Seattle, WA
5 Storylines to Watch in Seahawks’ Week 16 Game vs. Vikings
Late in the season, there’s no more wiggle room for the Seattle Seahawks and their playoff push. If they don’t win out, they will need all the chips to fall their way if they hope to get in the dance.
That challenge isn’t getting any easier with the Minnesota Vikings (12-2) coming to Lumen Field for a Week 16 matchup. Seattle (8-6) needs a bounce back from having their four-game win streak snapped last week against the Green Bay Packers.
The Seahawks and Vikings kick off at 1:05 p.m. on Sunday. Here are five storylines to watch in Seattle’s late-season battle with Minnesota.
Minnesota is averaging 113.2 rush yards per game (15th) this season, led by running back Aaron Jones. Through 14 games, Jones has 979 rushing yards and is averaging 4.6 yards per carry. He also has over 1,300 total scrimmage yards this season.
After holding opponents to under 100 rush yards three times from Weeks 9–13, the Seahawks have given up more than 120 ground yards in back-to-back weeks against the Green Bay Packers and Arizona Cardinals. Seattle’s front must provide some more resistance against the Vikings and force Minnesota quarterback Sam Darnold into passing situations.
The Vikings are most dangerous when their offense is balanced. Seattle has to shut that down early in the game.
In Week 15, Seattle offensive coordinator Ryan Grubb gave running back Zach Charbonnet just eight carries, despite trailing by just 10 points with 10 minutes remaining in the game. Charbonnet took one of those carries for a 24-yard touchdown run. During the week, Grubb spoke about the adjustments he could’ve made but didn’t.
“I think that there are points in football games where you might not be able to run the ball anymore depending on how much time’s left and things like that,” Grubb said on Thursday. “But, if you’re looking for a play and you’re trying to spark the offense, I think it always starts with the playmakers. That was certainly the thought, ‘How do we get the ball to [Metcalf] and [Lockett] and [Jaxon Smith-Njigba]?’”
Lead running back Kenneth Walker III is back after a two-game absence that thrust Charbonnet into the starting role. Grubb now has twice the backfield weapons to scheme into his game plan. Seattle is 6-1 this season when they run the ball 20 or more times and 3-5 when they don’t.
Minnesota has the 28th-ranked pass defense this season (244.9 yards per game allowed), which will be enticing for Grubb’s pass-heavy attack. But Geno Smith can’t do it on his own.
Vikings wide receivers Justin Jefferson and Jordan Addison have the second-most combined receiving yards (2,014) among pass-catching duos in the NFL this season. They are one of the most dangerous combos in the league, and Darnold has been efficient at getting them the ball.
Minnesota is going to go to its star receivers early and often. Addison and Jefferson make up about 57 percent of the Vikings’ targets in the passing game. The target share, plus the talent level of both, make for a tall task for Seattle.
“Those guys, they play all the positions so you got to account for them and all the spots,” Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald said Wednesday. “Probably the most diverse route tree that we’re going to get from a duo yet this year and they deserve a lot of credit for that.”
The Seahawks’ pass rush has been hot and cold this season. They are fifth in team pressures (262), but 27th in pressure-to-sack percentage (12.21 percent). Seattle was unable to sack Packers quarterback Jordan Love in Week 15, with Love getting the ball out quickly and Green Bay’s offensive line mitigating the pressure.
Seattle’s 32 sacks this season is tied for 20th with three other teams. Darnold has been good for the Vikings when under pressure this season, but his average time to throw jumps from 2.73 seconds to 3.69 — nearly a second longer the Seahawks may have to try and bring him down.
Love also loses about a second on his average while under pressure this season, but he has been getting the ball out quicker than Darnold in general. If Seattle can shut down Minnesota’s run game, they could tee off on Darnold being forced to pass the ball.
Seahawks fans will double as New York Jets supporters this weekend as Seattle hopes the Jets beat the Los Angeles Rams to aid their playoff push. If the Rams win and the Seahawks lose in Week 16, everything would have to fall perfectly in line for Seattle to earn a playoff spot — including beating Los Angeles in Week 18.
With no margin for error, this will be a huge game to decide the future of Seattle’s season. They can fall behind in the NFC West or potentially retake the division lead.
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Patrick Mahomes and 2025 MVP candidate Drake Maye are set to make trips to Lumen Field to face the Seattle Seahawks next season.
The Seahawks’ nine home and eight road opponents are now set for the 2026 campaign. They will face what on paper will be a tough slate after securing the NFC West title this year, which means they will take on the reigning division champions from the NFC North, NFC South and AFC East in addition to their home-and-home series with their NFC rivals and matchups against each team from the NFC East and AFC West.
The numbers behind Seattle Seahawks’ defensive masterpiece vs 49ers
The full schedule with dates for games has yet to be released. The NFL typically unveils the following season’s schedule in May.
Mahomes’ Kansas City Chiefs and Maye’s New England Patriots coming to town are among the highlights of the Seahawks’ 2026 slate. They could also be in line for a reunion with former coach Pete Carroll, as a trip to Las Vegas to face the Raiders is on the docket. However, the Raiders are not expected to keep Carroll for a second season.
Seahawks head coach Mike Macdonald is in line to square off with one of his former mentors when Seattle hosts Jim Harbaugh’s Los Angeles Chargers. Harbaugh was the head coach at the University of Michigan when Macdonald was the defensive coordinator in 2021. Harbaugh is also the dad of Seahawks special teams coordinator Jay Harbaugh.
