THE CHEAP SEATS with STEVE CAMERON: Seahawks won the mental part of the game, too

Be honest.

Did you think that this time the Seahawks just weren’t going to get out of jail?

I mean, they beat New England and Dallas on the last plays of those games — but then again, they hadn’t been mauled from end to end as they were by the Minnesota Vikings on Sunday night.

In fact, when the Vikes reached Seattle’s 6-yard line, and faced a fourth and one at the two-minute warning, most Seahawks loyalists probably hoped that Minnesota would take the easy field goal and add to their 26-21 lead.

Yes, it would have given Russell Wilson the ball, but the Hawks would have been down eight points — needing a touchdown drive and two-point conversion just for overtime.

The other option, however, looked like it could be fatal.

Minnesota’s running game hadn’t even been slowed all night, so it was no surprise that coach Mike Zimmer went for the kill shot.

“We didn’t fly all the way out here to worry about overtime,” he said.

ON THE other sideline, Pete Carroll was enjoying himself too much to worry about the Vikings’ decision.

“We were having so much freakin’ fun,” said the coach who admits he loves close games — even when there’s no guarantee he’s going to win.

“We’re making memories here.”

By the way, Minnesota had the ball at that point because Wilson had thrown an interception (surely his worst pass of the year) at the 50-yard line with 5:45 left.

Six running plays later, the Vikings were ready to finish it.

Except…

We all know what happened, of course.

Vikings running back Alexander Mattison got stuffed for no gain.

“When you watch them go down the field on us, why would we think we could stop them on fourth down?’’ Carroll said.

“But we did.

“We stopped them third down and fourth down.

“The resilience it takes to come through in situations like that comes from somewhere.”

Carroll seemed to sum up the whole night — including the Vikings’ whopping advantages in first downs, total yardage and time of possession — with an explanation far beyond throws and catches and runs.

“You have to feed off one another and support one another, Carroll said.

“That comes from a really deep-seated belief you can get this done.’’

THRILLING as that stop might have been, it still left Russ trying to generate something in the rain and wind, conditions that have vexed him at times in the past.

On a night that saw Seattle fail on all seven third-down plays, Wilson had to conjure up something special on a pair of excruciating fourth-down plays.

In fact, the Seahawks had barely gotten started when they faced a fourth-and-10.

Minnesota blitzed, so Wilson had to make an instant decision.

Given the pressure, Wilson knew that the 6-4, 229-pound DK Metcalf had to be covered one-on-one down the left sideline by 6-1, 188-pound rookie Cameron Dantzler.

So, he threw one of his “marshmallow balls” high and far into the gloomy night.

“I just saw it hanging there and my only thought was to go get the ball,” Metcalf said.

“That’s what Russ keeps harping on, that there’s going to be a game-changer, and when the ball is in there, it’s always mine.”

He was right, and the catch was good for 39 yards.

Wilson then hit Tyler Lockett for 17 yards and Metcalf again to reach the Minnesota 6-yard line.

It looked like a done deal.

If CenturyLink had been full, it would have been nuts.

But then Russ had to throw one away, and Metcalf had a potential winner knocked out of his hands.

On third down, Wilson had nowhere to go and heaved the ball over the back corner of the end zone.

Suddenly, the Seahawks had just one more shot.

They called timeout.

NOW…

Maybe things were going bananas where you were watching, but the coolest place in the world was the Seattle sideline.

“It was just so poised,’’ Carroll said. “The players were so poised, the coaches were so poised.

“We talked through every single instance that was happening there.’’

Then…

On fourth-and-ballgame, Wilson waited a split second for Metcalf to cross in front of safety Anthony Harris — and unloaded a rocket to the end zone.

DK got his hands out in front, put a vice grip on the pass, and the Seahawks — shockingly up 27-26 with 10 seconds left — had defied the odds again.

Although…

Wilson didn’t exactly see it that way.

Throughout that chaotic final drive, he kept reminding his teammates that this wasn’t the first time he’d been through a last-minute meat-grinder.

So, what did he say to guys in the huddle when defeat seemed just inches away?

“We’ve been here before,’’ Wilson kept telling them.

“We’ve been here before, and we know what’s going to happen.”

Yep.

Email: scameron@cdapress.com

Steve Cameron’s “Cheap Seats” columns appear in The Press on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. “Moments, Memories and Madness,” his reminiscences from several decades as a sports journalist, runs each Sunday.

Steve also writes Zags Tracker, a commentary on Gonzaga basketball, once per month during the offseason.