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Three keys to Seahawks victory

1Keep Adrian Peterson from running wild. That won't be easy. He's No. 2 in the league in rushing and the reigning heavyweight champ when it comes to punishing a defense. Steelers' cornerback William Gay might still have Peterson's cleat marks on his chest from an Oct. 25 game. Seattle's run defense has been solid this year with two exceptions. Two very large exceptions as Frank Gore rushed for touchdowns of 80 and 79 yards, becoming the only back to run for 100 yards against Seattle this season. If Seattle's going to have a chance it needs to keep Peterson from becoming the second back to run for 100 yards this season.

2Continue making progress on the ground. Seattle's ground game didn't take baby steps last week, the Seahawks took a great leap forward. They rushed for 164 yards against Arizona, the same team that just four weeks earlier held Seattle to a franchise-low 14 yards rushing. Justin Forsett gained 123 yards for Seattle last week and he'll start in place of Julius Jones, who's out with a bruised lung. Minnesota has not allowed an opponent to rush for 100 yards since Ryan Grant gained 102 in November 2007. That was 32 games ago.

3Keep the Vikings' pass rush at bay. That won't be easy. Minnesota leads the league with 34 sacks. Protecting the quarterback has correlated closely with Seattle's victories this season. The Seahawks have given up two sacks total in their three victories and allowed an average of 3.5 sacks in their six losses.

Three keys to

Vikings victory

1Keep the Hasselbeck to Houshmandzadeh connection in check. T.J. Houshmandzadeh caught nine passes last week for 165 yards, his best game since joining the Seahawks. He and quarterback Matt Hasselbeck may be developing a rapport. Vikings star cornerback Antoine Winfield is not expected to return after missing the past three games because of a foot injury.

2Exploit the opportunities for the short passing game. The back end of Seattle's defense has been pretty sound this season. The Seahawks have allowed only seven completions of 30 yards or more this season. They have been vulnerable underneath, though, in part because the linebackers have struggled making the correct drops without middle linebacker Lofa Tatupu, who is the defense's quarterback. Brett Favre can't get greedy going deep and should look for opportunities underneath the secondary.

3Keep from turning the ball over. No one was intercepted more than Favre the previous four seasons, but he's been picked off only three times this season. Minnesota committed only four turnovers in its first six games, went 6-0 and won three of those games by 14 or more points. They've committed six turnovers their past three games, however.

Matchup microscope

RE Jared Allen vs. LT Sean Locklear. Locklear played unevenly last week in his first game back from an ankle injury that sidelined him for six games. Allen is a high-effort pass-rusher who ranks second in the league in sacks. However, 7.5 of his 10.5 sacks have come in his two games against Green Bay. Locklear has to protect Hasselbeck's blind side because Allen has shown he can swing the momentum of a game single-handedly.

Series history

The last time the Seahawks won on the road against a team that wound up making the playoffs was in 2004, when Seattle beat the Vikings on Dec. 12. Safety Michael Boulware sealed that victory when he picked off a reverse-option pass thrown by Randy Moss. Minnesota made the playoffs at 8-8 that season. This is the 11th meeting between the two teams. Seattle is 6-4 against the Vikings, and the Seahawks are 2-1 in regular-season games played at the Metrodome.

Danny O'Neil