Panthers hold off Seahawks, head to NFC title game

CHARLOTTE, North Carolina (AP) – Carolina was held scoreless in the second half and only just hung on for a 31-24 win against Seattle on Sunday to advance into the final four of the National Football League playoffs, along with Denver, which won a similarly tight game against Pittsburgh.

After opening up a substantial 31-0 lead over the Seattle Seahawks in the second quarter of the NFC Divisional Round on Sunday, the Carolina Panthers failed to score a single point hanging on for the 31-24 victory.

Jonathan Stewart, returning from a foot injury, scored two touchdowns after jumpstarting the Panthers with a 59-yard sprint on their first play.

The first round of Panthers playoff tickets sold last month were also snatched up within minutes. And on the second play of the second period, Stewart leaped in from the 1 – that extended Carolina’s string of 100-yard rushing games to 28 and made it 21-0.

Wilson was picked off under relentless pressure again, this time by Cortland Finnegan at the Seattle 29.

Kearse then collected an outstanding off-balance throw from Wilson for another score and Steven Hauschka landed a 36-yard field goal but with under two minutes left and after a failed onside kick, the Panthers were able to run down the clock to secure victory. The Panthers will host it for the first time, meeting the second-seeded Arizona Cardinals at Bank of America Stadium at 6:40 p.m. on Sunday.

Pittsburgh Steelers 16 Denver Broncos 23: A very weird, closed game.

“For whatever reason, we got into protect mode”.

Kuechly and cornerback Cortland Finnegan collected interceptions on two of Wilson’s first four passes as part of the early plethora of big plays that went Carolina’s way.

For the first time in franchise history, the Carolina Panthers will host the NFC Championship.

Seahawks coach Pete Carroll did not act overly confident in his teams ability to retain five-time Pro Bowl running back Marshawn Lynch next season after his team’s NFC playoff loss to Carolina.

“Let’s stay focused on what we did”.

“We were conservative, but at the end of the day, you have to trust coaching”, Newton said. The Carolina Panthers completed their first test of the postseason, handing the Seattle Seahawks a 31-24 defeat.

The Cardinals (14-3) reached the championship game only after withstanding a Hail Mary pass from Aaron Rodgers and the Packers that forced overtime on Saturday night.

“We can’t wait for (someone else) to make plays for us”.

On paper, at least, Cardinals-Panthers looks to be a shootout. Russell Wilson finished the game 31-for-48 for 366 yards and three touchdowns.

Even if Lynch were to decide to continue playing, the Seahawks might consider his $9 million salary for 2016 to be prohibitive considering he’ll turn 30 in April and is coming off a season in which he played in only eight of 18 games due to injuries.

“The thing we’ve got to understand is that if you’ve got to contain or you’ve got the outside rush, you’ve got to make sure you’re in position to keep him on your inside”, Rivera said. “We just have to play it until the end”.