Seahawks 30, Vikings 20

Would you like to see all my pictures from Sunday's game? Here you go.

It wasn't that long ago that I was a ranting, raving, spittle-spraying Matt Flynn disciple (you can look it up). Just a few weeks ago I was in a panic- My reasoning was that since the Seahawks clearly had an elite defense and running game, we were potentially blowing a chance at a Super Bowl run by "wasting time" developing a rookie QB. Matt Flynn would at least avoid the big mistakes! He could be like Trent Dilfer on the 2000 Ravens or Brad Johnson on the 2002 Bucs! Russell Wilson will cost us wins while he's learning on the job! Attica! ATTICA!!!!

I was missing something very obvious all along- That there would be weeks when that defense might not keep the enemy out of the end zone for 60 entire minutes. There would be days where we'd need our quarterback to meet the defense halfway and make the plays to lift Seattle to victory. COULD Matt Flynn do that? Maybe. But only nine weeks into his career, we KNOW that Russell Wilson can. We also know that he's nowhere near the limit of his abilities yet. This is amazing. This is miraculous. It has made me look like a jittery, flaky basket case, but it should make every Twelve alive RADIANT with hope for the future.

On a day where the defense succumbed to a Hall-of-Fame quality running back (while admittedly mitigating the damage by ERASING Christian Ponder and the Minnesota air attack), Russell Wilson threw three TDs, didn't commit a turnover, kept drives alive with his legs, and generally looked like the embryonic version of a All-Pro quarterback. After years of vainly searching for The Quarterback of The Future, PCJS have found that savior- The Neo that will free all our asses from the Lombardi-less Matrix we inhabit. Is there another young QB you'd rather have (other than Luck or RG3)? For a MINIMAL investment, Seattle has found the answer for the problem that has vexed this franchise since Matt Hasselbeck's decline began in 2008. The future of this team hasn't looked this bright since 2003, and that fact leaves me absolutely GIDDY.

Enough talk about the distant future, though. After Sunday's win over a solid Vikings squad, the Hawks slid into the final NFC playoff slot. With 4 of their final 7 at home, the Seahawks are well-positioned to reach 10-6 and make it into the tournament. They own tiebreakers over Minnesota and Green Bay now, and have easier remaining schedules than fellow Wild Card hopefuls Detroit and Tampa Bay. Despite allowing a huge amount of yards to Adrian Peterson, Seattle's defense is still one of the best in the NFL- And now the offense is starting to bear a much greater share of the burden, averaging 27 ppg over the last two weeks. Against sub-par squads like NYJ, Arizona, Buffalo and St. Louis, Seattle might dominate. Against the likes of Miami, Chicago, and SF there's no reason to think they can't win. It's hard to imagine a finish worse than 9-7, and increasingly easy to picture a run that gets us to 11-5 or.. gasp! 12-4.

Who stood out on Sunday besides Wilson? Marshawn Lynch kept plowing towards a spot in the Pro Bowl, and still has a decent shot at the NFL rushing title. Purple Jesus got the headlines, but Beast Mode powered Seattle to another win. Golden Tate still hasn't achieved the consistency we need to see from him, but he had another nice game- His effort to score on his 2nd touchdown reminded me why he's one of my favorites. The Legion of Boom made Christian Ponder appear utterly helpless, with an significant assist from our front four. This was a game the Hawks should have won, and needed to win- They bounced back from an early Vikings TD and won the day from that point forward.

On a personal note, it was great to be back in Seahawks Stadium, adding my voice to the multitudes of Twelves screaming for Minnesota's destruction. I was able to go to the game with my little brother James (who just started studying/playing football at PLU), and I ran into a couple of other old friends as well. I'm hoping/planning to be back for one of the last two home games this December, and my gut tells me that a win over STL on 12/30 is going to get us back into the playoffs.

What do you think, sirs?