Seahawks-Panthers final score: What happened and what do fans have to say about it?
The Young and the West Test
Ten years ago, the Seahawks faced a Chicago Bears offense that had to start Jimmy Clausen at quarterback for one game while Jay Cutler was out with a hamstring injury. Seattle was coming off of back-to-back seasons of winning the NFC, but the offense struggled in the first half, punting three times and settling for two field goals to only lead 6-0 at halftime.
Then rookie Tyler Lockett returned the second half kickoff for a touchdown, Russell Wilson threw a touchdown to his tight end, and the Seahawks eventually beat the Bears 26-0. It was a bad game for Seattle’s offense, but all was alright in the world.
Fans probably weren’t communicating as frequently with each other during games as they are now, but I bet that there was as much “doom and gloom” about how the Seahawks played for most of that game as there must have been against the Carolina Panthers on Sunday.
The Seahawks couldn’t do anything on offense for a long time and the game was tied 3-3 at halftime, Carolina’s only points gifted to them from Seattle’s offense via fumble, and despite the best efforts by the defense the game was still close in the fourth quarter … until it wasn’t anymore.
The Seahawks out-scored the Panthers 24-7 in the second half and won the game 27-10.
The Seahawks held a team under 60 passing yards for the first time since facing Jimmy Clausen in 2015. (Young went 14/24 for 54 yards, 0 TD, 1 INT, 14 yards lost on two sacks)
Bryce Young didn’t have a throw for a first down until there was 2 minutes left in the third quarter. (2 first down passes allowed ties the Seahawks franchise record with that Bears game)
Young is the first QB since 1980 to have under 55 passing yards on at least 24 pass attempts with 2+ sacks and 1+ interceptions
The Seahawks defense was grounding all flights and Young isn’t supposed to be as bad as Jimmy Clausen. In a three-year career with quite a lot of bad starts (no offense, I still kind of like him as a player), this was the worst game of Bryce Young’s career. Yes, Tetairoa McMillan was sick and no the Panthers don’t have much talent around Young to work with, but four weeks ago this same team put 31 points and 3 passing touchdowns on the Rams.
I know that Seattle gave up 37 points (in OT) last week, but it’s hard for me to believe there’s a better defense in the league than this one.
Barring a tie in the 49ers-Bears game and a loss by the Rams, the Seahawks will play for the division title and the number one seed against the 49ers in Week 18. The game will surely be flexed to primetime on Sunday Night Football.
Offensive Struggles
If it were not for two mistakes by Panthers cornerback Jaycee Horn, who knows how this game would have ended. In the first quarter, Horn dropped the easiest interception you will ever see and that could have led to a short-field touchdown. In the fourth quarter, Horn gifted Seattle a first down on third-and-21 when he poked at JSN’s facemask for no reason. Just any normal tackle there would have given the Panthers the ball back down 17-10.
Sam Darnold probably could have been intercepted a minimum of five times. Sometimes bad throws, sometimes tipped throws, sometimes dropped passes like one that went off of Cooper Kupp’s hands and was initially ruled a pick by Derrick Brown until it was overturned. One of the picks did count (to former Seahawk Mike Jackson) and Darnold also lost a fumble again.
It’s a combination of issues at work here, between Darnold, the offensive line, and the receivers.
But until A.J. Barner got involved in the second half, including 43 yards and a touchdown, it was apparent that Seattle’s dearth of receiving talent is a problem. Rashid Shaheed left the game early with a head injury (potentially taking him out of next week’s game against the 49ers); Kupp is unreliable; Tory Horton won’t be back any time soon; Dareke Young and Eric Saubert aren’t here to catch passes.
Here’s a photo of the Barner touchdown celebration from our “man on the ground” Chuck Turtleman:
Barner feels like the best option for a number two option behind JSN. But for whatever reason, Seattle hasn’t been forcing the issue there consistently. Barner was targeted three times, the 11th time this season that he’s had four or fewer targets.
