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Minnesota 0 7 0 16--23 Seattle 10 18 7 7--42
SEATTLE (Nov 10, 1996 - 23:18 EST) -- Suddenly, John Friesz has the Seattle Seahawks on a roll, and the Minnesota Vikings can't do anything right offensively.
With Friesz throwing two touchdown passes, the Seahawks won their third straight game and for the fourth time in five games by beating the punchless Vikings 42-23 Sunday.
The Vikings scored two meaningless touchdowns with most of the Seahawks starters' on the sideline in the final three minutes.
"The reality is we're in a position to make a run at the playoffs," Friesz said. "Now, we have an opportunity to get to 11 and 5 or 10 and 6. Whatever it takes to get into the playoffs."
"That's as well as we've played this year," coach Dennis Erickson said. "It was a heck of a job by everybody, a tremendous effort."
After a 1-4 start with Rick Mirer as their quarterback, the Seahawks have fought back to become a .500 team (5-5) with Friesz as Mirer's replacement.
The Vikings (5-5) suffered their second-worst defeat in Dennis Green's five seasons as their coach. They dropped their fourth in a row -- their first four-game losing streak under Green -- and lost their fifth game in six starts to fall to .500.
The Seahawks had 14 turnovers and four takeaways in going 1-4 with Mirer as their quarterback. In their last five games, they've had 14 takeaways, while committing seven turnovers with Friesz starting.
"We're playing great on defense and we're not turning it over any more," Erickson said.
The Seahawks converted four Minnesota turnovers into 29 points. The Vikings had their third game in a row without 100 rushing yards. They rushed for only 15 yards on a dozen carries, but it wasn't their worst rushing effort of the season. They ran for only 11 yards on 14 carries against Chicago Oct. 28.
Seattle rushed for 199 yards, with Lamar Smith leading the way with a career-best 90 yards on 15 carries. Chris Warren added 61 yards on 14 carries.
The Vikings surrendered 452 total yards, the most yards they've given up this season. Seattle's 452 yards was its season best.
"When you put too much stress on your defense, it starts to break down," Green said. "And that's beginning to show."
Friesz completed 22 of 33 passes for 263 yards and two touchdowns, with no interceptions. Warren Moon, playing despite an ankle sprain that has bothered him all season, was 14-for-30 for 187 yards and one touchdown, with two interceptions.
"I'm not able to perform the way I want to," Moon said. "My lack of mobility is hurting me and our offense."
Friesz had scoring passes of 7 yards to Joey Galloway and 22 yards to Ricky Proehl, while Smith, Warren and Steve Broussard each ran for touchdowns for the Seahawks.
Since starting off the season 4-0, the Vikings' offense has scored only eight touchdowns in the last six games.
With the Seahawks ahead 42-7 in the fourth quarter, the Vikings replaced Moon with Brad Johnson, and the Seahawks put in Mirer to replace Friesz. Johnson scored a touchdown on a 1-yard run with 2:40 left, and he passed 14 yards to Jake Reed for a TD with 1:34 remaining after a Broussard fumble that gave Minnesota the ball at the Seattle 19.
The Seahawks led 28-7 at halftime, converting two interceptions of Moon passes into touchdowns in the final minute of the opening half.
Leading 13-7, Seattle got the ball on the Vikings' 32 with 1:16 left in the second quarter after Jay Bellamy picked off a pass by Moon that was tipped by Michael Sinclair. Friesz found Galloway in the end zone with a perfectly thrown 7-yard looping pass for a touchdown with 55 seconds left in the first half.
Winston Moss' interception of a pass that went off the fingers of Chris Carter gave the Seahawks the ball on the Minnesota 37 with 24 seconds on the clock. Broussard scored on a 26-yard draw play as the Vikings blitzed Friesz with 11 seconds to go in the first half.
After Todd Peterson kicked a career-best 54-yard field goal with 4:54 gone in the game, the Seahawks made it 10-0 in the first quarter by converting a fumble by punt returner David Palmer into a touchdown. T.J. Cunningham recovered Palmer's fumble on the Vikings' 9 and Smith scored on a 1-yard run on a fourth-down play.
The Seahawks stretched their lead to 13-0 on Peterson's 38-yard field goal with 5:26 gone in the second quarter before Moon and Reed combined on a 38-yard touchdown pass on a flea flicker with 3:48 remaining in the first half.
Warren scored on a 1-yard run with 5:22 gone in the third quarter. Friesz got his second touchdown pass on his 22-yarder to Proehl with 2:15 gone in the final quarter after Palmer was charged with his second fumble when Rick Tuten's punt hit him in the middle of the back and Darryl Williams recovered on the Minnesota 8.
The Seahawks lost starting tight end Christian Fauria for the remainder of their season with a fractured right fibula and possible ligament damage in his right ankle. He was hurt early in the fourth quarter and taken off the field on a cart. Seattle starting defensive tackle Sam Adams suffered a partially separated left shoulder, but isn't expect to miss any games.
First Quarter
Sea--FG Peterson 54, 4:24. Drive: 8 plays, 44 yards, 4:24. Key plays: Warren 8 run; Friesz 11 pass to Galloway; Fuller 12 pass interference penalty to Minnesota 34. Seattle 3, Minnesota 0.
Sea--L.Smith 1 run (Peterson kick), 10:13. Drive: 4 plays, 9 yards, 2:04. Key play: Cunningham recovered Palmer's fumbled punt at Minnesota 9. Seattle 10, Minnesota 0.
Second Quarter
Sea--FG Peterson 38, 5:26. Drive: 6 plays, 10 yards, 1:55. Key play: Harris 35 punt return to Minnesota 30. Seattle 13, Minnesota 0.
