The Seattle Seahawks have not lost a regular season road game to the Carolina Panthers since 2007, and that trend holds true for another season. As we’ve seen in a few other Seahawks wins, a slow first half gave way to a monster second half and a very comfortable win in the end. Any nerves when it was 3-3 at halftime disappeared when the Panthers, yes, the Panthers, were kneeling down in a 27-10 game. You know you’ve had a bad day on offense when you’re in “victory formation” but to surrender a loss
in a game that could’ve won you the NFC South.
For the Seahawks, they could be NFC West champions by Monday night or they could be playing the San Francisco 49ers for the division title and No. 1 seed. There’s still much to figure out over the next 24 hours or so, but in the meantime, let’s get to Winners and Losers!
Seattle Seahawks Winners
DeMarcus Lawrence is the fountain of youth
There are few free agent signings better in recent Seahawks history than DeMarcus Lawrence. He turned the game around with that forced fumble and recovery off Chuba Hubbard, and he closed the game out with a sack for good measure. Between his sacks (6), run defense, and ability to generate turnovers (3 forced fumbles, 3 fumble recoveries, 2 touchdowns), he has earned that Pro Bowl nomination and he’s shown he has plenty left in the tank.
Julian Love and Ty Okada were amazing
Could the future at safety for the Seahawks be Love and Okada and not Love and Coby Bryant? Okada has had an extended spell of playing time and starts due to injuries to both Love and Bryant, and he has performed very well. His tackling was outstanding and he was on point going downhill. Julian Love had a key interception for his first of the year, stepping in front of Tet McMillan for the pick and run back deep into Carolina territory.
Boye Mafe needed a game like that
It’s been a disappointing contract year for Mafe to say the least. With Derick Hall out, the onus was on Mafe to step up, which he did. Mafe was in on multiple pressures, he got a sack in the fourth quarter, and he showed solid run defense. Better late than ever for Boye, and you hope that gets him going heading into Week 18 and beyond. We can worry about Boye in 2026 later.
Zach Charbonnet has his big day at the office
Last week, Kenneth Walker III had over 160 yards of total offense and by far his biggest game of the season. This week, it was Charbonnet’s turn to wreck a defense with an impressive 110 yards on only 18 carries, as well as a pair of touchdowns to get to 11. Seattle hasn’t had a running back score 11 touchdowns in a season since Marshawn Lynch in 2014, which is incredible to think about. In fact, Charbonnet should end the season among the league leaders in running back rushing TDs.
A.J. Barner may not be your hero, but he’s mine
Outside of Jaxon Smith-Njigba, the Seahawks passing game was muted except for A.J. Barner, who had 3 catches for 43 yards and a touchdown. All of Barner’s catches were for first downs or touchdowns, plus his hard count abilities resulted in an encroachment penalty on the Panthers on 3rd and 1. Barner is well on his way to being one of the great Seahawks tight ends ever… if not the best? The standard is not high, but Barner could raise that.
Jaxon Smith-Njigba doesn’t rack up yards but he racks up receptions
As usual, JSN led the team with nine receptions for 72 yards, including a couple of clutch catches on the drive that made it 20-10 Seahawks. JSN has 113 receptions on the year but that receiving yards crown is in jeopardy thanks to Puka Nacua. Maybe Offensive Player of the Year could come down to Week 18.
Nick Emmanwori made one play that has him as a Winner in my book
Not for the first time this year, Emmanwori managed to fight through a block to slow down one of those pop pass throws or jet sweep runs. Jimmy Horn could’ve broken a big gain on a pop pass if not for Emmanwori charging through contact, slowing Horn down just enough for Julian Love to hold him to a gain of two. That’s Kam Chancellor-esque. Not a lot of other highlights from E-Man on this occasion but that stood out to me as a guy who is full effort in addition to being really strong.
Leonard Williams, Byron Murphy II, and Jarran Reed continue to blow up plays before they can even start
Carolina has a capable rushing attack, but how many times did we see the Seahawks destroy short-yardage carries from the snap? Whether it’s Williams winning 1-on-1, Reed pushing his lineman backwards, or Murphy absorbing double teams, this trio is just a brick wall of violence and opposing running backs are just unable to cope. I’ve never seen a Seahawks team as prolific at stopping 3rd and 4th and 1 as often as this one.
Seattle Seahawks Losers
Klint Kubiak has gotta figure out how to call a full game
The Seahawks offense has scored two offensive touchdowns in the first halves of their last six games. These slow starts are no longer a coincidence, they’re a trend. Stumbling out of the blocks in the playoffs can be fatal, as the Seahawks are way too familiar with in many of their playoff exits under Pete Carroll.
