Game Thread: Divisional Round Seahawks @ Panthers Sunday 1:00 EST

[flyerhawk]

In what many are saying is the game of the week, the Seahawks will be traveling to Carolina for the 4th straight season.

The Seahawks have had the advantage against the Panthers over the past 4 seasons going 5-1 against. But the Panthers won the most recent matchip against the Seahawks.

Some notable points about the game

Both teams appear to be getting their No. 1 running backs for the game as Marshawn Lynch has stated that he is ready to go against the Panthers and Jonathan Stewart also appears to be ready to go.

Not a whole lot of action on the injury report this week. Luke Willson is also returning for the Seahawks . Kony Ealy was sent home due to illness but will probably be back. Michael Bennett was limited in practice but almost certainly playing on Sunday.

These games have been largely wars of attritions over the years and this one will likely be one as well. The one potential question mark for this game will be the Panthers secondary. Starting outside corner Charles Tillman and starting nickel corner Bene Beniwikere were both lost for the season late in the season. The Panthers picked up a couple of guys off the street to replace them. This will likely mean a lot a heavy dose of zone coverages to minimize the exposure of those guys and to limit Wilson's running. If the Seahawks can exploit those two corners they could change the entire complexion of the game.

For the Panthers, their season may depend on how effective Greg Olsen can be. Olsen almost single-handedly beat the Seahawks earlier in the season. If he can repeat that, then the Panthers will likely be hosting one more playoff game.

 

[scoutyjones2]

Beware of Cam on Olsen...

 

[dkmightyhammer]

This game is a complete pick-um to me. I'm hoping for a Seahawk win but Carolina has been playing better than any team in the NFL this year. Plus Carolina is playing at home, coming off a bye week, and it's a 10am (Pacific time) start. There are a lot of things going in the Panther's favor here so I believe that gives them the edge. Seattle is playing on house money after last week so I think the majority of the pressure is on the Panthers to get the monkey off their back and beat Seattle in the post-season.

This will be a great game and should be close. I will not predict a winner, just hoping for a Seattle win.

 

[gordontrue]

I keep hearing conflicting stats on the Seahawks success / lack thereof on the road in the playoffs?

What is the truth? They beat the redskins on the road when RG3 and russel were rookies, right? And obviously last week they won on the road.

 

[dkmightyhammer]

I keep hearing conflicting stats on the Seahawks success / lack thereof on the road in the playoffs?

What is the truth? They beat the redskins on the road when RG3 and russel were rookies, right? And obviously last week they won on the road.

If you include Superbowls (neutral site, but still a "road" game) they are 3-2 in the Russell Wilson era on the road. Wins vs Denver, Washington, and Minny. Losses to Atlanta and New England.

 

[johnson]

This year, Seattle has looked a lot better on the road. When they've really looked subpar has usually been at home. Go figure...but I don't expect CAR to really have much of a home field advantage that matters.

CAR is down in their secondary and ripe to be exploited. Last three games they've been torched pretty good. It's all going to come down to whether Cam truly has the magic.

 

[Duffman]

With that out of the way, go Seahawks.

 

[Tech_God]

Beware of Cam on Olsen...

Yep, burnt the Seahawks already...

 

[Tech_God]

Calling Midnight Angle......

Can you please predict the score for this game?

 

[gordontrue]

As a Cardinals fan I honestly can't decide who I prefer to win this game.

 

[Used 2 B Hu]

Jack'd for this sporting contest

 

[WizardHawk]

I keep hearing conflicting stats on the Seahawks success / lack thereof on the road in the playoffs?

What is the truth? They beat the redskins on the road when RG3 and russel were rookies, right? And obviously last week they won on the road.

Seattle's D plays very very well on the road. The offense? Has been up and down, but then they've been up and down all year in general. You can look at prior seasons results, but not sure how much they apply here. It's about match ups and execution. Which team has the most to lose. Which one has the most pressure. Where are the match ups?

Cam's mobility is the story of a lot of their games and it was in their regular season meeting at the Clink, however Seahawks star LB Wagner didn't play in that game and that was huge.

Both teams will be trying to run, but I doubt either rusher breaks 100y on the ground. Lynch might hit that if you include passing yards. Both will probably be playing fairly safe until pushed. Should be a low scoring game as it typically is between them.