Min--Reed 38 pass from Moon (Sisson kick), 11:12. Drive: 3 plays, 60 yards, 1:16. Key plays: Moon 11 pass to Graham. Seattle 13, Minnesota 7.
Sea--Galloway 7 pass from Friesz (L.Smith run), 14:05. Drive: 3 plays, 37 yards, :21. Key plays: Bellamy interception of Moon at Minnesota 37; Broussard 12 run; Friesz 18 pass to Proehl. Seattle 21, Minnesota 7.
Sea--Broussard 26 run (Peterson kick), 14:49. Drive: 2 plays, 37 yards, :13. Key play: Moss 1 interception return to Minnesota 37; Friesz 11 pass to Pritchard. Seattle 28, Minnesota 7.
Third Quarter
Sea--Warren 1 run (Peterson kick), 5:22. Drive: 5 plays, 59 yards, 3:36. Key plays: Friesz 21 pass to Pritchard; Warren 19 run to Vikings' 22; Smith 21 run to Vikings' 1. Seattle 35, Minnesota 7.
Fourth Quarter
Sea--Proehl 22 pass from Friesz (Peterson kick), 2:15. Drive: 3 plays, 8 yards, 1:08. Key play: Williams recovery of Palmer fumbled punt at Vikings' 8. Seattle 42, Minnesota 7.
Min--Johnson 1 run (Jordan pass from Johnson), 12:20. Drive: 9 plays, 85 yards, 3:56. Key plays: Johnson 18 pass to Carter; Johnson 26 pass to Reed; Johnson 20 pass to Palmer. Seattle 42, Minnesota 15.
Min--Reed 14 pass from Johnson (Walsh pass from Johnson), 13:26. Drive: 2 plays, 19 yards, :15. Key play: Clemons 8 yard return of Broussard fumble to Seahawks' 19. Seattle 42, Minnesota 23.
A--50,794. No-s
hows--3,877.
Minnesota 0 7 0 16--23
Seattle 10 18 7 7--42
Min Sea
FIRST DOWNS 16 26
Rushing 2 11
Passing 12 13
Penalty 2 2
THIRD DOWN EFF 3-11 2-13
FOURTH DOWN EFF 0-0 1-1
TOTAL NET YARDS 315 452
Total Plays 55 73
Avg Gain 5.7 6.2
NET YARDS RUSHING 15 199
Rushes 12 37
Avg per rush 1.3 5.4
NET YARDS PASSING 300 253
Sacked-Yds lost 1-10 2-15
Gross-Yds passing 310 268
Completed-Att. 22-42 23-34
Had Intercepted 2 0
Yards-Pass Play 7.0 7.0
KICKOFFS-EndZone-TB 4-3-2 8-1-0
PUNTS-Avg. 8-43.6 6-39.8
Punts blocked 0 0
FGs-PATs blocked 0-0 0-0
TOTAL RETURN YARDAGE 184 127
Punts Returns 2-4 5-95
Kickoffs Returns 8-180 2-31
Interceptions 0-00 2-1
PENALTIES-Yds 9-81 13-98
FUMBLES-Lost 2-2 1-1
TIME OF POSSESSION 22:23 37:37
RUSHING--Minnesota, Graham 6-9, Johnson 2-3, Lee 3-2, Palmer 1-1. Seattle, Smith 15-90, Warren 14-61, Broussard 4-49, Gray 1-2, Mirer 2-(minus 2), Galloway 1-(minus 1).
PASSING--Minnesota, Moon 14-30-2-187; Johnson 8-12-0-123. Seattle, Friesz 22-33-0-263; Mirer 1-1-0-5.
RECEIVING--Minnesota, Carter 7-142, Lee 4-26, Reed 3-78, Jordan 3-18, Evans 3-15, Palmer 1-20, Graham 1-11. Seattle, Galloway 8-91, Proehl 6-95, Fauria 3-34, Warren 3-11, Pritchard 2-32, Harris 1-5.
PUNT RETURNS--Minnesota, Palmer 2-4. Seattle, R.Harris 5-95.
KICKOFF RETURNS--Minnesota, Palmer 4-114, Ismail 3-50, Lee 1-16. Seattle, Broussard 1-17, R.Harris 1-14.
TACKLES-ASSISTS-SACKS--Minnesota, Washington 10-1-0, Smith 4-3-1, Fisk 5-1-0, Randle 5-1-1, Thomas 4-2-0, Edwards 3-4-0, Brady 3-1-0, Barnett 3-0-0, Griffith 4-0-0, Jackson 3-0-0, Brown 1-3-0, Clemons 1-2-0, Fuller 2-0-0, Harrison 3-0-0, Alexander 1-0-0, Bercich 1-0-0, Garnett 1-0-0, Vanhorse 1-0-0, Carter 1-0-0, Graham 1-0-0, Hanks 2-0-0, Lee 1-0-0, Morrow 3-0-0. Seattle, Williams 5-0-0, Wooden 4-1-0, Jones 5-0-0, McCrary 3-1-1, Moss 3-1-0, C.Harris 2-2-0, Wells 0-4-0, Gray 3-0-0, Blackmon 2-1-0, Adams 2-0-0, Bellamy 3-1-0, Daniels 1-0-0, Edwards 1-0-0, Kennedy 0-1-0, Unverzagt 0-1-0, R.Harris 1-0-0, Cunningham 3-0-0, Kyle 1-1-0, Logan 1-0-0, McKnight 0-1-0, Thomas 1-0-0.
INTERCEPTIONS--Seattle, Moss 1-1, Bellamy 1-0.
MISSED FIELD GOAL--Seattle, Peterson 50 (SH).
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