Jimmy Graham was finally utilized by the Seattle Seahawks

And other than a 40-yard touchdown to Ricardo Lockette on a double pass, the Seahawks did not have a pass play longer than 14 yards to a receiver. The Seahawks are 2-4 for the first time since 2011 when they started 2-6.

After a week of vowing the fourth-quarter collapses were over, the Seattle Seahawks crumpled once again. They left CenturyLink Field with the impression that they are for real.

The Seahawks take great pride in how they play down the stretch. In addition, the front seven for the Seahawks, which was spoken of as one of the best in football to start the year, has been very underwhelming. A fateful communication glitch between Earl Thomas and Richard Sherman on the Olsen seam pattern led to their fourth blown fourth-quarter lead this season.

“There’s a disconnect somewhere, ” Sherman said. “We had a little miscue at the end, but we’ll go back and look at the tape and come back for the next game”.

The signature moment during Sunday’s game came just after Carolina’s go-ahead touchdown pass, when Sherman and Thomas looked at each other in total confusion over what just happened.

“Game’s at a fast pace, so you’ve got to make a decision, ” he said. “11 to opposing tight ends”. “That shows you what kind of guy he is”. Our defense called for us to be rolled over on top of Olsen. It’s not going to work out well. So we’re going to outlast this. As weird as this miscommunication may have been, it’s far from a one-week problem- both in its scope and in its fixability. “We’re aware of (teams potentially throwing away from him)”.

Bynes was lauded for his locker-room address after the Lions fell to 0-5 with a lopsided loss to the Arizona Cardinals last week.

Running? It wasn’t even part of the equation for Newton. His 78 yards Sunday may not seem like much, but he ran ridiculously hard and had his first multi-touchdown game since 2009.

Rivera admitted there be more noise, more distractions and more attention paid to a team that was flying under the radar through the season’s frist month and a half.

“This was one of the bigger victories we have had since I have been here”, said Ron Rivera, who’s been the Panthers’ head coach since 2011. “It’s still going to be the person who’s willing to win at all costs, but I have to understand what I mean to this team”. One of the things I told the guys on the sideline was to keep pounding.

It will take a few time for the Seahawks to figure things out on the offensive end. In his first game back, Lynch rushed 17 times for 54 yards and a score. They are not out of it of course, as they remain two games back in the NFC West, but they will have to get things turned around quickly. On the first play of the eventual game-winning drive, Newton threw a short 8-yard pass to Jonathan Stewart – a check down instead of a home run deep ball that helped build momentum for the drive, and it’s a play a younger Newton wouldn’t have made. Good teams don’t waste opportunities.

Carolina Panthers quarterback Cam Newton (1) might be the third best quarterback in the National Football League right now, behind Green Bay’s Aaron Rodgers and New England’s Tom Brady.

Or maybe they just don’t want to hear the answer – that this team just isn’t as good. We let them down there before that all happened, and they already were in field-goal range and all that. The Seahawks face a quick turnaround with a Thursday-night game at San Francisco.