (87.5%) and fifth in inside-the-20 touchdown rate (76.9%). The defense is seventh in goal-to-go touchdown rate (58.3%) and second in inside-the-20 touchdown rate (41.2%).

Last week at Houston, the Vikings turned all four of their trips inside the 10-yard line into touchdowns. Defensively, they limited the damage to a field goal after a first-and-goal situation from the 8 in the third quarter, and prevented the Texans from scoring late in the fourth quarter after they had second-and-goal from the 1.

They’ll be challenged by Seattle’s offense that until last week was perfect on the season, converting trips inside the 20 into touchdowns. Seattle has 13 TDs in 15 red zone trips.

CARROLL’S VIKINGS CONNECTION

Seahawks coach Pete Carroll was Minnesota’s defensive backs coach from 1985-89 and nearly became head coach of the Vikings in 1992, when they hired Dennis Green instead. But Carroll revealed this week a little-known anecdote about the 1987 strike season: He nearly put the pads on and played quarterback for the Vikings.

The Vikings signed Tony Adams to be their replacement-team signal caller instead, after offensive coordinator Bob Schnelker told head coach Jerry Burns he couldn’t bring himself to coach Carroll, who was supposed to be one of his peers on the staff.

“I was taking snaps out in the cul-de-sac until after midnight, trying to get ready to go,” said Carroll, who was 36 at the time. “The next day they were going to make the call on it, so it was real for a little bit.”

MINNESOTA (1-3) at SEATTLE (4-0)

Sunday, 8:20 p.m. ET, NBC

OPENING LINE – Seahawks by 9

RECORD VS. SPREAD – Vikings 2-2-0; Seahawks 4-0-0

SERIES RECORD – Seahawks lead 12-5

LAST MEETING – Seahawks beat Vikings 37-30, Dec. 2, 2019 at Seattle

LAST WEEK – Vikings beat Texans 31-23; Seahawks beat Dolphins 31-23

AP PRO32 RANKING – Vikings No. 22; Seahawks No. 2.

VIKINGS OFFENSE – OVERALL (22), RUSH (5), PASS (28).

VIKINGS DEFENSE – OVERALL (29), RUSH (4), PASS (29).

SEAHAWKS OFFENSE – OVERALL (3), RUSH (17), PASS (3).

SEAHAWKS DEFENSE – OVERALL (32), RUSH (3), PASS (32).

STREAKS, STATS AND NOTES – Third straight season the teams are meeting in Seattle. … The Vikings have lost six straight games to the Seahawks, with the last win coming in Minnesota in 2009, the year before Seattle hired Pete Carroll as head coach. … The only other time in their 60-year history that the Vikings have played a non-divisional opponent on the road in three consecutive regular seasons was at Washington in 2010-12. … The Vikings have scored 30-plus points in three of four games. Their offense is fourth in the NFL in average yards per play, but they’re allowing the third-most sacks per pass attempt and they’re just 25th in third-down conversions. As a team, their turnover margin (minus-4) is tied for fourth worst in the league. …Vikings RB Dalvin Cook leads the league in rushing yards (424) and has a career-high average of 5.7 yards per carry. He has 21 rushing TDs in his last 20 games. … Cook and WRs Adam Thielen and Justin Jefferson gave the Vikings a 100-yard rusher and two 100-yard receivers against the Texans, the franchise’s first such trio in a game since Nov. 19, 2000, against Carolina. … Minnesota’s defense has the second-lowest third-down conversion rate allowed and the second-lowest touchdown rate allowed inside the 20-yard line. The Vikings rank just 25th in average yards per play allowed and 23rd in sacks per pass attempt, though. … Vikings LB Eric Kendricks, a 2019 All-Pro, leads the NFL in combined tackles (45). … The Seahawks are 4-0 for the second time in franchise history. The previous time was 2013 when they went on to win the Super Bowl. The Seahawks have never started 5-0. … This is the second of three scheduled prime-time home games for the Seahawks. They are 20-3 in prime-time home games since 2010. … The Seahawks have scored 30 or more points in four straight games. They have never scored 30-plus in five straight. … QB Russell Wilson tied Peyton Manning’s record with 16 TD passes in the first four games. .Wilson has a 113.5 career passer rating in five games against the Vikings. … Wilson has passed for at least 300 yards in three of four games. … RB Chris Carson had his first two rushing touchdowns of the season vs. Miami. … WR DK Metcalf is tied for the NFL lead in yards receiving with 403 with Buffalo’s Stefon Diggs. Metcalf leads the league averaging 25.2 yards per catch. … Seattle’s pass defense ranks last in the NFL giving up 401 yards per game. But the Seahawks are third in rush defense, allowing 75.8 yards per game on the ground. … LB Bobby Wagner had a season-high 12 tackles last week and LB K.J. Wright had 11. … S Jamal Adams to miss his second straight game with a groin injury. … S Ryan Neal and CB Shaquill Griffin both have interceptions in two straight games. … Fantasy tip: Cook may lead the NFL in rushing, but Seattle has not allowed a running back to rush for more than Todd Gurley’s 56 yards in Week 1. No running back has had more than 14 carries against the Seahawks.