Seahawks withstand sub-zero temperatures in win over Minnesota

MINNEAPOLIS – Running back Fred Jackson said it wasn’t until more than 30 minutes after the thrilling finish of Sunday’s game that he finally regained feeling in his fingers.

Having played almost a decade in Buffalo, another frigid part of the country, Jackson had experienced the extreme cold before. But that was nothing like what he felt Sunday during the Seahawks’ wild-card victory over Minnesota, which at minus-6 degrees was the coldest game ever for either team and the third-coldest in NFL history.

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“Being in Buffalo, I played in some cold games … in December before and that’s definitely the coldest game I’ve been a part of,” he said. “As cold as it looked, it was probably three or four times colder.”

The conditions had an impact on the game beyond the extreme discomfort experienced by those who played in it.

Coach Pete Carroll talked last week about how the ball doesn’t tend to carry as far in the extreme cold, whether it’s thrown or kicked. That, combined with the wind that was blowing in from the west end of the stadium, explains why the Seahawks opted against a 48-yard field goal attempt in the second quarter, instead keeping their offense on the field for what would be an unsuccessful play on fourth-and-13.

Steven Hauschka’s career long is 58 yards, not counting a 60-yard kick he made in this preseason. But he said he determined that in these conditions, 45 yards was his max when the Seahawks were moving into the wind.

The Seahawks had the wind at their back in the fourth quarter when Hauschka made a 46-yard attempt that gave Seattle a 10-9 lead. The Vikings were going the same direction earlier in the game when Blair Walsh connected on field goals of 43 and 47 yards.

“We saw their kicker pounding the football pretty good so we thought the ball would fly a little longer in that direction,” Carroll said. “That’s why we felt confident in going for it there.”

The cold air and win had just as big of an effect in the passing game.

Quarterback Russell Wilson downplayed it but acknowledged that deep throws were tougher than usual. That was evident late in the second quarter when he had wide receiver Doug Baldwin running open down the field. His pass wobbled and hung in the air long enough for Vikings safety Harrison Smith to close in and break it up.

“That was going to be a touchdown,” Wilson said.

While that affected Minnesota’s passing game as well, it actually hurt Seattle’s defense on one play late in the fourth quarter. Cornerback Jeremy Lane was in position for an interception on a deep throw, running a step in front of Minnesota receiver Stefon Diggs. But he could only break it up once the ball hung in the air.

“That’s what I was hearing all week, that the cold kinda makes the balls don’t go as far as they should,” he said. “But that’s my first time playing in the cold like this, so I heard it but I really didn’t know how true it was. That proved it right there.”

The wind-chill made it feel like minus-25. How did the Seahawks handle it?

Cornerback DeShawn Shead said it wasn’t nearly as difficult as he imagined. Wide receiver Doug Baldwin, on the other hand, thought it was much worse.

“Personally, I underestimated it,” he said. “Mentally, I thought I would be able to push through it, but it was a lot tougher than I thought it would be. Fortunately, we have a great training staff and a great equipment staff that prepared us all week and had the right technology on the sidelines that allowed us to be successful.”

Seattle’s sideline was equipped with foot warmers, giant heaters and heated benches, luxuries that the 52,090 brave souls who watched from the stands did not have. Players also wore heavy overcoats when they weren’t playing.

And they needed all of those things.

“The elements were as challenging as a game can be,” Carroll said. “Perhaps you could look at this game and try to evaluate a lot of stuff – you did this, you did that – but this was really a survival game for both teams.”

And the Seahawks survived not only a late field-goal attempt but some of the coldest weather that an NFL game has ever seen.