“They played better than us in the first half, we played better than them in the second half”.
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The trip to the NFC Championship game against Arizona next Sunday is the Panthers fourth and first since 2005.
A devastating first-half points blitz saw Carolina race into a 31-0 lead with quarterback Cam Newton excelling as the Seahawks’ vaunted defense was run ragged in the NFL Divisional round playoff game in Charlotte. That was our mentality, and we did a great job of that.
After holding off the Seahawks, 31-24, the Panthers’ next chapter of this storybook year will be told in the NFC Championship.
Offensively, the Panthers were outgained 280-75 in the second half and outscored 24-0.
That one will be followed by the NFC Championship Game, which you will be able to see on FOX. “Everyone in here just feels like we ran out of time”, Seattle coach Pete Carroll rued.
The Seahawks adjusted some things at the half, including adding protection to Russell Wilson that helped them mount a comeback behind three Wilson touchdown passes. “We look at this game as a microcosm of the season”.
Seattle isn’t accustomed to such an early end to its postseason. Rookie running back Cameron Artis-Payne then entered the game and ran into defensive end Michael Bennett, who forced the ball out. “But this is the playoffs and that’s how it is”.
A field goal from Panthers kicker Graham Gano made it 24-0. And then Hauschka was short on a 55-yard attempt as time expired in the half.
“It was foreign territory for us”, tight end Luke Willson said. If Seattle recovers that ball and keeps the game scoreless, who knows how the first half unfolds. Wilson threw 13 yards to Kearse for Seattle’s first points.
Time was against Seattle though and after forcing the Panthers to punt, they got the ball back with just 2:49 remaining. A win, no matter how, over the NFC representative in the past two Super Bowls goes a long way toward dispelling that thinking.
Carolina’s second-half offensive snafus were of concern. “It was a tale of two halves. We’ve just got to put it together to find a way to win”.
It will be Lynch’s first game in more than two months.
The divisional round of the National Football League playoffs is in the books, and though Sunday’s games didn’t include anything as wild as the Arizona-Green Bay game from the previous night, the matchups for next weekend’s conference title games are set. Carolina was 15-1 coming into the regular season because they are nearly Seattle’s exact counterpart. It was the type of mistake Wilson rarely makes, and it was just the second “pick-six” of his career. Seahawks FB Will Tukuaku was inactive for the game after suffering a hamstring injury a week earlier in the victory at Minnesota….
This game wasn’t lost by Seattle because of bad footing, but because of bad execution. Still, they know the challenge that awaits them won’t be an easy one.
The top-seeded Panthers (16-1) will host the Arizona Cardinals next Sunday for a spot in the Super Bowl.
Kuechly was far more alert, grabbing the interception and sprinting 14 yards to make it 14-0 only 3 1/2 minutes in. Floyd also had an 8-yard touchdown catch in the first quarter.
SEA-J.Kearse 13 yard pass from Ru.Wilson (Hauschka kick), 13:27.
Janis caught seven passes for 145 yards for the Packers (11-7).
Then there was getting to Wilson in the passing game.
It’s 1 vs. 2. CAR, J.Stewart 19-106, Tolbert 7-17, Ginn 1-11, Artis-Payne 3-7, C.Newton 11-3.
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Cam Newton finished the day 16-of-21 for 161 yards and one TD.
