If Tarvaris Jackson and Sidney Rice are going to get revenge on the Minnesota Vikings, it's going to have to come at another time.
The Minnesota Vikings defeated the Seattle Seahawks in pre-season action on Saturday night by a final score of 20-7. The first score for the night was actually generated by the Minnesota defense, as Jackson threw a pass that was intended for Golden Tate that went through his hands and into the hands of former Golden Gopher and current Vikings defensive back Marcus Sherels. Sherels knew what to do with it after he caught it, and took the ball 64 yards for a score. It was the Vikings' first touchdown of the 2011 pre-season, and gave them a 7-0 lead.
A couple of Ryan Longwell field goals gave Minnesota a 13-0 lead going into halftime and, after a scoreless third quarter, the Seahawks got on the board in the fourth thanks to the right arm of Charlie Whitehurst. Whitehurst led a huge 16-play, 89-yard drive for the Seahawks, taking over eight and a half minutes to do so. The drive concluded with a 3-yard touchdown pass from Whitehurst to tight end Anthony McCoy, and cut the Minnesota lead to 13-7.
After the Vikings stopped the Seahawks on a fourth down in their own territory late in the game, the Vikings sealed the game with their first offensive touchdown of the 2011 pre-season, a 35-yard touchdown run from rookie running back Tristan Davis to give themselves a 20-7 lead. Seahawks' third-string quarterback Josh Portis tried to get Seattle closer as the clock wound down, but Adrian Awasom sacked Portis to end the game and even the pre-season records for both teams at 1-1.
Minnesota's next pre-season game will see them play at the Metrodome for the first time since the roof collapsed due to heavy snow last December 12. They will host the Dallas Cowboys on Saturday, August 27, with kickoff scheduled for 7:00 PM Central time.