Despite the presence of multiple first-round picks in the Minnesota

Vikings' secondary Marshawn Lynch Color Rush Jersey , former undrafted free agent Holton Hill has managed to carve out a major role for himself as a rookie.Hill was on the field for 64 of Minnesota's 66 plays on defense in a 21-7 loss to the Seattle Seahawks on Monday, the most of any Vikings cornerback.And while the Seahawks leaned heavily on their running game — Seattle ran the ball 42 times and attempted just 20 passes — Hill and the secondary held up admirably against quarterback Russell Wilson, holding him to 72 passing yards and an interception.The Texas product, nicknamed "Hollywood" since childhood, has gotten his turn under the spotlight this season with the Vikings shorthanded at cornerback.He filled in for Trae Waynes against Seattle, racking up eight total tackles and a pass defended, but this isn't the first time he's played a major role for the Vikings.Hill was on the field for 76 percent of the defense's plays against the New England Patriots in Week 13, and played the whole game against the New Orleans Saints in Week 8.Hill logged his first career interception in Week 7, picking off New York Jets quarterback Sam Darnold.More observations from Monday's snap counts:— Waynes was held out with a concussion, while Xavier Rhodes was back to his usual workload after playing on just 61 percent of the defense's snaps against the Patriots.— Running back Dalvin Cook, who has played anywhere from 57 to 88 percent of the offense's snaps since returning to the lineup in Week 9, was especially involved against Seattle. He out-snapped fellow running back Latavius Murray 49-8.— Even C.J. Ham got more work than Murray, logging 10 snaps, his largest workload since Week 8.OFFENSEPLAYERPlays (58)%Elflein58100%Reiff58100%Compton58100%Remmers58100%Cousins58100%Rudolph5798%Thielen5697%Diggs5086%Cook4984%O'Neill4984%Treadwell3052%R. Hill1831%Robinson1322%Ham1017%Murray814%Conklin712%Smith12%DEFENSEPLAYERPlays (66)%Smith66100%Harris66100%Barr6497%H. Hill6497%Rhodes6294%Kendricks6192%Hunter5482%Griffen5380%Joseph5177%Richardson4568%Gedeon3756%Alexander3655%Weatherly2741%T. Johnson2436%J. Johnson1218%Kearse46% The Seattle Seahawks got funky last Monday. Ken Norton Jr. stunted hard, unleashing wild, looping blitzes. His defense looked like Kris Richard’s Seahawks with 3-down linemen looks. On the back end, the coverage was also a complete change up. Seattle predominantly ran two-high safety pass defenses that turned into either match quarters, cover-2 man or bracket man. Single-high, cover-3 and cover-1? This was only witnessed against heavier personnel and formations.Here’s what Kirk Cousins (probably) said at half time:Yes Earl Thomas III Color Rush Jersey , in addition to the Seahawks’ distractingly lurid ACTION green uniforms, their defensive scheme was also deceiving. The result was a rattled, confused $84M quarterback who double-clutched and missed throws. Norton Jr.’s gameplan was completely different to what the Minnesota Vikings would have prepared for in the days leading up to their 21-7 defeat. The now fired John DeFilippo struggled to figure out ways to move the football. Seattle popped off the screen in more ways than one on Monday Night Football. What this article will cover is the bracket/bandit coverages. In Adam Thielen and Stefon Diggs, the Vikings have the deadliest receiving duo in the league. The Seahawks limited them to 76 and 70 receiving yards respectively. Zero touchdowns. That’s not bad at all, especially when you factor in garbage time production.In the first quarter, Seattle befuddled Minnesota’s opening script and didn’t allow a single Thielen or Diggs reception. Let’s get to their second drive of the game.Bracket/Bandit #1The Vikings came out in an 11 personnel (1 running back, 1 tight end and 3 wide receivers), empty shotgun set featuring two wingbacks. They were lied to pre-snap by the Seahawks’ 3-1-7 big seven defensive back (bandit personnel) defense on this 3rd and 12.It looked like a cover-2 man press defense. Instead, Seattle rushed just two of their players. Jacob Martin, lined up at left end, dropped as his green dog assignment required him to stop his rush and cover the releasing man one-on-one.Meanwhile, in the deep secondary, Delano Hill bracketed Thielen over the top. The coverage saw Griffin and Hill double cover Thielen. The other safety, Tedric Thompson, was assigned Diggs deep. Diggs had to contend with the man coverage of Justin Coleman, walling from the initially sugared Akeem King and Thompson: triple coverage. Cousins first looked at Diggs, expecting the middle of the field to be open. He quickly progressed, given the safety movement and immediate two-man plastering. His second read was Thielen’s in-breaking deep route outside. The underneath and over the top layers smothered Thielen, making this even less preferable of a throw.Checking that Martin had dropped with the flat route checkdown Chris Carson Color Rush Jersey , Cousins panned to the other side of the field and the checkdown of Dalvin Cook in the flat. Bobby Wagner, in man coverage over the running back, dropped him for a loss. (The refs made a very strange call on Wagner here, but the coverage still worked beautifully.)Bracket/Bandit #2The bizarre flag on Wagner kept Minnesota’s drive alive, only for them to stall in similar fashion on the next third down—a 3rd and 12. The Vikings plumped for an 11 personnel shotgun trips formation; the Seahawks once more responded with a 3-1-7 big bandit (7 DBs).The assignments were similar, as was the result. King walled Diggs’ skinny post route, along with the man-to-man press coverage of Griffin and the bracketing of Hill. On the opposite side of the field, the isolated Thielen had Thompson work his way over the top to double cover him above Tre Flowers. It was this safety movement that Cousins first observed. Correctly choosing to move to his next read, Cousins again saw a triple-covered Diggs. He went for the one-on-one the defense produced. Coleman worked well on Aldrick Robinson’s wickedly angled vertical route, staying easily in phase with the receiver.Up front, Jarran Reed managed to command a double-team (benefited by pre-snap sugaring) that saw Martin get a one-on-one with right tackle Brian O’Neill. Beating him for speed to the corner, Martin dipped through and registered a hit on Cousins. Hurried, Cousins’ pass fell nowhere near the intended receiver and Coleman’s sound coverage. Change-Up Seattle’s ability to adapt to their opponent is a massively underrated aspect to Pete Carroll’s genius as a defensive coach. Undoubtedly, Norton Jr. had influence on the scheme too. The Seahawks’ near-perfect execution had Cousins reeling: they went to match-quarters stuff for the rest of the game and it was similarly effective.Said Cousins:The proactive measures neutered the Vikings’ offense of any tangible threat. It was deadly, like Nolan Ryan’s circle change-up after a ton of scorching fastballs. Minnesota was left looking silly.Bobby Wagner reflected on the Bandit coverage post-game:Here’s what Carroll thought of the schematic tweak: With a playoff run now nearly certain, it’s comforting to know that Seattle has ways of taking lethal receivers out of games. Cousins was persistently forced to his tertiary read and he looked shell-shocked in the big moments. A stifling defense that imposes that level of psychological stress on a quarterback is something that screams SEAHAWKS IN DECEMBER. The astonishing part is we can think that about this rebuilding iteration of Carroll’s Seattle. I’m in!