Seahawks vs Panthers keys to the game

2 of 2

Carolina Panthers

1: Feed Greg Olsen. Seriously. Throw it to him 20 times a game. If I were Cam Newton, I would consider it when he looks at who he has at wide receiver. For all the good the Seahawks defense has done the past few years, tight ends are still a weakness. It doesn’t get much easier going from Tyler Eifert, who got the Seahawks good last week to Greg Olsen. Pete Carroll said the two touchdowns to Eifert were not Kam’s fault, but regardless, somewhere communication breaks down against tight ends and has success against the Seahawks tough defense. Feed Greg.

2: Cam Newton the passer, please stand up! The Seattle Seahawks will not allow Cam Newton to beat them with his legs. The Seahawks will force Cam to have a career day passing the ball. Cam is 0-4 against the Seahawks and has not played well vs them. He needs to have a day like he has never had against the Seahawks to walk into Seattle and steal a win when the Seahawks desperately need it.

3: Welcome back, Luke! Now stop Lynch and Wilson. Marshawn Lynch returns as does Luke Kuechly, and Luke will immediately be put to the test stopping Wilson and Lynch. The Panthers have done a good job stopping Lynch in the past, but that doesn’t mean it’s easy. Stopping the run and containing Wilson are still two things you need to do to have a good shot of beating the Seahawks. Lynch and Luke have missed multiple games, and we’ll see who is game ready between the two of them.

4: Where is the Carolina pressure? No worries, Seattle’s offensive line provides a bounce back opportunity. The Seahawks offensive line actually did an admirable job against the Bengals, but the question remains how good are they and can they be consistent week in and week out. The Panthers have struggled to get to the QB and sack him, and the Seahawks offensive line provides an opportunity to give yet another struggling front 7 their bounce back game. With the way the Seahawks ran the ball vs the Bengals, they will need constant backfield penetration to stay in this game and not let it get out of hand.

5: Ron Rivera, here is your opportuinity at a marquee game for the resume. Ron Rivera has one other marquee game on his resume, and it was a road win against the 49ers in 2013. The Panthers haven’t had the toughest of schedules to this point, but all you can do is play the teams on your schedule. The Seahawks just came off a devastating loss, their season is on the line, and your team just got an extra week to prepare for the Seahawks. If you want to be taken seriously as a playoff threat, this is a game the Panthers should be capable of winning. Your move, Ron Rivera.

Next: Seahawks Injury Update: Lynch will play, Linebacker a concern

More from 12th Man Rising

Home/Seattle Seahawks News