They also believed their pedigree would make the difference against the relatively inexperienced Carolina Panthers in Sunday’s NFC divisional playoff game and they were bound for their third straight Super Bowl appearance.
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Then, Seattle showed its pedigree and climbed back within seven points.
The visitors then closed to within a touchdown thanks to a 36-yard field goal by Steven Hauschka, although the home crowd’s concern turned to relief when the Panthers recovered an onside kick with 1:12 left in regulation.
Our friends over at BookMaker have hooked us up with the early odds that see Carolina open as the favorites immediately after the NFC title game opponent was announced by three points. Greg Olsen and Jerricho Cotchery have combined for 99 receiving yards and one touchdown while Ed Dickson has two receptions. “The ground is so soft, it is such a soft field, it just didn’t elevate”, Carroll said.
Lynch gained just 20 yards on six carries during the loss to Carolina.
The Carolina Panthers defense tackles Seahawks running back Marshawn Lynch.
The Cardinals (14-3) reached the championship game only after withstanding a Hail Mary pass from Aaron Rodgers and the Packers that forced overtime on Saturday night. And to hear Panthers players tell it, the fact that the victory that put them into the conference championship game came against Seattle, made it all the better. The play of rookie running back Thomas Rawls, who filled in nicely for an injured Lynch with 830 yards and a 5.65 yards-per-carry average before suffering a broken ankle, gives the Seahawks a reason to be confident moving forward. It was a brilliant performance but, as defensive tackle Michael Bennett said: “If we could have just eliminated two or three of those touchdowns (in the first half), we would have had a better chance”.
The hangover from Russell Wilson’s cataclysmic interception at the end of the Super Bowl last season looks very real for Seattle, but you wouldn’t have had much luck convincing the Seahawks of that Sunday. The Panthers made Seattle one-dimensional (31 passes vs. four runs in the second half), but Wilson made that irrelevant – and maybe even advantageous. But Mike Tolbert fell on it, and Stewart scored from five yards out two plays later for the 7-0 lead. “They got a great push and a great pass rush and it makes my job easy”, Kuechly said.
“A lot of us wouldn’t mind going back there to Carolina and playing those guys again since they beat us past year when we had a lot of injuries”, Cardinals cornerback Justin Bethel said. They have done it three times _ twice this season. Seattle hadn’t allowed a 100-yard rusher in 27 games….
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The biggest problem in this game was the second half collapse for Carolina. A Tre Boston sack on the fourth drive ended that, and Carolina went up 31-0.
