CHARLOTTE, N.C. – The Seahawks came here Sunday hoping not only to take another step toward who they can be in 2025 – NFC West champs and the No. 1 seed in the conference – but also to reclaim who they have been for most of the season.
Specifically, a defense that allowed a team-record 581 yards in their last outing against the Rams, and needed to be bailed out by a late push by the offense to pull out a thrilling overtime win, wanted to regain its identity.
“Wasn’t our best showing last week,” safety Nick Emmanwori said. “But definitely this week we had a goal to just bounce back and get back to what we’re used to.”
The defense did just that, forcing two turnovers that led to two quick touchdowns in the third quarter to spark a 27-10 win over the Panthers, who could have clinched the NFC South with a win.
The Seahawks held Carolina to just 139 yards, tied for the eighth fewest in team history and the fewest since the 2015 team gave up only 125 in a 38-7 win at Minnesota, and didn’t allow a pass of longer than 8 yards or a play of longer than 11.
The Seahawks were locked in a 3-3 tie at the half before a forced fumble by DeMarcus Lawrence – simply the latest big play in a season filled with them for the 33-year-old free -agent signee – and an interception by Julian Love helped make it 17-3 midway through the third quarter.
“Not the way we wanted to start on offense,” said quarterback Sam Darnold, who lost a fumble in the second quarter and threw an interception early in the third in another up-and-down outing that isn’t likely to quell concerns about how far he can take the Seahawks. “I feel like our defense and special teams kept us in the game and we did enough in the second half as an offense to win the game.”
Winning was all that mattered.
With the victory, the Seahawks stayed on track for the top seed in the NFC, which they can clinch with a win next week against the 49ers in Santa Clara, California.
“We got San Francisco next and we’re going to make sure we take care of business,” Lawrence said. “It’s in our hands and all we have to do is grasp it.”
The win was the Seahawks’ 13th of the season, tying the 2005 and 2013 teams – which each advanced to the Super Bowl – for the most in team history. They set a franchise record for points in a season, now up to 470 (breaking the record of the 2020 team, which scored 460), and have a point differential of 181, the second best in team history trailing only the 186 of the 2013 Super Bowl champs and tied a record for road wins in a season with seven.
That there is still so much left to play for had coach Mike Macdonald saying this was no time to revel in any accomplishments.
“I think it’s the same story,” Macdonald said. “As we’re hitting these benchmarks, it’s going to be the same message to the team (as it has been all season), because that’s what’s got us to this point. We’re going to do everything in our power to go win this one and we’ll go play the next one. … Nothing changes this week. One of our goals is to win the division. It’s going to come down to ‘if we win the game we win the division, so we’ll hit the next goal.’ ”
An open-field tackle by Ty Okada on Carolina running back Rico Dowdle for a loss of 2 on the second play of the game seemed to send a message about how the defense planned to play.
After allowing 10 plays of 16 yards or longer against the Rams, the Panthers managed only three of double digits – two of 11 and one of 10.
“Man, it’s great to have the best defense in the world,” receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba said.
For a half, it looked like the Seahawks would need all of that defense to win the game as the offense punted twice on its first three drives and was stopped on downs and lost a fumble by Darnold in the first half.
The only score came on a 48-yard Jason Myers field goal late in the first quarter on a drive set up by a 25-yard run by Zach Charbonnet on a third-and-15.
The Panthers tied the score with 3:46 to play in the first half after the Darnold fumble, which came on a play when he lost the ball when he was hit as he was throwing. Macdonald argued, to no avail, that it should have been an incomplete pass.
The Panthers took over at the Seattle 26 but could only get 9 yards on three plays and had to settle for a short field goal.
The half ended at 3-3, the fourth straight week the Seahawks had seven points or fewer in the first half.
The Seahawks moved to the Carolina 18 on the first series of the second half, appearing ready to break the deadlock. Instead, Darnold overshot a pass to Smith-Njigba in the end zone and former Seahawk Mike Jackson picked it off.
No matter. On the next play, Lawrence forced a fumble by Carolina running back Chuba Hubbard as he was held up by linebacker Ernest Jones IV and recovered at the 21.
“That’s my job,” Lawrence said, “to take the ball away and get my offense more opportunities to score, and I was able to do it today.”
Six plays later, Charbonnet scored from 2 yards out to put the Seahawks ahead 10-3.
Three plays later, they had the ball again when Love stepped in front of a Bryce Young pass intended for Tetairoa McMillan, returning it from the Seattle 45 to the Carolina 29.
“Bad decision, bad throw,” Young said. “Never want to give the team the ball back.”
The Seahawks needed just four plays to convert, Darnold hitting a wide open AJ Barner for an easy 17-yard catch and score to make it 17-3 and give them two TDs in the span of 3:13.
The Panthers moved it for the only time all day, converting a fourth down and a third down to set up a 10-yard scoring run by Young to make it 17-10 with 13:41 to play.
The Seahawks faced a third-and-21 at their own 34 and the game felt momentarily in doubt. But Carolina’s Jaycee Horn was called for a facemask after a 5-yard pass to Smith-Njigba.
“Really unfortunate it happened in that situation where we could have had a chance to get the ball back and try to do something,” said Carolina coach Dave Canales, a former longtime Seahawks assistant under Pete Carroll.
That was all the Seahawks needed. They moved in position for another Myers field goal and after a fourth-down stop got a final Charbonnet TD run to put it away.
The locker room was happy, but not overly so, everyone realizing the win was just a step in what they hope is a much longer journey.
“Whatever it’s for, if it’s for the one seed or whatever that game is for, just try and go in there and get a dub,” said Emmanwori, who was looking ahead to the game against the 49ers. “… As a team we’re fired up and we wouldn’t want any other opponent just to get it. It would be a great way to end the season.”