Marshawn Lynch needs confidence to ‘do all that crazy stuff he does’

In many ways, the Seahawks and Panthers are mirror images of one another, which may help explain why the last five games have come down to the wire. “I love watching him play”. However, under duress, Newton’s passer rating dropped to 66.9, with only six touchdowns to six interceptions.

Lynch, 29, has 417 rushing yards and three touchdowns in seven games this season.

The Seahawks are the least-likely lower seed to be intimidated on the road, with the swagger built by those consecutive Super Bowl appearances, that wealth of Pro Bowl players discovered later in the draft and the momentum this season they rode to an 8-2 finish.

Lynch was back as a full participant at practice this week after not making the trip to Minnesota for the wild-card game against the Vikings last Sunday.

Once Marshawn Lynch got on the bus Friday it was pretty much a given that he would play Sunday against the Carolina Panthers. In seven games against Carolina as a member of the Seahawks, Lynch has never rushed for more than 89 yards. Cam Newton is the best quarterback on the field. The Carolina Panthers on the other hand, cruised through the National Football League this season going 14-0 before losing in week 16 to a Falcons team looking to give their season a positive end by playing for the upset.

Rematch: Not only is this game a rematch of the Week 6 meeting between the two teams, it is also a rematch of a playoff contest from last season.

“The thing we’ve got to understand is that if you’ve got to contain or you’ve got the outside rush”, Rivera said. Seattle ended the season first in scoring defense, second in total defense, second in yards allowed per play, first in rushing defense…You catch my drift. If the Seahawks want to advance, they need to force Newton to beat them with his arm rather than with his legs.The Panthers will win if they … If Newton throws at Sherman one too many times, it could be going the other way.

Every defense had plans to take away TE Greg Olsen and not many had success with those plans. He could create chaos up the middle against a Seahawks offensive line that’s suspect at best. Winning this strength-vs.-strength matchup will be critical.

However, beating a team twice in the same season is no easy task. Two linebackers who flow from sideline to sideline easily and make things very hard for offenses who try to attack the perimeter. The team scored a franchise-record 500 points this year, which led the NFL. Wilson was at his best during the second half of the season when he was throwing from the pocket. However, Carolina has covered in four straight at home.

“‘Beast Mode” is Back: Running back Marshawn Lynch (abdomen) is probable to play this week after missing a significant amount of time due to injury.