Hutchinson huge in Vikings' win

Steve Hutchinson spent most of Sunday afternoon listening to Seattle scream itself blue at him, but the hue had changed by the time he jogged off the field.

The predominant color left in the stands was purple, and Vikings fans chanted, "Hutch, Hutch, Hutch," as he left the field. And just as Hutchinson reached the tunnel, a fan wearing a Seahawks No. 83 lowered his head and shouted, "Seattle hates you."

So much for a curtain call.

"They basically cussed me out for three hours," Hutchinson said of the crowd.

His presence was a big deal in a game when the Minnesota Vikings had the longest run ever given up by Seattle. Turns out his absence was just as important, too, as the Seahawks finished with their fewest rushing yards in four years. Hutchinson tried to downplay the significance of his return, and in fact, the attention wasn't entirely about the drama of his departure.

He is a guard, the most anonymous position on the offensive line, but two plays from Sunday's game spoke to a more central importance. Hutchinson was the man in the middle of Chester Taylor's 95-yard touchdown run in the third quarter, and he was the man missing from Seattle's short-yardage equation in the fourth quarter.

The Seahawks faced a fourth-and-one a little more than 5 minutes into the fourth quarter. This was the situation the Seahawks excelled at last year, the short-yardage situations that are long on toughness. They failed to convert only one third-and-one situation all of last season.

When the Seahawks needed a yard, they got it and usually more. But Sunday on fourth-and-one, the Seahawks lost 3 yards. They tried to go left, calling a sweep to Maurice Morris. Although left guard Chris Spencer held his blocking assignment against Kevin Williams, Vikings defensive end Kenechi Udeze made first contact and linebacker E.J. Henderson finished off Morris.

The edge the Seahawks held at the line of scrimmage last season has been dulled, and the Seahawks' 53 yards rushing was their fewest in any game since Nov. 17, 2002, when they rushed for 51 yards against Denver.

"Not taking anything away from them, they have a good offensive line," Udeze said. "Not the same line that they were the year before, but still one of the better offensive lines."

What has changed?

"It hurts them a little bit because him and Walter Jones go hand in hand," Udeze said. "They do a great job in stretching that side of the field. When Shaun Alexander was most successful, he had those two on the left side."

Now it's the Vikings who now have that edge with Hutchinson sandwiched between tackle Bryant McKinnie and center Matt Birk, and he loomed large in Taylor's scoring run in the third quarter. Fullback Tony Richardson said his assignment was to block linebacker Julian Peterson, but Hutchinson took care of that instead.

"He was just there in his field of vision," said Richardson, who then tried to chip off Lofa Tatupu.

Tatupu still had a chance to make the play, but he couldn't keep Taylor from getting around the edge. The play underscored the importance of the Vikings' newfound strength on the left side even after a week in which Hutchinson did as much as he could to avoid the drama surrounding his return.

"I don't like to draw any attention to myself," Hutchinson said. "I never am a big, flamboyant person. ... And for me to be the center of attention going into a game like this, I really didn't care for it and tried to avoid it as much as possible."

It's just that it was impossible to avoid on Sunday.

Danny O'Neil: 206-464-2364 or doneil@seattletimes.com