Groz’s Just a Minute: A mistake opened door to Seahawks’ thrilling win
Oct 12, 2020, 1:13 PM
The Seahawks wouldn’t have won Sunday night’s game against the Minnesota Vikings without coming up with a huge stop on fourth-and-inches at the Seattle 6-yard line inside the two-minute warning to get the ball. The Groz has just one question about that:
Where’s the criticism for Vikings coach Mike Zimmer?
Undefeated Seahawks’ next test: Navigating bye week in COVID era
Groz knows that a new-school way of thinking supports Zimmer’s decision to have his team try to keep its drive alive and go for a touchdown, which would have given Minnesota at least an 11-point advantage, rather that attempt a chip-shot field goal that would have made it a 29-21 game – meaning the best Seattle could have done on its last offensive possession is tie with a touchdown and two-point conversion.
But while numbers showed a field goal would not have improved the Vikings’ chance of winning, Groz relayed – 94% with it, 94% without it – this is a case where he believes analytics don’t tell the whole story.
“This is where numbers lie. In my book, you do not give the great ones a chance to beat you, and that’s exactly what happened,” Groz said.
The great one, in this case, is Russell Wilson, who marched the Seahawks 94 yards down the field, converting two fourth downs along the way to beat Minnesota with a late touchdown pass to DK Metcalf.
Here’s the kicker – the two-point conversion that the Seahawks would have needed to tie the game if Minnesota had made a field goal? Well, the Seahawks did go for two after their touchdown and failed it on an attempted pass. So while Seattle won by a single point, 27-26, it would have lost 29-27 if the only thing that changed was the Vikings adding a 3-pointer.
You can hear Groz’s full Just a Minute in the YouTube video at the top of the post or at this link.
Pete Carroll addresses former Seahawks DC Dan Quinn’s firing in Atlanta
