Good day for Vikings defenders

Had I been blessed with an entrepreneurial spirit, I'd have bought a bunch of burgers and brats at the concession stand Sunday and then sold them to members of the Vikings defense at a huge markup. Someone could have made a fortune with a little business like that right on the sideline during the game.

Minnesota's defense fell into a comfortable pattern against the Seahawks. The defenders would stop Seattle cold, then retreat to the sideline for, well, some downtime. That's because the Vikings offense gratefully took the ball and manufactured long drive after long drive.

As a result, the Vikings won 35-9 and the defense spent just 17:49 on the field. The Vikings offense ran 72 plays compared to 43 for Seattle.

"I had a lot of cappuccinos," linebacker Chad Greenway joked.

It's no secret how Minnesota's defense was able to get off the field so quickly. The Seahawks were held to a grand total of 4 yards rushing.

Four. Cuatro. Vier. Quattro. That's the second-lowest game total in Vikings history. In 2006 they held Detroit to minus-3.

After a while, the Seahawks gave up trying. Their final tally was 13 attempts for 4 yards. Not that Seattle is a big running team to begin with. But you'd figure a team could get more than 4 yards just by falling forward a few times.

Vikings defenders have led the league in run defense for three straight seasons. Although they've had good games this season, they've been waiting for a shutdown game like this.

"It's about time," said Kevin Williams. "We've had a lot of garbage yardage against us all year. Quarterbacks were averaging 30 yards rushing against us. Running backs, we've had no problem with them. But that's kind of screwed up the numbers a little bit."

Linebacker Ben Leber said the only thing he heard with regards to Sunday's defensive effort came in the third quarter. He heard on the sideline that Seattle had just a couple of yards rushing. Maybe someone discovered that information by surfing the Internet on the sideline.

After all, the guys were in need of something to do.

"When we heard that, we said, 'Let's get them back in negative yardage,' " Leber said. And they did, too, stuffing running back Justin Forsett not long after.

In the end, they probably could have held Seattle to negative yardage had they been on the field a bit more. It's tough to tackle someone for a loss when you're shooting the breeze near the water bucket.

"Our number one goal is to get off the field," Greenway said. "It's a credit to the guys up front and the whole unit working together to stop the run."

It was quite an effort. Another game like that and perhaps the defensive guys will set up a card table near midfield. Maybe play Parcheesi.