Seahawks vs. Panthers 2016: Time, TV schedule and team news
This is the real NFC Championship.
The Seattle Seahawks may never be on the receiving end of enough good karma to make up for last year's crushing Super Bowl defeat, but they came awfully close last weekend.
Vikings kicker Blair Walsh lined up for a game-winning chip shot with 26 seconds left in regulation, but hooked the kick well to the left of the goalpost. The Seahawks escaped Minnesota with a 10-9 victory and will travel to Carolina to take on the Panthers Sunday.
“The final kick was much faster than their other kicks. I don’t need to give you the times but it was considerably faster,” Pete Carroll said after the game, via the Associated Press. “For whatever reason they sped up their mechanism. [Sherman] couldn’t have been closer. We can’t figure out how he didn’t get it. So they went quite a bit faster.”
But just because it took a missed 27-yard field goal for the Seahawks to advance to the Divisional round, it doesn’t mean they can’t knock off 15-1 Panthers this weekend. Throughout the second half of the year, they may have been the hottest team in football -- including Carolina.
Over their final seven games of the regular-season, the Seahawks scored more than 30 points on five occasions and allowed fewer than 20 six times. Russell Wilson played arguably the best football of his career during that stretch, throwing 1,906 yards, 24 touchdowns and posting a 132.8 passer rating.
Perhaps the biggest reason for Wilson's success is Doug Baldwin, who's caught 13 touchdown passes over the last seven games, including Sunday's win against Minnesota. Wilson owns an 80 percent completion rate when he throws in Baldwin's direction this season.
But Baldwin will face perhaps his biggest challenge of the year when he lines up against star Panthers cornerback Josh Norman. Norman, the 2012 fifth-round pick who played his college ball at Coastal Carolina, has developed into arguably the best corner in football.
“You want the tough team, man,” Norman said Monday about facing the Seahawks, via the Seattle Times. “I don’t know why you want the easy way out. That’s not the way you should live life, taking the easy way out. You always want to do something the hard way, just because it means that much more.”
Cam Newton has been mediocre in his three previous playoff games, throwing five touchdowns go along with five interceptions. Given that Newton is the MVP favorite, he'll be expected to perform better Sunday.
That won’t be easy, though, considering the Seahawks had the No. 2 ranked defense in football this season. After an inconsistent start, Seattle’s D regained its championship form.
The Seahawks have reached the Super Bowl in two straight seasons and seem poised to make a third run despite narrowly qualifying for the playoff as a wild card. But in order to do that, they’ll have to take down the upstart Panthers.
The Seahawks have owned the NFC recently, but could be on the verge of ceding power to the Panthers. Though the NFC Championship doesn't get played until next weekend, this is the real game that decides the standard bearer of the conference.
How to Watch
When: Sunday, Jan. 17, 1:05 p.m. ET
Where: Bank of America Stadium, Charlotte, N.C.
TV: FOX
Commentators: Joe Buck, Troy Aikman
Online: NFL Game Pass
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