Panthers build 31-0 lead, hold on to beat Seahawks 31-24

The Panthers held on to beat the Seattle Seahawks 31-24 on Sunday, knocking the two-time defending NFC champs out of the postseason with their 12th straight home win.

Carolina Panthers defensive end Jared Allen suffered a foot injury during Sunday’s 31-24 divisional-round playoff victory over the Seattle Seahawks.

The predominant emotion was more relief than jubilation after it was over as the Panthers narrowly avoided giving their skeptics reason to gloat with another second-half letdown – a unusual hallmark of their otherwise sparkling, 16-1 season.

With a trip to the Super Bowl at stake next Sunday, Rivera and his staff needs to act fast. Happened on the first play of Sunday’s game when the Panthers’ mountain of a defensive tackle Star Lotulelei was toe-to-toe with Marshawn Lynch in Seattle’s backfield when he took the handoff. All four road teams won in the National Football League playoffs’ first round. Floyd also had an 8-yard touchdown catch in the first quarter. Suddenly, it was 14-0. With 12 minutes left in the first quarter, the Panthers lead the Seahawks, 7-0.

Newton threw for a touchdown and Stewart ran for two scores as the Panthers raced to a 31-0 lead at the half.

But Seattle wasn’t going to back down.

“We had a big lead and then they came back”, Rivera said.

After the Panthers did their best to milk the clock, Seattle got the ball back with less than three minutes remaining but, despite threatening to trim the deficit to three, were left to settle for a field goal from Hauschka, who was then tasked with pulling off a successful onside kick. Luke Kuechly picked off a Russell Wilson pass and returned it 14 yards for another score later in the quarter.

On to Arizona next Sunday at Bank of America Stadium. On the fourth snap of the game, he scored a touchdown. But the Seahawks staged a sensational comeback behind Russell Wilson, but Carolina recovered an on-side kick with 1:11 left. The Panthers were moving on to the next round. Alex Smith completed 29 of 50 passes for 246 yards and one touchdown. Those numbers helped him finish with a lofty quarterback rating of 108.3.

Lynch finished the day with 6 rushes for 20 yards while the Seahawks’ turned to a heavy passing attack to mount their comeback attempt against Carolina, falling short in the end.

Unless you can buy first-half offense in the playoffs.

If the game is close, Olsen said the Panthers are well prepared. Seattle successfully converted it. Details like that can’t be overlooked when you’re trying to win a championship.

The Seahawks would escape the first half without further damage but the stats sheet revealed the Panthers’ utter domination: 220 yards in total offence to 123; 118 rushing yards to 30; two interceptions for the Panthers and another turnover on downs; 5-for-7 in third-down conversions for the Panthers. If the Panthers wanted to send a message to the Cardinals about next week, they did a good job.

The Panthers hope they’re in the position of handling prosperity next week against Arizona. My school of thought is that you always take the points until you’re desperate (and that includes kicking extra points), but you can easily make the case that Seattle was, indeed, desperate at that point.

It continued to go sideways for Seattle in the first half. “Even field goals. Just continue to push the lead and make them play catch-up even (more)”.

Follow along as we bring you live updates and analysis from the game from kickoff through the final whistle in the comments section below.

Bottom line? Both teams’ starting running backs returned to their lineups.