No heroics for Boykin this time as Seahawks fall to Vikings

SEATTLE – Trevyone Boykin threw the game-winning touchdown again.

This time, it happened to be to the wrong team.

Marcus Sherels picked off a Boykin pass and returned it for a touchdown with 1:23 to go in the fourth quarter as the Minnesota Vikings beat the Seattle Seahawks, 18-11, Thursday night in a preseason game at CenturyLink Field.

It was an unhappy follow-up to Boykin’s heroics Saturday, when his last-second Hail Mary lifted the Seahawks to a wild victory over Kansas City.

It was, after all, a preseason game though, and what happened on the field was more important than what happened on the scoreboard.

Let’s start with the positive.

Troymaine Pope and Christine Michael looked good.

So did Frank Clark.

So did Tyler Lockett, Jon Ryan and, at times, even the offensive line.

Now for the negative.

There was that loss, and that interception, and there was the fact the starting offense produced no points and surrendered four sacks while playing the entire first half.

Of particular concern were the four sacks starting quarterback Russell Wilson absorbed, including a particularly brutal one in his final play on the field.

It was difficult to judge how much of that was the fault of the  line -- which features new starters at all five positions –- as it appeared Wilson simply held on to the ball too long on at least two of the sacks. And at times, the line looked to be playing well together, in particular by providing some fierce pushes on rushing plays.

There were some bright spots among the starters. Michael – who started the game, but will likely cede the job to Thomas Rawls by the time the regular season  begins –picked up 55  yards on 10  carries, worming his way through small holes and showing improved technique with the ball.

But he was overshadowed by Pope, who picked up 86 yards on 10 carries of his own in a breakout performance.

Things weren’t all bad for Boykin, who provided the game’s highlight with a leap into the end zone on a two-point conversion in the third quarter. He looked solid at times, likely moving closer to locking up the backup quarterback job by completing 10 of 20 passes for 127 yards.

Seattle will play host to the Dallas Cowboys  next Thursday at 7 p.m. The game will be televised on the home of the Seahawks, Q13 FOX.