He’s averaging just 32 yards per game in the last six weeks, but on the bright side the Seahawks are 6-0 in those contests.
I just have to wonder where the Seahawks turn to the next time JSN is being double-teamed or contained, which seems to be the case when Seattle is struggling the move the football. Finally, JSN got going in the second half and his historic season continues.
Share your thoughts on the game! I’ll share your shares on Monday:
Jaxon Smith-Njigba: 9 catches, 72 yards
It’s a special season when “9/72” seems ho-hum.
JSN’s 15 games with 70+ yards is five more games than the previous franchise record (Steve Largent had 10 in 1985)
JSN’s 12 games with 7+ catches is double the previous franchise record (Lockett, DK, and JSN each had a season with 6)
Season total: 113 catches, 1,709 yards, 10 TD
With another 70+ yard game in Week 18, JSN would tie Cooper Kupp and Antonio Brown for the NFL record of 16 games.
It’s just difficult to assess how much trouble Seattle’s offense would be in right now without JSN. One answer on Sunday was Zach Charbonnet, who rushed for 110 yards and 2 touchdowns on 18 carries. That’s the second-best single game total of his career.
Kenneth Walker had 15 carries for 51 yards.
Need “More-ance” of DeMarcus Lawrence
Seattle had no sacks until back-to-back sacks of Young late in the fourth quarter, the first by Boye Mafe (his second of the season) and the next by Lawrence, who also had a forced fumble and fumble recovery earlier in the game. Lawrence now has six sacks and three forced fumbles.
I wonder if his agent will want to go back to the table after the season even though Lawrence is signed through 2027. He’s been more valuable than anyone expected.
Julian Love had his first interception of the season, keeping alive a streak:
Love now has at least one pick in all seven years he’s been in the league
It’s the first time since 2012 (30-20 win over the Vikings) that the Seahawks have held a team under 60 passing yards, forced multiple turnovers, and had multiple sacks. The Seahawks didn’t go to the Super Bowl in 2012 or 2015, the last two times that they had a pass defense game quite like what we just saw against the Panthers, but it’s clear what was special about those times:
It wasn’t just about the defense of the day or the defense or the season. It was about the Seahawks defense of that era. What Seahawks fans have seen from the defense recently could just be the beginning of an era.
It hasn’t always looked pretty on offense and that’s a potential issue. The silver lining is that fans can rarely say that they kind of miss the defense when they aren’t on the field.
The team is close, so very close. The Defense is basically there, just needing more consistent QB pressure. The Offense needs a true second option to JSN, less deflections, and less set-ups to put Darnold into panic and commit a turnover.
Pressure can be done. We still Blitz at well below average and rush 4-or-less above average. The set-ups we can do with some adjustments from KK and a return to more deep shots being taken off play-action, which would also help the deflections as airing the ball up and out gets it clear of the line.
This team really could be Super Bowl ready right now. Today was ugly for long stretches, but ultimately it was completely comfortable. It's the kind of game pretenders wither away in, or scrape by with a field goal, whereas contenders knuckle down do the hard yards and pull away - we're firmly in the contenders category. Time next week to put some hurt on the 49ers and put the NFC on notice, the road to the Superbowl goes through us and we're going to make you f*cking hurt on the way.
Longer term Pressure can be fixed by pursuing Crosby. The #2 issue can resolved via the draft. Touch in a few other smaller moves here and there to keep the momentum building. This is not a one-and-done team, this is close to being a long term challenger. This team is close, so very close.
Honestly it’s been awhile since Darnold has looked confident. Since the Rams game actually. Think that got into his head and every sign of trouble (inherent in the job) saps his confidence. Agree the OL was pretty weak last two games and that’s part of it, but he needs to be more confident and purposeful.
And I think Coach Mac and KK have decided to take the air out of the ball and let the defense win this thing. Thankfully we’re pounding out 150+ on the ground which is the necessary complement.
But…
Anyone remember the last true “go” route? To anyone?