Entering the divisional-round playoff game at CenturyLink Field on Saturday, few gave the Carolina Panthers much of a chance against the defending Super Bowl champions. In the end, although they were within four points entering the fourth quarter, any slim chance the Panthers had was quickly snuffed out by a Seattle Seahawks defense that was just as good as advertised.
"Our guys played really hard tonight," said head coach Pete Carroll. "I thought Kam played really good. I don't know that a strong safety can have a better game than Kam had tonight."
Seattle Follows the Usual Script
Always confident in their defense, the Seahawks prefer to kickoff first in order to start the second half with the ball. That's exactly how events transpired at the beginning of the game, and as usual, it paid off.
Not only did the Panthers go three-and-out in their first three drives, but the Seahawks scored first, as defensive tackle Tony McDaniel recovered a Cam Newton fumble at the Carolina 28 yard line. Four plays later, quarterback Russell Wilson (15/22, 268 yards, three TDs, 149.2 rating) connected on a 16-yard touchdown pass to Doug Baldwin, putting the home team on top, 7-0.
"I was really fired up for Russell," said Carroll. "I think he had three third-down touchdown passes, which is just unheard of."
Carolina Bounced Back, but Not for Long
Over the years, Carolina quarterback Cam Newton (23/36, 246 yards, 2 TDs, 2 INTs and a fumble) has had some of the worst games of his career against the Seahawks. Although somewhat up-and-down, he made an inspired effort under hostile, difficult circumstances on Saturday.
Down 7-0, Newton engineered a fourteen-play, 79-yard drive to tie the game in the second quarter. Mixing short passes and tough runs effectively, Newton capped off the drive with a seven-yard strike to rookie sensation Kelvin Benjamin.
The tie did not last long. On Seattle's very next drive, Wilson displayed his big-play ability in the teeth of a strong Carolina defense. On third and seven from his own 37, Wilson found a streaking Jermaine Kearse down the left sideline who did the rest, clipping the pylon with the nose of the football as he dove toward the end zone. "Jermaine Kearse, he goes for 100+ yards, I think 120 or something (129, on three receptions) and (had) a phenomenal game," gushed Carroll.
The Panthers closed the gap to four points with a last-second field goal in the second quarter, but not before a terrific effort to block the kick from Kam Chancellor not once, but twice.
Timing his jump perfectly, Chancellor lept over the line at exactly the right time and almost blocked the kick, which ended up splitting the uprights anyway. However, a false start nullified the play. On the re-kick, Chancellor did precisely the same thing, this time forcing kicker Graham Gano to shank the ball wide left. However, he inadvertently ran into the kicker for a five-yard penalty to give a third bite at the apple to Gano. On the final try, Chancellor did not attempt the unusual block move, and the kick was subsequently good, closing the halftime gap to 14-10.
Seahawks Close out the Game with Style
After a scoreless third quarter, the Seahawks showed the heart of a champion in the decisive frame.
After opening the fourth quarter with a 37-yard field goal, Seattle scored yet another touchdown just 4:27 later. The Wilson-to-Willson (tight end Luke) combination, which has been surprisingly effective this year following the season-ending injury to starter Zach Miller, connected yet again, this time on a rumbling, 25-yard tackle-breaking sprint into the end zone for the 24-10 lead. "Luke Willson makes some huge, big-time plays for us," said Wilson. For the game, Willson had four catches for 68 yards.
Seattle's defense put the game away on Carolina's very next possession. With Cam Newton in catch-up mode and operating mostly out of the shotgun, the Panthers drove the ball methodically down to the Seahawks 13 yard line as the clock ticked under seven minutes left in the game. However, on second-and-four, Chancellor jumped in front of a pass intended for tight end Ed Dickson for the interception, and in the blink of an eye was gone, flashing down the field for a 90-yard touchdown.
“It’s a credit to the defensive lineman," explained Chancellor. "The defensive line did a great job on that interception play. I look back and I see Cam [Newton] just under pressure and looked as if he was going to get tackled and he threw the ball right to me. I read the play, I saw the defensive line get pressure on Cam; credit goes to them, and I just finished the play.”
Although the Panthers were able to score a final touchdown on a Newton-to-Benjamin 15-yard strike with 2:41 left to play, Carolina could get no closer. In the end, Seattle posted a huge 31-17 victory and now moves on to the NFC Championship game against either the Dallas Cowboys or Green Bay Packers.
The NFC Championship Game
In victory, the Seahawks accomplished something not seen in nine years, becoming the first Super Bowl-winning team to win a playoff game the next year since the New England Patriots did it in January, 2006. The NFC Championship Game will pit Seattle against the winner of tomorrow afternoon's "Ice Bowl" rematch between the Dallas Cowboys and Green Bay Packers.
Russell Wilson, upon being asked about playing the Cowboys or Packers next Sunday, was characteristically even-handed in his praise.
“We played both teams, the Packers and the Cowboys, pretty early. We beat the Packers early on in the season, and then the Cowboys we lost to, we didn’t play our best game. Whoever we play, they have phenomenal quarterbacks, they have great defenses, both teams, and great players on offense. So, it’s going to be one of those for the ages, you look forward to that, and I definitely look forward to playing at home, rather than those two places."