Seahawks defeat Panthers and keep playoff hopes alive

The Seahawks defeated the Panthers on Sunday to move to 6-5. Seattle’s win has them in good postseason position.

Wow. Just wow. The Seahawks beat the Panthers on Sunday 30-27. Seattle’s win gives them the head-to-head advantage over Carolina, Dallas and Green Bay. Seattle is in excellent position for the 2018 playoffs through week 12.

And the way Seattle won, like the Packers game in week 11, was very Seahawks-y. Carolina seemed to control the pace of play for most of the game. Yet, there was Seattle late in the game in a position to win. And with a Sebastian Janikowski kick with no time left, the Seahawks did win,

Seattle didn’t have the better statistics and they didn’t look like the better team. Not for most of the game. But like any other 12th man, I am used to seeing Seattle win games that it seem like they shouldn’t.

Brian Schottenheimer didn’t run Chris Carson enough. Yet, Carson finished with 55 yards running and was stopped only on fairly obvious rushing downs. He also has Carson-only type runs.

And Russell Wilson needed to be perfect for the Seahawks to win and he was darn near being that. Wilson ended up with a passer rating of 132.5 and two touchdowns and 339 yards passing. He was better than his counterpart Cam Newton when it mattered.

Plus, safety Bradley McDougald had possibly a season-saving and game-saving play on an incredible interception of Newton in the Seahawks end zone.

This is why the Seahawks continue to win games. They have individual players who make individual plays that put their team in a position to win games. Seattle does this better than any other team for the most part. Sunday was no different. And when Seattle was down 27-20 late in the fourth quarter, Wilson did this…

And then this touchdown pass was followed by a Wilson to Tyler Lockett pass that set up the game-winning field goal…

Simply put, if Wilson isn’t Wilson and doesn’t do special things like the football vampire he is late in games, the Seahawks don’t win. But Wilson was great when he was needed to be great and Seattle won.

And now Seattle is 6-5 and in control of whether they make the playoffs. Carolina took their first road loss of the season and has now lost three in a row. Seattle faces three games – two against the 49ers and one against the Cardinals – they should win. Plus, they play two against teams that would be tough to beat – the Vikings and Chiefs – and Seattle gets both the Vikings and Chiefs in CenturyLink.

The Seahawks, though, also have a total of four of their last five at home. Seattle has done enough at this point to make the playoffs. And they only need to win out at home to get to the postseason in 2018. Amazingly.