How I think this game will play out.

[Polaris]

NFL Teams don't run well against Seattle. Of all of them this Season, Carolina was one of the best but even that was pretty weak. Carolina did win in week six but it was on Newton's suddenly magical fourth qtr arm, and not the Carolina run game.

 

[kearly]

It's important that Seattle plays this game with a shootout mentality. The Panthers had four (!) 80+ yard TD drives in the first game, and that was BEFORE Newton caught fire at the end of the season.

Kuechly negates big plays in the run game as well as any LB ever has. So I hope, even if Lynch is back, that Seattle focuses more on the pass attack.

I have a bad feeling about this game, it just feels like Carolina's year.

My two glimmers of optimism are these: The first game was without Bobby Wagner, which IMO was the likely the difference in the game because of how effective Stewart was. With Wagner back, it's reasonable to think that Seattle could make the running game a wash for both teams and make the game come down to QB play (Stewart is also coming off a leg injury last month and might be slightly less than 100%). The other bit of optimism is that Newton is not a mentally tough QB, if he throws a couple of picks and Seattle gets out to a big early lead, Newton will get down on himself and won't be the same player.

 

[DangerousDoug]

Frank Clark didn't play week 6 either... Damn, it's looking even better for the Seahawks. Adding Wagner, Lane, and Clark while subtracting Williams should be enough to hold a 20-7 lead and with the offense playing better than ever, that lead should be even bigger.

Excellent point. I think this is huge, although I am not as confident as you are in some of your previous posts. I am going to predict a tight game and be pleasantly surprised/relieved if it goes big in our favor.

Great OP, appreciate it!

 

[FearTheBlitz]

NFL Teams don't run well against Seattle. Of all of them this Season, Carolina was one of the best but even that was pretty weak. Carolina did win in week six but it was on Newton's suddenly magical fourth qtr arm, and not the Carolina run game.

You will most likely see a 1,2,3 punch with our rb's... Stewart,Tolbert and Artis-Payne... They are saying Stewart's foot is close to 100%... I know how hard it is to run on you guys... Oh just looked at the Panthers injury report for week 6. We didn't have Allen,Klein and Daryl Williams...

 

[niceguy12]

The other bit of optimism is that Newton is not a mentally tough QB, if he throws a couple of picks and Seattle gets out to a big early lead, Newton will get down on himself and won't be the same player.

I really want to see how Newton reacts to adversity on this level. If things start getting tough (stalled drives, interceptions) we have seen Russ repeatedly keep his focus. Can Newton do the same?

 

[Hasselbeck]

Man I wish this was the Super Bowl...

a. two best teams in the NFL

Arizona's not until next week man.

 

[Hawks46]

Football is a game of individual matchups. We can use week 6 as a reference, but as many said, there are people that were out that are in, then people that played that are out.

So look at the matchups:

Carolina's run game vs. Seattles run defense. This is a win for Seattle. We haven't allowed a 100 yard rusher since last year, and that includes 2 games vs. Carolina. With a healthier Stewart.

Carolina's pass offense vs. Seattle. To be honest, Newton is playing better than when we first played. We also can't seem to cover a TE. That said, Newton is not going to beat us with just Olson. And I don't see the matchups he needs anywhere else. Our secondary is playing much better than in week 6. Williams is gone which is addition by subtraction. Newton also doesn't manage to run much against us: an average of 36 yards. I'd call this a slight advantage to Seattle. Carolina will throw and get some points, but I don't think they can control the game with it.

Seattle's run offense vs. Carolina's run defense. We don't do well against their front 7. We need to run enough to be effective and move the chains, but we're without our two top RB's. Advantage Panthers.

Seattle's passing offense vs. Carolina's pass defense. Carolina, as noted, is missing some starters in the secondary and is sort of a MASH unit. Baldwin and Lockett are playing much better than earlier in the year. Seattle's pass game is miles different than it was earlier (yes I know Carolina's is as well, but the improvement is markedly better for Seattle). Lockett is going to be a mismatch against whoever he lines up against, unless it's Norman. Norman can only cover one guy, so if he covers Lockett, Baldwin will likely abuse who lines up across from him. Kearse is a size mismatch against their 5'9" CB and he's good at high pointing the ball. So we have multiple mismatches against them. That said, it's going to come down to pass protection. If we can protect Wilson at just an average clip, this is going to hurt the Panthers. Advantage: Seattle. Heavily.

