Seahawks run over Vikings, but lose Fant to knee injury



SEATTLE – There was plenty of good news to go around, so let’s get the bad out of the way first.

Left tackle George Fant suffered a knee injury in the second quarter as the Seattle Seahawks rolled to a 20-13 victory over the Minnesota Vikings in their preseason home opener on Friday night at CenturyLink Field.

Fant was carted off the field in an air cast after several minutes on the ground, and Seahawks coach Pete Carroll said Fant will require surgery that could put his season in jeopardy.

Recently, Carroll had said it looked like Fant had the starting job locked up, providing some stability to a line that’s long been in flux. Carroll said he was "broken-hearted" by the news.

But enough with the negative; let’s get to the good stuff.

The Seahawks improved to 2-0 this preseason, as all facets of the game mostly clicked despite some occasional rust.

Russell Wilson and the first-team offense zoomed down the field twice, ending drives of 77 and 80 yards with a 1-yard TD pass to Kasen Williams and a 22-yard pass to Mike Davis, respectively. Wilson was 13-of-18 passing for 206 yards and the two TDs, with no interceptions.

Williams looked great again, hauling in two passes for 28 yards and notching a tackle on special teams, and Doug Baldwin looked commanding with four receptions for 69 yards.

On the defensive side – well, it sure is good to have Earl Thomas back, isn’t it? Thomas got burned once, but looked every bit his speedy, hard-hitting old self in leading the team with six tackles. Fellow safety Tedric Thompson had six as well, and Delano Hill had five.

Or how about the new guy on special teams, Blair Walsh? The Seahawks’ kicker shrugged off an early field goal miss, nailing two 52-yarders and talking some trash to his former team on the way off the field.

The Seahawks return to the field Friday, with a home game against the Kansas City Chiefs.