Seattle Vs Carolina

[HUGGY]

Well...Well.. Winning the #1 seed has it's rewards. Now the worst team to advance in the NFC side of the playoffs comes to Seattle. To say they are an underdog is an understatement. They are 11 point underdogs.

Seattle has beaten the Carolina Panthers on three consecutive meetings all in Carolina's stadium over the last three seasons. Albeit low scoring affairs.

Now Cam Newton and his entourage comes to the CLink after winning that right last weekend beating a visiting Arizona team on the skids after losing to Seattle in the regular season. Almost EVERY team the Seahawks beat goes out and loses their next game. That stat is astounding in that it has been a constant for over two seasons.

I see this as nothing more than a tuneup for the NFC Championship game again in the Emerald City on the 18th of this month.

Newton has never played against these Hawks in the wall of noise generated by the 12s. Whether Seattle is officially the loudest stadium in the sports world or #2 it's damned loud...So much so that THIS Seattle resident doesn't go to the games anymore in person. It's just too painful. Plus you can't even go outside and smoke anymore which I find BARBARIC!!!!

I digress.

Cam Newton will put up a fight for about a qtr and a half and maybe even taste a brief lead as is not uncommon in Seahawk games as of late. ORRrrr... Maybe the Hawks will just come out and steam roll the Panthers from the first to the last whistle. Whatever.

Don't expect the Panthers to win their first game next season. The odds are ridiculous that they won't.

 

[TheOldSchool]

Carolina's doomed

 

[hangover]

The REAL superman would guarantee a SB win.

 

[HUGGY]

This kid has the right idea... I don't think Cam's mom should turn on her TV this Saturday.

 

[antiquity]

I will be betting against Seattle on the spread.(10.5) Carolina has matches up against Seattle in the last three games and all have been very close. Seattle will win but won't cover the spread. Seattle needs to do something about their pass blocking by the offense line. Maybe keep a back in the back field to pick up the blitz and double team Johnson.
Cam Newton passing doesn't worry the Seattle secondary one bit. 18 TD and 12 picks is nothing to worry about.

 

[HUGGY]

The "history" displayed in the last four times these teams met is skewed. All of those games were played in Carolina.

The Hawks went into the Panthers stadium the last two games still working on issues not yet resolved. These internal problems had nothing to do with the Panthers but what we had was the Seahawks fighting two enemies in both of those games. Still the Hawks squeaked out wins in spite of them being away games.

The advantage the Seahawks enjoy at Century Link is dramatic. It has provided the stage for some of the most lopsided wins in the NFL.

We have blown out some pretty good teams on our own turf. Green Bay ..whom many consider to be one of the best teams with what many see as having the best QB in the NFL got spanked seriously in CLink in the season opener. The first game of the season is a good indicator because both teams are relatively injury free and well rested after the time off between seasons.

Then as the season develops the injury bug bites and other unforeseen issues rise up. The best teams have plans to deal with whatever comes along and low and behold here we are with the usual suspects all in the last stages of the playoffs fighting for those rings.

Carolina is one of those teams that fought like hell for the last 4 weeks of the regular season to end up with just a snif...a whiff of the flavor of the playoffs. They beat a lame duck...the QBless Cardinals in their own home stadium to get the opportunity to fly across the country and face what most pundits believe is the team with the most talent thruout the team.

Cam Newton has come a long way in his development this season. His maturity has FINALLY showed up...a day late and a dollar short if you ask me. Russell Wilson was NFL ready from his first game and has had no "walls" he had to play through. There was no sophomore slump like many experience. Cam Newton's fame has had more to do with towels over his head to sporadic bouts with his immaturity.

Cam played this season like he should have in his second season. Wilson is in his third season playing like it's his tenth.

THAT is what I am getting to...having taken a longer road than I really had to. Therein will be the difference in Saturday's game. Wilson will give the Panthers nothing and Newton will get frustrated and make mistakes.