ST: I don't know enough about it, but we rank higher across the board than the Panthers do.

This going to come down to who plays a cleaner game. Newton throws more picks than Wilson does, and he's averaged almost 2 a game against us. Advantage Seahawks.

 

[AROS]

Nice write up, but I don't think this game is going to be close. The Seahawks are much better than they were last time these teams played and Carolina is worse. Seahawks win by three scores.

I want what your sippin' brother. This game will be low scoring and close. Book it.

 

[rideaducati]

Nice write up, but I don't think this game is going to be close. The Seahawks are much better than they were last time these teams played and Carolina is worse. Seahawks win by three scores.

I want what your sippin' brother. This game will be low scoring and close. Book it.

I'll buy you a round if you're right...don't worry, it's REALLY cheap.

 

[kf3339]

Frank Clark didn't play week 6 either... Damn, it's looking even better for the Seahawks. Adding Wagner, Lane, and Clark while subtracting Williams should be enough to hold a 20-7 lead and with the offense playing better than ever, that lead should be even bigger.

This. Our defense should be light years better than that first match up. Also, I think the only runner that they really have is Cam and we are better prepared to take that part of his game away from him. I just don't see their offense getting more than 100 rushing yards total, if that.

 

[kearly]

Olsen can go for 140 yards and grab 2 TDs and we'll be just fine if the DBs can shut down the WRs and the D can keep Carolina out of 1st and goal from the 3 yard line type situations. One of the keys for Carolina last time was getting favorable goal line situations to run on Seattle with. They never had a kick a FG all game thanks to that.

 

[MontanaHawk05]

Frank Clark didn't play week 6 either... Damn, it's looking even better for the Seahawks. Adding Wagner, Lane, and Clark while subtracting Williams should be enough to hold a 20-7 lead and with the offense playing better than ever, that lead should be even bigger.

This. Our defense should be light years better than that first match up. Also, I think the only runner that they really have is Cam and we are better prepared to take that part of his game away from him. I just don't see their offense getting more than 100 rushing yards total, if that.

The Carolina lineup has changed as well.

I see Seattle winning by 10 right now. The Legion matches up well enough against their subpar WRs to let them cover Olsen, while their defense is mismatched against our WR's strengths. Cam has always found it harder to scramble against our front seven. His talent and our usual first-half floundering spot them some points, though.

 

[rideaducati]

Frank Clark didn't play week 6 either... Damn, it's looking even better for the Seahawks. Adding Wagner, Lane, and Clark while subtracting Williams should be enough to hold a 20-7 lead and with the offense playing better than ever, that lead should be even bigger.

This. Our defense should be light years better than that first match up. Also, I think the only runner that they really have is Cam and we are better prepared to take that part of his game away from him. I just don't see their offense getting more than 100 rushing yards total, if that.

The Carolina lineup has changed as well.

Yes it has, but not for the better.

 

[kearly]

My gut feeling is that Carolina barely wins. But since 2012, the Seahawks probably have a winning record in games that felt like a loss before kickoff. No team zigs when you expect a zag like the Seattle Seahawks.

 

[rideaducati]

My gut feeling is that Carolina barely wins. But since 2012, the Seahawks probably have a winning record in games that felt like a loss before kickoff. No team zigs when you expect a zag like the Seattle Seahawks.

That gut feeling might just be gas.

They played a close game when the Seahawks were in the middle of their worst football in years. They were up by two touchdowns with the offense playing poorly. The defensive meltdown came without Wagner and Clark and with Cary Williams.

The Seahawks offense is playing much better and the defense has allowed 43 points in their last 6 road games.

 

[Sgt. Largent]

My gut feeling is that Carolina barely wins. But since 2012, the Seahawks probably have a winning record in games that felt like a loss before kickoff. No team zigs when you expect a zag like the Seattle Seahawks.

