EAGAN, Minn. — The Vikings are back in action for the first of two remaining road trips that will be to locales on the West Coast.
Minnesota (8-3) will visit Seattle (9-2) at 7:15 p.m. (CT) Monday. The game will be the Vikings first of two Monday Night Football appearances and the third overall prime-time game of the 2019 regular season.
The game will mark Minnesota's 10th trip to Seattle in a regular-season game and fall less than a full year to the day that the Seahawks claimed a 21-7 win with a late rally (Dec. 10, 2018).
The Seahawks have won their past four games by a combined 24 points and notched consecutive overtime victories over the Buccaneers and 49ers to open the month.
Since Week 5, Kirk Cousins has totaled an NFL-best passer rating of 126.5. He leads the NFL with 18 touchdown passes, ranks third with 2,021 passing yards and second in completion percentage (73.3) in that span.
Dalvin Cook ranks third the NFL with 1,017 rushing yards and is tied for second with 11 scores on the ground. He also ranks second with 1,472 yards from scrimmage, the most in team history through the first 11 games of a season.
Kyle Rudolph has at least one touchdown in four of the past five games.
Stefon Diggs is third among receiving qualifiers with a per-catch average of 19.1 yards. He also ranks seventh in the league with 880 yards. Diggs' explosion through the second and third quarters of the season have positioned him within striking distance of a new career high. He needs 142 to top the 1,021 he totaled in 2018.
Minnesota's offense ranks eighth in yards per game (378.6), fourth in yards per play (6.07), fourth in rushing yards per game (142.5), 15th in passing yards per game (236.2) and eighth in points per game (26.3).
Seattle's offense ranks fifth in the NFL in yards per game (385.4), sixth in yards per play (5.90) and is tied for sixth in rushing yards per game (136.9). The Seahawks are 11th in passing yards per game (248.5) and seventh in points per game (26.7).
The Vikings rank sixth in the NFL in points against (18.6), 15th in yards allowed per game (338.6), sixth in rushing yards allowed per game (94.2) and 20th in passing yards allowed per game (244.5).
The Seahawks are 21st in the NFL in points against (23.9), 23rd in yards allowed per game (370.3), 10th in rushing yards allowed per game (101.5) and 29th in passing yards allowed per game (268.7).
TV BROADCAST
ESPN
Play-by-Play: Joe Tessitore
Analyst: Booger McFarland
Sideline Reporter: Lisa Salters
LOCAL RADIO
KFAN (100.3-FM/KTLK 1130-AM in Minneapolis/St. Paul)
Play-by-Play: Paul Allen
Analyst: Pete Bercich
Sideline Reporters: Greg Coleman & Ben Leber
Radio Pre-game Show: Mike Mussman | 5:30 p.m. (CT)
KFAN and KTLK serve as the flagship stations for the five-state Vikings Radio Network.
NATIONAL RADIO
Westwood One
Play-by-Play: Kevin Harlan
Analyst: Kurt Warner
Sideline Reporter: Ryan Harris
SATELLITE RADIO
Sirius: MIN 81 or Streaming 819; SEA 83 or Streaming 828
XM: MIN 225 or Streaming 819; SEA 226 Streaming 828; National 88 or Streaming 88; Spanish Streaming 970
STAT OF THE WEEK
Minnesota held Seattle QB Russell Wilson to a career-low 72 yards on 10-of-20 passing last year.
NORSEMAN NOTES
Minnesota has opened a season 8-3 for the fourth time in team history (1992, 1997, 2015 and 2019). The team won its division in 1992 and 2015. It lost five in a row and finished in fourth place in 1997 but made the postseason as a Wild Card team.
Mike Zimmer is 6-6 against NFC West teams as head coach of the Vikings.
The Vikings offense has allowed only 22 sacks in 2019. Minnesota suffered 40 in 2018.
QB Kirk Cousins has thrown 51 touchdown passes in 27 games with Minnesota, making him the fastest Vikings QB to throw 50 or more TDs.
Cousins has thrown for 7,054 yards since joining the Vikings. He passed Brett Favre (6,711) in Week 10 for the seventh-most in team history.
Since Week 5, the Vikings offense has averaged 409.5 yards per game, the third-most in the NFL in that span.
Kyle Rudolph (415 receptions) passed Jake Reed (413) in Week 11 for fifth place on Minnesota's all-time list. Anthony Carter is fourth all-time with 478.
The Vikings defense has allowed the fewest rushing touchdowns in the NFL this season (three).
Danielle Hunter is 1.5 sacks from becoming the youngest player in NFL history to total 50.
