There is only one adjective which I can use to describe this game; ugly. The first quarter was a nightmare to watch and the offense couldn’t get anything going. I believe they ended the quarter with 17 total yards which is totally unacceptable. For some reason the Seattle Seahawks cannot get off to good starts on the road. This was a huge problem when Pete Carroll first took over 4 years ago. In the 3 seasons before the 2014 Super Bowl run Carroll and the Seahawks went a combined 8-16 on the road. I thought after last seasons 6-2 road record the Seahawks had exorcised their road demons but the game against the St. Louis Rams proved to me otherwise. This season has been an uphill battle due to the Percy Harvin situation as well as the turmoil inside the locker room. Luckily it’s early in the season and I’m optimistic this mess will bring the locker room closer together and galvanize this team for the second half of the season.

The Seattle Seahawks first 2 drives of the game both resulted in 3 and outs. If my notes are right Seattle had the ball for around 3 and a 1/2 minutes the entire quarter. I thought the defense looked a little bit shaky to start this game because the Panthers went on 2 pretty long drives with Cam Newton using his legs but the Hawks held them to a couple of field goals. Steven Hauschka hit a 58 yard FG in the 2nd quarter around the 11 minute mark. The next Seattle drive didn’t come until the 4:50 mark when Newton and his running back fumbled the exchange and Cliff Avril jumped on it. There was a heavy dose of the running attack mixed in with a few Russell Wilson passes which got the Seahawks all the way down to the 8 yard line. I don’t remember what down it was but Wilson dropped back for a pass, spotted Marshawn Lynch breaking across the middle of the field and passed him the ball. Somehow the ball deflected off of Lynch’s hands up into the air and a Panther defender intercepted it. Wilson threw a perfect pass and Lynch should have caught it for the go ahead score before halftime. In a defensive struggle like this one you cannot waste scoring opportunities. For some reason the Seahawks and the Panthers always play tight, low scoring, defensive games.

I missed the Panthers opening drive of the 2nd half when Marcus Burley intercepted Cam Newton but this turnover set up one of the biggest plays in the game. Wilson ran a read option but kept the ball himself, faked like he was going to run it and then threw a terrible pass to a wide open Cooper Helfet which he couldn’t quite come back and catch. If Wilson had thrown this pass even decently Helfet would have walked into the endzone. Of course Seattle missed another great opportunity to snatch the lead but they just couldn’t execute. They end up kicking a FG and tying the game. For most of the 3rd quarter the Panthers offense goes in the toilet, the running game which was pretty successful in the 1st half is being shut down by the Seattle d-line. One interesting tidbit was Richard Sherman returning punts, for the record I’m more against using him in this capacity than I was when Earl Thomas was returning punts. The Seahawks have very limited depth at the cornerback position and I don’t want the All-Pro Sherman getting hurt on some random punt return in the 3rd quarter of a midseason game. It just seems like a reckless idea by Coach Carroll. Just put Doug Baldwin or Paul Richardson back there instead. We didn’t witness much of the big play Panther offense but Cam did have one spectacular pass to Kelvin Benjamin. Amazingly Benjamin was being sandwiched by Sherman and Thomas downfield but he still had the athletic ability to go up and snag a ball over Sherman’s outstretched hands and haul in a 51 yard completion. This kid is going to be a very good player if he keeps on working hard and refining his technique. The Panthers convert a couple more 1st downs and end up kicking a FG pushing the score to 9-6 with 4:37 left in the game. At this point I was hoping Russell Wilson would redeem himself from last week and drive the Seahawks down the field for the winning touchdown. Of course Wilson didn’t disappoint this week and went right down the field and scored a TD. I was most impressed with the mixture of run and pass and the great decision making by Wilson. He didn’t try to force anything down the field and just made the short/intermediate passes. Thank goodness Luke Willson made that catch for the TD. He’s been underwhelming since taking over for Zach Miller with all of his dropped passes and missed blocks but he partial redeemed himself with the TD reception. Seattle didn’t run the clock out completely so the Panthers had about 47 seconds to drive down the field. I’m not sure who or what took over Bruce Irvin’s body on that last drive but he was destroying the Panthers O-Line and sacked Newton twice. He was at the defensive end position and was just running right by the Carolina’s Tackle. This is exactly the player Seattle thought they were getting when they took him 15th overall in 2012. If he can finally breakthrough and turn his potential as an edge rushing into actual on-field production then the Seahawks pass rush will improve mightily.

Once again Russell Wilson is no ordinary QB and certainly not a “game manager”. He led Seattle down the field at the most critical juncture of the game (and maybe season) and scored the go ahead TD. In the most pressure packed moments he stays calm and keeps his wits about him which might be the single greatest trait he possesses. I’ll get more in-depth with this topic at a later date but if I was choosing a QB to start my franchise I would take Russell Wilson. This was also a great week for the defense as a whole. They finally played up to last season’s standards and shut down Cam Newton and the rest of the Panthers, I was also happy Seattle forced a couple turnovers. Seattle needed this game badly or else this season might have spiraled out of control. Coming off this road win they have a couple of very winnable home games in the coming weeks (Raiders, NY Giants) so I’m expecting two great home performances before they head off to Kansas City in Week 11. Looking ahead (which I hate to do) but this season will be made or broken during Weeks 12-16. They play Arizona and San Francisco home and away plus throw in a road trip to the Linc against the Philadelphia Eagles and you have the toughest part of the schedule. Seattle needs to go a minimum of 2-1 over the next 3 weeks if they have any chance of catching the Arizona Cardinals for the NFC West crown and a chance to repeat as Super Bowl champions.