Willes: Panthers’ brutally clinical first-half performance sinks Seahawks

Six minutes later, a 19 yard pass from Cam Newton to Greg Olsen made it 31-0.

It shouldn’t have been a surprise to America that the Carolina Panthers took down the Seattle Seahawks. “That is a complete team that will play us well”.

The top-seeded Panthers looked set for a comfortable afternoon after they exploded out to a 31-0 half-time lead against the reigning NFC champions.

Carolina ball in many ways is old-school football, the way the Chicago Bears played in 1985 when Panthers coach Ron Rivera was a linebacker on that team.

“It was a tale of execution”.

The Seahawks, however, staged a superb second half rally with quarterback Russell Wilson throwing for three touchdowns and finishing with 366 yards. “We had a great plan coming in and we’ve just got to keep putting it back together”.

After winning the playoff game against the Seahawks Sunday, Newton was celebrating with fans by giving high-fives in a victory lap. We really want more and you see that on guys.

The play was scripted in the days leading up to the game, a chance to get Stewart involved after four weeks away.

Stewart missed a month with a sprained foot, but it didn’t show on his first carry Sunday. Jonathan Stewart rushed for 106 yards and two touchdowns in the victory, while Cam Newton threw for 161 yards and a touchdown on 16-22 passing. That has nearly cost them the game several times this past season. “Sometimes we were not ourselves out there”. “We’ve got to do a better job of closing teams out when we get them down like that”. “We can be special for a long time”.

The Seahawks would escape the first half without further damage but the stats sheet revealed the Panthers’ utter domination: 220 yards in total offence to 123; 118 rushing yards to 30; two interceptions for the Panthers and another turnover on downs; 5-for-7 in third-down conversions for the Panthers.

Wilson hit wide receiver Tyler Lockett for a 33-yard score on the Seahawks’ next possession, so it was 31-14 midway through the third quarter.

When the Seahawks succeeded on a fake punt from their 23, an epic comeback seemed possible. A few plays later, he carried the ball 4 yards into the end zone to give the Panthers a one-touchdown lead less than three minutes into the game.

A Hauschka field goal with just over a minute remaining took Seattle back to within seven points but Carolina recovered Seattle’s attempted onside kick to hold on. But with it 31-24, All-Pro Carolina linebacker Thomas Davis hauled in Hauschka’s onside kick – and with Seattle having just one timeout left, the Panthers were able to run out the clock.

“We misfired early on that first big run”, Seattle coach Pete Carroll said. “That’s why we came back”.

The win sends the Panthers to their first NFC championship game at home in franchise history. Following the field goal, Carolina’s Tre Boston sacked Wilson for an eight-yard loss on second down. He burst through the middle on the first snap and almost outran everyone, getting tackled at the Seattle 16 by Richard Sherman.

The Panthers had the same offensive line in place for 12 games during the regular season with three starters – Oher, Turner and Remmers – not missing a single game.