The Panthers beat Seattle by doing what the Seahawks usually do best
And it caught the Seahawks by surprise.
Bob Donnan-USA TODAY Sports
CHARLOTTE -- They looked like green and blue bobbleheads bouncing in a circle. It was the Seattle Seahawks in a group frenzy, jumping around like they usually do on their sideline before kickoff.
Too bad none of it surfaced on the game’s first offensive play.
The Carolina Panthers offense began at their own 25-yard line. Here they were face-to-face with Seattle's nasty, historic defense. Ruinous things instantly happened for Seattle.
On the first play, running back Jonathan Stewart burst through a hole on a trap run and gained 59 yards to the Seattle 16-yard line. The play introduced Carolina's excellent performance, as they rolled to a 31-0 lead at halftime en route to a 31-24 victory on Sunday at Bank of America Stadium. Carolina faces Arizona here for the NFC championship next Sunday.
Stewart’s run started it all -- a bold, smack ‘em play that made the Seahawks gulp.
“We misfired on the first big run,” Seahawks coach Pete Carroll said. “That was kind of a shock that we would give them inside the 20-yard line right off the bat.”
Three plays later, Stewart scored on a 4-yard run.
“I mean,” said Stewart, “we knew what play we were going to run, I think since yesterday. So, when you’re able to have a game plan like that you can sleep on it and I know my offensive line was sleeping on it and we came out and executed.
“It opened up nicely.”
It was Seattle over-pursuing, overreacting, being too hyped, right? It was the shoes, right? It was safety Kam Chancellor’s absence, right?
The Seahawks lunged for answers like they literally did on Stewart’s run.
"First, Kam gets hurt on the kickoff, so he was out on that play and that hurts our communication," Seattle safety Earl Thomas said. "I don't think he got back into the game until it was 14-0. Teams when they have hurt us have taken advantage of us being too hyped and too aggressive with plays like that one. And then I could have made the play, but I slipped coming up to him. That was my fault. I thought I had on the right shoes. It was a little slick out there, but I thought I was prepared because I tested everything before the game. But I needed longer spikes. I hate that, because once I changed them right after that play, I had good traction the rest of the day."
A methodical plan, an injury, a slip, a defense too antsy ...
One of Carolina’s offensive coaches insisted on calling it “correctly right now,” adding: “Look, that play was very well executed, very well blocked and some of those players on that defense were just put on their ass. Jonathan showed great patience with the start of that run and let the blocking develop. And our team was intent on letting Seattle know the physical part of the game was going to be won by us.”
That’s what Seattle usually does: play faster, quicker, and stronger.
"In all honesty, they have been the watermark in the NFC," Carolina coach Ron Rivera said of the Seahawks. His Panthers just kept Seattle from reaching its third straight NFC championship game and possibly third straight Super Bowl.
Carolina realized the intensity, the guts required to do that. It especially meant starting fast and then playing faster. The Panthers scored 14 points in the first quarter, 17 in the second and then withstood Seattle’s second-half comeback.
“We messed up the first half,” Carroll said. “We don’t ever play like that, you never see us like that.”
We just did. Carolina forced it. Created it.
Stewart's long run did that. And so did Panthers linebacker Luke Kuechly's pick-six of Seattle quarterback Russell Wilson on Seattle's first possession. Think about that: Carolina took the game's first possession and scored a touchdown and then took Seattle's first possession and scored another touchdown. It was 14-0 in a blink.
Wilson was hounded on that Kuechly pick. He was stalked by defensive tackle Kawann Short.
“I had a good off,” Short said of the snap from the from the Seattle 11-yard line. “I could see I was forcing the quarterback off his spot. I kept coming. He kept moving. I think he threw it before he wanted to and a little off-balance. I think I made him panic a little bit.”
There was plenty of panic from the Seahawks early. When it was over, the Panthers had broken Seattle’s season. They had shoved them, bounced them, and had stolen Seattle’s perch atop the NFC.
"We ran out of time," Seahawks receiver Jermaine Kearse said about his team's too-late, too-short comeback.
"I have respect for them," Panthers receiver Jerricho Cotchery said. "I'm pretty sure they have respect for us. The thing is, we both should. We are both kind of built the same way."
This time, only the Panthers were built to last.
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