The Carolina Panthers go into this week with one thing one their mind: the Seattle Seahawks. Well, they did until Coach Ron Rivera’s house caught on fire. The family is okay, but there was extensive damage to the home.
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The Seahawks represent the lesser of two evils. The Detroit Lions could have sent the Panthers to Green Bay, where Aaron Rodgers sliced up the Panthers defense pretty good and the weather would be less temperate. Of course I warned you about expecting anything from a team whose best player is named Megatron.
Different Matchups
The Panthers played both Green Bay and Seattle this season and lost to both during a hard stretch of a month without wins for the Panthers. The two games were incredibly different though.
Green Bay lit up the Panthers pre-facelift secondary with precision passing. The Panthers then as now were not a shootout football team. They could not make up the difference once the game got above two scores or possibly earlier than that. Green Bay still relies on that quick strike offense to get things accomplished and the Panthers have settled into their old pattern of winning with defense.
This is why Seattle is the better matchup. The Panthers have played the Seahawks three times in the last three years. The Seahawks offense is built around Marshawn Lynch to set up defenses for what Russell Wilson will do later in the game. As such, containing Lynch is the key.
12th Man Rising
Seattle plays Carolina Panthers football, just better
Seattle relies on its running game and defense. This is just what the Panthers prefer to do, and have done over the last three weeks. This also means a lower scoring ball game, something that allows the Panthers to hang in there until the very end.
If the Panthers do get their muddy low scoring game, it will come down to turnovers and x-factors. This puts both eyes squarely on Cam Newton, who could win the game with a brilliant play or throw it away with an interception against the best secondary in football.