3 quick takeaways from Seattle Seahawks Week 3 victory over the Panthers

The Seattle Seahawks are now 2-1 on the 2023 season after a 37-27 victory over the Carolina Panthers. Seattle seemed to battle itself in the first half with several drives ending once the team reached the Carolina 25-yard line. Thankfully, Jason Myers was perfect on his field goal attempts and kept giving Seattle the lead.

In the second half, Seattle finally got its running game going as the Seahawks used different fronts to help Kenneth Walker and Zach Charbonnet find holes. Seattle finished the game with 146 yards rushing and 4.4 yards per attempt. Walker finished with 158 total yards (97 rushing and 59 receiving).

And we got a Jake Bobo sighting. And one that mattered. He caught Seattle's final touchdown on a high pass from Geno Smith where Bobo kept his toes inbounds. What was at first a highly stressful game turned into a bit of a feel-good victory. Here are some quick takeaways.

12s helped the Seattle Seahawks get the victory

There is no doubt that the crowd noise at Lumen Field affected the Panthers. They had 8 false start penalties, many from the offensive tackles of Carolina not being able to hear the snap or play call. Lumen Field is one of the loudest stadiums in any sport, of course, and 12s know it and so do the Seahawks as they realize they are going to get help from their fans.

In the second half, especially the fourth quarter, 12s affected Panthers drives and a slim advantage for Seattle grew to 17. The players and coaches of the Seahawks won the game, but they got a lot of help from 12s.

Geno Smith played a game of two-halves

Geno Smith struggled in the first half. He threw a bad interception in the first half when he simply missed Jaxon Smith-Njigba, but Smith was off on several throws. He didn't have the best of protection but some of the throws he missed on were on him. Seattle finished the first half going just 1-8 on third downs and 10 first downs.

In the second half, Smith was much sharper, threw a touchdown, used his tight ends brilliantly and then made a fantastic play on a two-point conversion to make the score 37-20. Seattle picked up 17 first downs in the second half, but many of those were on first and second down as Seattle only had five third-down conversion attempts in the second half. Smith got the offense into a rhythm and scored 25 second-half points.

Injuries are still a bad problem

The Seahawks were already thin along the offensive line and at cornerback entering the game and then lost Tre Brown toa concussion. Michael Jackson came in and got better as the second half wore on, but he gave up a deep sideline pass on one drive and then blew a coverage - he played man while everyone else played zone - on a 47-yard Panthers touchdown pass.

Darrell Taylor also went out with a leg injury, but he didn't seem awfully bad. He didn't return, however. Head coach Pete Carroll should have more updates on injuries on Monday.

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