Seattle has three trips to the east coast next season where they will face the reigning NFC East champion Philadelphia Eagles, reigning NFC South champion Carolina Panthers and Washington Commanders. The Seahawks also faced the Panthers and Commanders on the road this season.
Here’s a full look at Seattle’s 2026 home and away opponents.
Home
• Arizona Cardinals
• Los Angeles Rams
• San Francisco 49ers
• Chicago Bears
• New England Patriots
• Los Angeles Chargers
• Kansas City Chiefs
• Dallas Cowboys
• New York Giants
Away
• Arizona Cardinals
• Los Angles Rams
• San Francisco 49ers
• Carolina Panthers
• Las Vegas Raiders
• Denver Broncos
• Philadelphia Eagles
• Washington Commanders
Find more info on how each team’s opponents are chosen here.
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Santa Clara—When Seattle’s defense stepped on the field for the Week 18 matchup against the 49ers, they had a few goals in mind, winning was of course one of those, but they wanted to show everyone watching they are the best defense in the league.
“We made up our mind that we were going to be the best defense in the NFL,” linebacker Uchenna Nwosu said. “We were going to show the world tonight and that’s what we did.”
As has been the case for the entire season, the Seahawks’ defense was once again a highlight in their 13-3 win. The Seahawks won, in part thanks to a dominant performance by the defense that held the San Francisco 49ers to just three points. The last time Kyle Shanahan’s offense was held to just three points was in his 49ers head coaching debut in 2017. Since then, San Francisco has scored at least 6 points in every game, until Saturday.
Coming into Saturday’s game, the 49ers were riding a three-game streak of great performances by its offense. Throughout all three of those games, San Francisco was averaging 42.3 points per game, 455.3 yards per game and 29.3 first downs per game.
Seattle’s defense held San Francisco to just 53 rushing yards, which included 21 yards from quarterback Brock Purdy, 127 yards through the air, a lone field goal, and just nine first downs. They also picked off Purdy once, sacked him three times and forced the 49ers to punt four times.
“They’re a tremendous offense,” head coach Mike Macdonald said following the game. “Probably top whatever in the league and have been doing it for a long time. They have great players, they have great coaches, and the numbers back it up. Our guys played great complimentary football today. They really did. I can’t say enough, but I can’t wait to watch the tape. There’s a lot of assists going on in there, guys rushing unselfishly to free somebody else up or to let somebody else have a two-way go so they can cover for them. How we played in the back end, it felt like we were ahead of plays. These guys did a great job. I’m looking forward to watching it.”
Christian McCaffery, one of San Francisco’s top offensive playmakers in both the run and passing game was held to his lowest rushing yards all season with 23 yards through the night and his fourth lowest receiving yards with 34.
Nick Emmanwori who had a team high seven tackles, as well as a tackle for loss and quarterback hit said, “Our front seven is the best in the world. Our D-Line is the best in the world. Got dudes like Jarran Reed, Leonard Williams, Byron Murphy. Our edges are dogs. They handle business every week. We’ve got the best run defense I the league. It makes it easy for us on the back end.”
We’ll have to wait one more day to learn who takes the NFC South crown.
The Buccaneers, losers of seven of their last eight coming into today, were able to piece together a tough, 16-14 win in bad weather against the Panthers. It was a calming three hours for the Bucs and their fans, who had seen their team go from theorized Super Bowl contender in the early months of the season to bottomless freefall.
Had the Panthers found a way to win today, the NFC South, and the #4 seed in the NFC, would have been determined. Instead, we’ll have to wait another day, as a matchup between the two NFC South rivals who are eliminated from the postseason entirely will now determine everything. Certainly ironic, but great for drama.
The New Orleans Saints travel to the Atlanta Falcons tomorrow to wrap up their respective seasons, and while they’re not playing for much more than pride, both the Buccaneers and Panthers will be watching with great interest. If the Falcons win, today will prove to be little more than a minor setback for Carolina, and they’ll win the division regardless.
However, should the Saints get the road upset, everything gets flipped. The Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who were seemingly skidding towards a shocking early offseason, would be awarded the division on tiebreakers. Their Week Eight 23-3 victory over New Orleans, at the time seemingly innocuous, would end up salvaging their playoff spot.
Both Atlanta and New Orleans are on hot runs right now, the Falcons winners of three straight and the Saints on a four game streak. It’s a surprisingly compelling game given that both teams are guaranteed losing records on the season.
And this is very relevant to the Seattle Seahawks, because depending on tonight’s result in San Francisco, the NFC South division winner will either possibly, or definitely, be the team they play in their first playoff game.
If Seattle prevails tonight and takes the top seed in the NFC, it is entirely possible that their Divisional Round opponent is whoever comes out on top here. As the top seed, they play the lowest remaining seed, which would be either Carolina or Tampa Bay if all three home teams win on Wild Card Weekend. I wouldn’t bet on it, but it’s entirely possible.
On the other hand, if the Seahawks drop their game tonight and end up the #5 seeded NFC squad, then they’re drawing the winner of the NFC South in the first round for sure. Seattle has already played both teams this year, dropping an early-season bout to Tampa Bay 38-35, and just last week handling Carolina 27-10.
Of course, the Buccaneers were a far better team in that Week Five matchup, and the Seahawks have changed radically over the last three months as well, so it’s a matter of debate which team Seattle matches up better with. I imagine most Seahawks fans would feel good about either opponent, but there’s probably a preference somewhere in there.
Regardless, we’ll be waiting one more day to find out who the opponent will be, by which Seattle will already know if they’re watching the first round of the playoffs on a bye, or facing off against the south’s winner on the road.
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