To me the things that stand out are the injuries in the Carolina secondary. They might have one of the top CB's in the league on one side, but the other? Practice squad call up. Advantage in the long passing game should favor Wilson because of it.

Ginn jr is injured and in general Caronlia hasn't returned kicks for TD's this season while Seattle has one of the most exciting young returners on both kick offs and punts. In a low scoring game that should feature a fair amount of punts this should substantially benefit Seattle.

It's still going to come down to ball control and we've all seen Seattle penalty their way to free scores for the other team, but I still like the match ups.

I'm calling it Seattle 23 and Carolina 17. Take the under.

Found it very interesting that overnight money poured in on Seattle, enough so to move the line from 2.5 to 1 just overnight. This started happening minutes after Lynch's tweet that "I'm ready" was made public. No idea what the sharps are thinking, but this game could well be a pick'em by game time.

 

[Tainthappening]

If you include Superbowls (neutral site, but still a "road" game) they are 3-2 in the Russell Wilson era on the road. Wins vs Denver, Washington, and Minny. Losses to Atlanta and New England.

NFC teams are home team in odd number Super Bowls, AFC in even number Super Bowl... this year is Super Bowl is #50.. so AFC is home team.

Including your Super Bowl as a road victory holds no water.. unless the Super Bowl would have been in Denver and not New York.

 

[WizardHawk]

NFC teams are home team in odd number Super Bowls, AFC in even number Super Bowl... this year is Super Bowl is #50.. so AFC is home team.

Including your Super Bowl as a road victory holds no water.. unless the Super Bowl would have been in Denver and not New York.

It's still not a real home game for either team. Neutral site games where the crowd is made up of mostly corporate types, rich people, and other non fans of either team is an entirely different thing than playing at home. That was the point.

In just road playoff games in other team cities Seattle is 2-1 with Wilson at the helm. They beat the skins and lost to the Falcons in '12 and beat the Vikings this year. 2-1, 3-2, it's all about the same thing. Clearly they are capable of winning tough games on the road. This is about the match ups and maybe who's going to be more amped up or nervous.

 

[Tainthappening]

Found it very interesting that overnight money poured in on Seattle, enough so to move the line from 2.5 to 1 just overnight. This started happening minutes after Lynch's tweet that "I'm ready" was made public. No idea what the sharps are thinking, but this game could well be a pick'em by game time.

Seattle seemed to play better without Lynch from what I have read here and there... any truth to that?

 

[WizardHawk]

Seattle seemed to play better without Lynch from what I have read here and there... any truth to that?

Yes. Absolutely.

More, it was after Rawls also went down that Wilson seemed to become a QB no one had seen out of him before. They took the reigns off and let him loose and he went crazy on a few teams.

So the question is now that the coaches have seen that Wilson can run the offense though the pocket and make scores from there, do they go back to the ultra conservative approach they had around a Lynch centered offense? Or do they let him go after that weak secondary with backup to the backup players on one side?

Sadly, knowing this staff as I do, they will play conservative and try to force Lynch the ball a fair amount.

That's why this will be a low scoring and close game late.

 

[Used 2 B Hu]

Clearly they are capable of winning tough games on the road. This is about the match ups and maybe who's going to be more amped up or nervous.

Or who pulls more fire alarms at which team hotel

 

[flyerhawk]

NFC teams are home team in odd number Super Bowls, AFC in even number Super Bowl... this year is Super Bowl is #50.. so AFC is home team.

Including your Super Bowl as a road victory holds no water.. unless the Super Bowl would have been in Denver and not New York.

If you want to argue that Super Bowls are neither home or away games, that's fine. But they certainly aren't home games.

 

[The Oldtimer]

As a Cardinals fan I honestly can't decide who I prefer to win this game.

You need to worry about the Pack.

 

[JMR]

Seattle seemed to play better without Lynch from what I have read here and there... any truth to that?

They also play a lot better when the OL is not horrible like the first half of this season. Just so happens that's also when Lynch was playing. It's a cause:effect deal....Lynch's absence is not the cause of our offense improving, but it certainly did improve after he went out.