Seahawks grades from victory over Panthers week 15
By Lee Vowell
The Seahawks moved to 11-3 with a victory over the Carolina Panthers in week 15. Here is how each unit graded in Seattle’s win.
Well, goodness. Where to begin? Sunday got a little crazy in the NFL, didn’t it? The Seahawks beat the Panthers 30-24 in a game that should have been more like 30-10 and was with 5 minutes left in the fourth quarter. And then the 49ers lost to the Falcons when San Francisco’s offense forgot what it had done against the Saints. Wacky.
With Seattle’s win and the 49ers loss, Seattle now is the number-one seed in the NFC. Not that that lead feels safe because the Seahawks have a way of making things very uncomfortable for 12s. No lead at any point seems to come with ease or feels likely to be maintained. Can’t Seattle just blow somebody out a couple of times?
Sunday’s week 15 game should have not been close, of course. At times, Seattle appeared to move the ball well. They scored touchdowns on their first two drives and that rarely happens. Seattle had 20 points at halftime and led 20-7. But some odd coaching decisions made it chippy at the end.
For instance, Seattle’s prevent defense was nearly just that: Preventing Seattle from winning. I think if Seattle had simply put mannequins on the field they would have been as efficient. But that at the end of the game and there were some wonderful things that happened before that.
Some of those will be discussed in the grades that follow from week 15.