No play pissed me off more than running some misdirection end-around with Ken Walker after a huge takeaway by DeMarcus Lawrence. Who is that fooling? Don’t get cute with stuff you haven’t even tried to run all season. The only thing I’ll credit Kubiak for is committing to the run game when it was working, and eventually sticking with Zach Charbonnet when he had the hot hand. Whether it’s K9 or Charb, if there’s one back clearly outperforming the other, use the hot hand more.
This was not a good offensive performance. Their three TD drives all traveled under 30 yards.
Seattle also still struggles badly to function in a pure dropback passing game and I’m not sure that’s fixable this year. I’m optimistic this group can improve with another offseason. The harsh truth about Seattle’s offense is by EPA/play (prior to today) they’re not much better than the 2024 unit and in some respects not as good as the Geno Smith/last year of Russell Wilson offenses. Play action passing, a defense that creates short fields, and a better run game than last season are the two biggest driving factors for why this offense looks better than it’s actually been as of late.
The free-flowing bombs away offense is gone and the Seahawks are experiencing struggles that look a little too familiar to the decline of the Let Russ Cook season. Take the deep shots away and now what happens?
Sam Darnold’s turnover issues aren’t going away
Darnold lost a fumble (on a play in which he dropped a perfectly fine snap, so two fumbles on one play), threw a bad red zone interception, and nearly got picked on the game’s opening play. It was a shaky showing from Darnold and his stats are underwhelming: 18/27 for 145 yards, 1 touchdown, 1 interception, an intentional grounding penalty, and 3 sacks. The last sack he took was a horrible one reminiscent of the worst Russell Wilson sacks—don’t run backwards out of the pocket like that!
Sam still had some clutch throws under pressure in the second half to Kupp and JSN, but the overall performance was wobbly and a little worrisome.
Cooper Kupp… it might be time
It wasn’t all bad for Kupp on the day; he had a couple of key blocks on run plays and the A.J. Barner touchdown, plus third down conversion on the final field goal drive. The part where he’s catching the ball is not consistently working out. Darnold nearly got picked off on a throw that bounced off Kupp’s chest, and then he had a touchdown slip through his hands (albeit with defensive pass interference uncalled). Kupp not providing much separation downfield only heightens the impact of Rashid Shaheed and Tory Horton’s respective injuries.
Seattle has some big decisions at wide receiver: extending Shaheed and Kupp’s contract. Add in what to do as a contingency for Horton given his recent injury history and I think we could see a makeover at this position below Jaxon Smith-Njigba.
The officiating was very, very bad
The good news is the officials only called seven accepted penalties, but that doesn’t tell the whole story. Seattle should’ve had a face mask penalty in its favor when Jaxon Smith-Njigba was simultaneously face-masked and horse-collared in the first half. No flag thrown. Kupp gets interfered with in the end zone on a possible touchdown. No call. The Devon Witherspoon pass interference penalty was a cheap call. I’m not really that upset about the Mike Jackson interception because I think his shin came down before his second foot went out, so no big deal there, but I’m sure Carolina was aggrieved a little having to waste a timeout because the refs took an age to spot the ball on a 4th and 1 conversion. I also believe the Mike Jackson tackle on Rashid Shaheed was not a personal foul penalty because it wasn’t a malicious hit and the tackle started when both players were well in bounds.
Ultimately, it felt like most of the big calls were against the Seahawks up until the 4th quarter face mask by Horn on JSN, in which case that was more than owed.
Carl Cheffers and company were not impressive in the slightest.
Final Notes
- Not a great game for Kenneth Walker after, say, the first quarter. He was running hard and well early but the holes plugged up fast and he had a sloppy dropped pass/fumble near halftime.
- Grey Zabel looked like he was struggling again, which feels like a familiar rookie wall that Charles Cross and Abe Lucas hit in 2022. Jalen Sundell appeared to be Seattle’s best performing offensive lineman on the afternoon.
- Did anyone hear Josh Jobe’s name called at all? You didn’t, because he had no tackles and actually no box score stats at all. I swear he played, but it seems as if the Seahawks secondary did such a superb job taking away anything downfield for Bryce Young that Jobe was not as much as targeted.
- Go Bears, go Falcons! I’d like for Week 18 to just be about clinching the No. 1 seed instead of risking falling to No. 5 or No. 6 and having to stay on the road. Seattle is 13-3 and in position for something truly special, and it doesn’t hurt to get some extra help along the way.
