What the NFC Playoff Picture Means for the Panthers

That’s a good team out there. They have a full week to acclimate themselves to playing an early wild-card game that’s just three hours off their regular time and something they have to deal with at least once a year (usually).

TEMPE, Ariz. (AP) – A blowout loss at home to Seattle didn’t mean anything in terms of when and where the Arizona Cardinals play in the postseason. But you wouldn’t say the Hawks were embarrassed or dominated.

4 The Panthers are getting very thin at cornerback, enough so that they may be starting a player in Robert McClain who wasn’t even on the team until mid-December.

Now this team will finish 2015 ranked first in DVOA, and that’s the only finish in that stat that Wilson has ever known during his four remarkable seasons in the NFL. The Vikings won the NFC North Sunday night with a 20-13 victory over the Green Bay Packers at Lambeau Field.

Sunday was the Hawks’ first return to University of Phoenix Stadium since their heartbreaking loss in Super Bowl XLIX last February. “Seattle Seahawks are playing red hot, they are looking good this year” said Tony Dungey. Until this game, it really seemed like it was going to be the Arizona Cardinals against the Carolina Panthers in the NFC Championship game to go to the Super Bowl.

Defensively, with safety Kam Chancellor still on the shelf, Seattle was able to cool off Arizona’s running game and lower the Legion of Boom on Carson Palmer. Touchdowns by running back Bryce Brown, fullback Will Tukuafu and tight end Chase Coffman aren’t exactly expected plays.

Adrian Peterson rushed for just 18 yards on eight carries in that game.

-PK Chandler Catanzaro, who missed a 51-yard field goal in addition to missing his fifth extra-point attempt of the season, said he felt disgusting about his efforts on Sunday against Seattle. He does not possess the size scouts look for in a quarterback, but he is an accurate thrower and has the mobility to escape the pocket. They are second in passing yards allowed with 210.3 per game and first in rushing yards allowed per game with 81.5. And the drive ended with a touchdown pass to Larry Fitzgerald, his 98th career touchdown.

SERIES RIVALRY: The Seahawks lead 9-5 (regular season) and have three consecutive wins over Minnesota…

Russell Wilson, Doug Baldwin and Tyler Lockett – oh my! The 2.1 total yards per carry were well-below the team’s average of 4.3 for the season. Perhaps it was a painful loss to Arizona on November 15. Bring some guys back down to earth and get back to work. So Seattle was giving the ball at the 8 yard line off the wrong call. “I just have to move past it and get better”. Wilson hit Jermaine Kearse in the end zone 3 plays later. The Vikings need to get a push with their offensive line and it starts with knowing where Bennett is lined up. Then it was time for the Lockett show. Palmer completed only 12 of 25 passes for 129 yards, a touchdown and an interception. Seattle’s first possession of the second half resulted in a couple more records. In the process, the Hawks got interceptions from Earl Thomas, Jeremy Lane and DeShawn Shead. After another Arizona 3-and-out punt, the Seahawks punted for the first time in the game with the 3rd Quarter coming to a close.

“That’s always the key”, Seattle linebacker Bobby Wagner said after his defense held Arizona to 26 yards rushing in the Seahawks’ 36-6 rout of Arizona in the desert on Sunday.