I'm kinda with you, it seems like Carolina and more importantly Newton finally have their crap together as a whole to win a SB.

But Carolina didn't play last week, so we don't know if Cam can handle the pressure, because prior pressure games dictate future pressure games...........and Cam under pressure is a totally different player than fast, fun and loose Cam.

So me thinks we might see crap the bed Cam come Sunday when ALL the pressure's on him.

 

[Hawks46]

My gut feeling is that Carolina barely wins. But since 2012, the Seahawks probably have a winning record in games that felt like a loss before kickoff. No team zigs when you expect a zag like the Seattle Seahawks.

I'm kinda with you, it seems like Carolina and more importantly Newton finally have their crap together as a whole to win a SB.

But Carolina didn't play last week, so we don't know if Cam can handle the pressure, because prior pressure games dictate future pressure games...........and Cam under pressure is a totally different player than fast, fun and loose Cam.

So me thinks we might see crap the bed Cam come Sunday when ALL the pressure's on him.

This is the X factor. This Carolina team has never been past the 2nd round of the playoffs. Their last divisional playoff game was a loss to us. I can see Newton starting out well. I'd like to see what happens after his first INT or fumble. Which we tend to get against him.

 

[hawk45]

I'm still trying to convince myself that with Lynch in the lineup and a defense playing better, in the most important game of the year, Pete goes against his instincts and scraps the ball control offense. I have such a hard time picturing it. Carolina has historically had the kind of D that makes our O look about as dynamic as we do vs the Rams. I go into these games thinking we should be able to make some hay vs this secondary and we just never do.

Another (perhaps irrational) fear is that it feels like forever since Wilson played a playoff game well.

I'm comforting myself with the fact that in the last divisional round vs Carolina, Wilson went for 270 and 3 TDs with Lynch getting only 14 carries. Not that the two teams are the same at all, but it does indicate that Pete is capable of going with a relatively pass heavy game plan vs the Panthers.

Our team hasn't faced a legit Super Bowl contender in their house in the playoffs on the road. Our team has been nails on the road but I also worry that a really loud environment might lead to more of our pre snap BS.

 

[Ozzy]

My gut feeling is that Carolina barely wins. But since 2012, the Seahawks probably have a winning record in games that felt like a loss before kickoff. No team zigs when you expect a zag like the Seattle Seahawks.

I'm kinda with you, it seems like Carolina and more importantly Newton finally have their crap together as a whole to win a SB.

But Carolina didn't play last week, so we don't know if Cam can handle the pressure, because prior pressure games dictate future pressure games...........and Cam under pressure is a totally different player than fast, fun and loose Cam.

So me thinks we might see crap the bed Cam come Sunday when ALL the pressure's on him.

I'm a little surprised you guys see it this way as advanced stats and matchups favor Seattle although I will admit its probably going to be a close one. Carolina secondary is in shambles, Seattle can eliminate the running game making them one dimensional, pressure on Cam to get over the hurdle with Wilson already having done it and Seattle can win this multiple ways ie dominate run game, Wilson going off, Defense being dominant etc. The only way Carolina wins is Cam having a huge game. It can easily happen and he's capable of it but I think this game favors the Seahawks.

 

[RussB]

My gut feeling is that Carolina barely wins. But since 2012, the Seahawks probably have a winning record in games that felt like a loss before kickoff. No team zigs when you expect a zag like the Seattle Seahawks.

I'm kinda with you, it seems like Carolina and more importantly Newton finally have their crap together as a whole to win a SB.

But Carolina didn't play last week, so we don't know if Cam can handle the pressure, because prior pressure games dictate future pressure games...........and Cam under pressure is a totally different player than fast, fun and loose Cam.

So me thinks we might see crap the bed Cam come Sunday when ALL the pressure's on him.

This is the X factor. This Carolina team has never been past the 2nd round of the playoffs. Their last divisional playoff game was a loss to us. I can see Newton starting out well. I'd like to see what happens after his first INT or fumble. Which we tend to get against him.