Resilient Seahawks accomplish two franchise-firsts in win over Vikings

Seattle accomplished something significant on Sunday in Minnesota.

Not just winning at least one playoff game for the fourth successive season for the first time in franchise history, but coming back to win a game after being shut-out for the first three quarters.

It was only the third time in NFL playoff history that had happened, and if coach Pete Carroll is being honest, there was a flicker of doubt after Minnesota kicked its third field goal of the game in the third quarter.

“When they went to nine-zip, it was a moment where, ‘Oh boy, we haven’t scored once, now how are we going to score twice?'” Carroll said. “And there was a moment there of question: What’s going to happen next? And we came right back there and got going.”

That shouldn’t be all that surprising. Sunday was the fourth time in Carroll’s 11 playoff games in Seattle that the Seahawks failed to score in the first half. The victory over Minnesota was the second time in those four games that Seattle came back to win, and there was a third occasion – in Atlanta – when the Seahawks came back to take the lead in the fourth quarter after trailing 20-0 at halftime. The Seahawks ultimately lost that game to the Falcons, but it was another example of Seattle’s resilience.

That’s an asset going forward, according to Carroll.

“It’s a really good thing to know about yourself,” Carroll said. “I made mention to the guys that, ‘We’re not out of a game. There’s no time we’re going to be out of one.'”

The history backs him up. In the six seasons under Carroll, Seattle is 5-2 in playoff games where it has trailed by nine points or more, according to ESPN Stats and Information. The rest of league is 6-41 in that time. That mean’s Carroll’s Seahawks have almost as many postseason rallies from deficits of nine or more points than the rest of the league combined.

Carroll didn’t know that statistic going into Sunday’s game, but he does now.

“Couldn’t be more proud of that,” he said. “That’s what we’re talking about. That’s how we hope to be. We’ve pulled off some exciting finishes, and we’ve been part of the other end of it, too. But for the most part we’ve done it really well.”

In 11 playoff games under Carroll, Seattle scored an average of 9.7 points in the first half and 17 points in the second not to mention the six points in overtime of last year’s NFC Championship Game.