 

[Montrovant]

I find it hard to imagine Carolina going to Seattle and pulling it out. Admittedly, the Panthers D has been better lately, but still, not the dominant force they were last year. Add in the lackluster offense and it's only because they played in the NFL's worst division that they made the playoffs. Like Seattle at 7-9, they went in with a losing record and won a game. Like Seattle at 7-9, they will lose their next.

Had Arizona even been able to play their second string QB, I think that game might have gone much differently. You play who you play, but the Panthers really did get the best possible matchup last week.

 

[Wry Catcher]

Have you seen this? Young man catches own 40 yard pass.

 

[LA RAM FAN]

I find it hard to imagine Carolina going to Seattle and pulling it out. Admittedly, the Panthers D has been better lately, but still, not the dominant force they were last year. Add in the lackluster offense and it's only because they played in the NFL's worst division that they made the playoffs. Like Seattle at 7-9, they went in with a losing record and won a game. Like Seattle at 7-9, they will lose their next.

Had Arizona even been able to play their second string QB, I think that game might have gone much differently. You play who you play, but the Panthers really did get the best possible matchup last week.

Indeed.That is why I was telling Huggy to not be so impressed over them scoring so many points against the cardinals because yeah it came against the first string players defense but what I said would happen in that game DID happen with them cardinals defense able to keep the game close in the first half but having so many three and outs on offense,they had to be on the field so long they wore out and got tired with bad tackling.

the fact that the PANTHERS scored so many points against the cardinals,a team that had many problems scoring this year,just proves my point for me that scoring all those points against the cardinals was not all that impressive having to face a defense that got worn out by the second half being on the field all night long.

same thing happened in that game,the cards had so many three and outs on offense with their quarterback,that they were on the filed all day long and once again,were too tired to tackle or cover anybody.

This one will be an easy game for the Hawks having the luxary to have to face a team that had scoring problems all year long and since they have to go to the link and play in the cold this time,they wont have the heat in their favor to keep the game close for them.

Being played in seattle I don't see this matchup this time between the teams being close for the Hawks with the panthers having difficult problems on offense with crowd noise.In this game,I expect their play will show why they have the record that they are.

The panthers are not like the raiders.the raiders you can say are a better team than what their record indicates.Not so with the panthers.Its too bad the NFL has it set up so that the team that wins their division gets to be in the playoffs just because the other teams are worse than they are.

even you were embarrassed that year Huggy when the seahawks got in with a 7-9 record.The NFL needs to do something about that.

 

[HUGGY]

Yesterday John Clayton, "The Professor" at ESPN, said that if Carolina wins tomorrow it will be one of the biggest divisional upsets in a playoff game in NFL history.

 

[LA RAM FAN]

yep.i agree.i would say it WOULD be the biggest divisional upset in a playoff game in NFL history.

 

[Montrovant]

Considering you've got the SB champs playing a team that got into the playoffs with a losing record.....yeah, that would be a big upset.

 

[Montrovant]

I'm impressed with how close Carolina has kept this game through 3 quarters.

 

[HUGGY]

I'm impressed with how close Carolina has kept this game through 3 quarters.

That's the way most of the last seven games have gone. We've been pulling away in the 4th qtr pretty religiously.

It was strange seeing the Panthers go up by a FG in the second half though. If we had recovered one or two of the fumbles we caused and made an int that should have been caught it would have been a for real blow out. The score could have easily been 48 to 10.

 

[Toro]

Kam Chancellor was awesome. I burst out laughing when he jumped over the lineman to block the FG a second time! He can also hit too. He laid a licking on a few guys.

 

[LA RAM FAN]

I'm impressed with how close Carolina has kept this game through 3 quarters.

yeah it was a closer game than i thought it would be.wow,never expected so many points to be scored.this is the first meeting between the teams where it wasnt a very low scoring game.

 

[LA RAM FAN]

hey huggy,BP was just wondering,I remember in this game hearing the announcers say that one of the players in the secondary of the seahawks was hurt and that was why simon was in and they then mentioned Newton was having more success completing passes cause of Simon being in there.who was it that he came into replace who had to out with an injury for a while by chance? I don't remember seeing any of their key plays like cam,sherman or wagner leaving for a while cause f injury.