Thier 330 pounder All-Pro performing DT Linval Joseph is out.
Thier best player on D, S Harrison Smith, is less than 80%.
Thier other starting safety is out. And thier most athletic LBer is banged up in Anthony Barr.
They had a bottom half run defense (21 in ypg/23 ypa) even with those guys healthier.
In thier last 4 games, Vikings are allowing 121 yards per game on the ground.
Seahawks are the 2nd most dominant Rushing Offense in the NFL.
With Joseph out, and the safeties banged up I liken the Vikings D talent level similar to the 49ers, obviously Vikings have better coaching and pass defense.
But their rush defense is something the Seahawks can exploit.
Seahawks averaged over 200+ yards rushing against the 49ers.
I can see them getting about 175-200 rushing yards against the Vikes.
125-150 for Rawls .
50-75 for Wilson and Jackson.
Another thing is that while the Vikings D is very good I think they lack the outside speed and experience especially this season (with Kaepernick WK 1 being thier best trested 7/51) to contain a mobile QB like Wilson. And Russ's legs should be well rested coming into this game.
To explain more: in the Vikings D, thier most experienced players are up there in age and lack that elite speed. And thier most athletic players are more inexperienced especially against mobile QBs. This would be the game to run a lot of roll outs with read option with Wilson and just exploit the lack of speed and experience. Amplified by the fact the Vikes are missing thier most important and most dominant run defender which will help get linemen into the second level and exploit thier banged up middle defense.
