Recap: Seattle Seahawks Completely Dominate the Carolina Panthers

Lee Vowell
Updated
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wilson-3

The Seahawks defeated the Carolina Panthers in Seattle on Sunday 40-7. Seattle completely dominated play from beginning to end. Seattle is now 8-3-1 and lead the National Football Conference West division by three games with four to play.

The Story: The Seahawks bounced back from an extremely disappointing game last week versus the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to beat an injured and defeated Carolina team.

Starting with Carolina’s interesting, for lack of a better word, decision to start backup quarterback Derek Anderson instead of Cam Newton. Newton was suspended for the opening drive of the game for violating team rules. Stranger still may have been the decision to let Anderson throw the ball on the first play. The pass bounced off the hands of a Panther and into the arms of Seattle’s Mike Morgan. The game just got worse for the Panthers.

An offense that struggled horribly last week for Seattle was a juggernaut this week. The Seahawks gained 534 total yards and had 29 first downs. Seattle controlled the clock for 34:01. Running back Thomas Rawls gained 106 yards on 15 carries and two touchdowns. Quarterback Russell Wilson was sharp despite a bad interception. Overall, Wilson was 26 of 36 for 277 yards and a touchdown pass. Receivers Jermaine Kearse, Doug Baldwin, Tyler Lockett and tight end Jimmy Graham each caught at least five passes.

Defensively, Seattle was unwilling to let the Panthers get anything going. Carolina had a total of 271 yards, but 50 of those came on the last meaningless drive. Carolina had 89 yards rushing and Newton was just 14 of 33 passing for 182 yards.

The worst news, of course, was that All Pro safety Earl Thomas broke his tibia and will be out for the year. The play after he left the game saw Newton throw a long touchdown pass in the area Thomas would have covered. Steven Terrell will be expected to take Thomas’s place and play the position well. Losing Thomas could be the reason the Seahawks do not make the Super Bowl. Seattle has hopes that Terrell can fill the huge void Thomas leaves, however.

MVP: Thomas Rawls

Rawls ran hard early and definitely showed why he will be the featured back for the Seahawks for the foreseeable future. He also proved the difference between Christine Michael and himself. While Michael ran for yards that were there, Rawls created yards that were not. His cut back on his 45 yard touchdown run was a great thing to see. A healthy Rawls could be the difference between the Seahawks getting back to the Super Bowl or losing in the divisional round of the playoffs.

LVP: There is not one.

The Seahawks won the game 40-7 so to find a player to point out that did not play well would just be silly.

Play of the Game:

Rawl’s played today like the Seahawks hoped and expected he would play coming into the season. This play showed why he can be special.

Tweet of the Week:

This could also have been the play of the game, but just as much as the Seahawks needed to get the running game involved Seattle also needs to have Tyler Lockett be a big part of the offense going forward. This from NFL Canada…

Next Up:

Sunday December 11th vs Carolina Panthers
1:25 PM PST
Lambeau Field, Green Bay, Wisconsin
TV: FOX

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