According to league stats, Eric Kendricks has a career-high 12 pass breakups on the season, which is three more than any other linebacker this season.
VIKINGS-SEAHAWKS CONNNECTIONS
Vikings DT Shamar Stephen played for the Seahawks in 2018.
Seahawks Head Coach Pete Carroll was DBs coach for the Vikings from 1985-89.
Minnesota defensive backs coach Jerry Gray held the same role in Seattle in 2010.
LOCAL CONNECTIONS
Seahawks FB Nick Bellore is from St. Paul, and receivers coach Nate Carroll was born in Edina.
COACHING CONNECTIONS
Vikings running backs coach Kennedy Polamalu (2000-03) worked with Seahawks Head Coach Pete Carroll (2001-09) and Offensive Coordinator Brian Schottenheimer (2000) at USC.
Minnesota defensive line coach Andre Patterson was a defensive assistant with the Patriots in 1997 when Carroll was New England's head coach.
Vikings assistant special teams coach Ryan Ficken worked with Seahawks Special Teams Coordinator Brian Schneider from 2003-05 at UCLA.
PROFESSIONAL CONNECTIONS
Vikings RB Ameer Abdullah and T Riley Reiff teamed with Seahawks DE Ziggy Ansah and FB Nick Bellore at Detroit.
Minnesota G Dakota Dozier and Offensive Line Coach/Run Game Coordinator Rick Dennison were with the Jets along with Seattle K Jason Myers, Bellore and QB Geno Smith.
Vikings T Rashod Hill and Smith overlapped in Jacksonville in 2016.
Vikings Assistant Head Coach/Senior Offensive Advisor Gary Kubiak, Dennison and tight ends coach Brian Pariani overlapped with Seahawks T Duane Brown in Houston.
Minnesota Defensive Coordinator George Edwards and Special Teams Coordinator Marwan Maalouf overlapped with Seattle CB Neiko Thorpe in Miami.
Vikings P Britton Colquitt teamed with Thorpe in Cleveland.
COLLEGE CONNECTIONS
Vikings T Aviante Collins with Seahawks C Joey Hunt and L.J. Collier at TCU
Minnesota WR Stefon Diggs and Seattle DT Quinton Jefferson at Maryland
Vikings CBs Kris Boyd and Holton Hill with Seahawks P Michael Dickson and DT Poona Ford
Minnesota CB Mike Hughes and Seattle LB Shaquem Griffin at UCF
Vikings LB Ben Gedeon and Seahawks SS Lano Hill at Michigan
Minnesota G Pat Elflein and DT Jalyn Holmes at Ohio State with Seattle T Jamarco Jones
VIKINGS TOP PERFORMERS VS. SEAHAWKS
Offense
Dalvin Cook: 1 game (1 start), 13 rushes, 55 yards; 5 receptions for 28 yards and a TD
Kirk Cousins: 3 games (3 starts), 62-of-100 passing, 738 yards, 3 TD, 0 INT, 94.5 passer rating
Defense
Eric Kendricks: 3 games (3 starts), 22 tackles (league stats), INT, 3 PD
Trae Waynes: 2 games (did not start), INT, 2 PD
VIKINGS BIG DAYS VS. SEAHAWKS
Kirk Cousins (with Washington): 21-of-31 passing for 247 yards; led a game-winning touchdown drive in four plays for a 17-14 victory at Seattle on Nov. 5, 2017
Dalvin Cook: caught second career touchdown pass at Seattle on Dec. 10, 2018
Trae Waynes: intercepted Russell Wilson in the Wild Card game hosted by Minnesota on Jan. 10, 2016
Everson Griffen: 6 tackles, 1.0 sack, 4 QB hits in the Wild Card game hosted by Minnesota on Jan. 10, 2016
VIKINGS-SEAHAWKS SERIES NOTES
1. Monday's game will be the 17th meeting in the regular season or playoffs between Minnesota and Seattle. The Seahawks are 11-5 in the series overall thanks to a five-game win streak.
2. The franchises first met in 1976, which was Seattle's first season in the NFL as a member of the AFC. The Seahawks moved to the NFC in 2002 when the NFL realigned teams into its current structure of eight, four-team divisions.
3. Seattle's first head coach in franchise history was Jack Patera, who was Minnesota's defensive line coach from 1969-75 under Head Coach Bud Grant.
Longest Vikings winning streak in series: 2 games (Oct. 22, 2006 through Nov. 22, 2009)
Longest Vikings losing streak in series: 5 games (since Nov. 4, 2012, including one postseason game)
