It's been a rough stretch for the Seattle Seahawks, but the worst of it may finally be over at the expense of the struggling Carolina Panthers. The defending Super Bowl champs snapped a two-game skid with a last-minute 13-9 road win against the Panthers on Sunday afternoon.
Seahawks vs. Panthers final score: 3 things we learned from Seattle’s last-minute win
The Seahawks snapped a two-game losing skid with a 13-9 win over the Panthers on Sunday afternoon.
Streeter Lecka
You have to go all the way back to 2011 to find the last time the Seahawks lost three games in a row, which also happened to be the last time the Seahawks were even below .500 for a stretch. The impact of that may have finally sunk in for Pete Carroll’s team.
Offensive struggles and tighter defensive performances from both teams kept it close throughout. Carolina led briefly in the fourth quarter after Cam Newton beat Richard Sherman and Earl Thomas on a 51-yard strike to Kelvin Benjamin to set up a field goal. It wasn't enough.
Russell Wilson shook off a so-so game with a nine-play, 80-yard touchdown drive for the game-winning score. He found tight end Luke Willson with less than a minute left to give Seattle a 13-9 lead.
1) The Seahawks are still confused about their offensive identity. It's a fair wonder if Seattle has already moved on from Marshawn Lynch, given the rumors that surfaced Sunday morning. The offense had a curious lack of Beast Mode missing from the formula today, putting the bulk of the workload on Russell Wilson to move the ball. Wilson's a talented guy, but the decision not to give Lynch more carries in such a close game when he was running well (14 carries, 62 yards) is really dumbfounding. Fitting that a pass from Wilson to Lynch that should have been a touchdown bounced off the running back's hands and ended up being intercepted.
Of course, it paid off when Wilson led the final scoring drive of the game.
Seahawks Drama
2) All the turnovers. So many turnovers. Wilson and Newton each threw an interception. Seattle added a fumble on a botched snap in the second half. Carolina lost a fumble of its own on a bad handoff to Jonathan Stewart. Yeah, it was really a pretty ugly game.
Here’s a screen shot of the Seahawks’ fumbled snap. Wilson gets Schilling’s hands instead of a football: pic.twitter.com/XEr4vBu1mK
— Jeff Darlington (@JeffDarlington) October 26, 2014 3) Staying alive in the standings. Sure, it wasn't the prettiest win the Seahawks have ever had, but it was a win when they needed it most. That moves Seattle to 4-3 on the season, and still in the hunt with San Francisco (on a bye this week) and Arizona in the NFC West. The Cardinals could extend their lead in the standings with a win Sunday afternoon against the Eagles, leaving Seattle two games back, but the Seahawks can close that fast with a better run down the stretch.
As for the Panthers, their best hope might be playing in a terrible NFC South, where no team is above .500. They’ll face New Orleans next week, which could produce some separation in the standings. However, it’s hard to find much to be positive about for the Panthers right now.
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