The Seattle Seahawks and Carolina Panthers will square off in a matchup of teams who have been struggling lately. Both teams had high expectations at the beginning of the year so not many NFL insiders thought that both teams would have three losses each coming into this matchup. Seattle is coming off of their second straight loss after dropping a divisional matchup to the Rams on the road. Carolina is also coming off of a road loss to the Packers where they never really had a chance in the game. Both teams will be looking to bounce back in this matchup to avoid having a losing record at the halfway point of the season.
The Seahawks found themselves down big early to the Rams, but fought their way back to make it a game late. Those are still games that Pete Carroll's teams have won in the past. Russell Wilson had a good game statistically, but St. Louis made some big plays, including a fantastic trick punt return, that put them away. Now they turn their attention to the Panthers that play pretty well at home. The Seahawks defense has given up a lot of points in the last couple of games and the Panthers are capable of doing the same. They will have to keep quarterback Cam Newton under control to give their offense a chance to make plays. It seems as if this Seahawks team will go as far as the defense takes them so they will be looking to have a big game on the road.
Carolina has some big weapons on offense, including Cam Newton, but the defense has been letting them down lately. Their defense started the season strong but has since been vulnerable and giving up a lot of points. Wilson and the Seahawks are a better team than they have displayed the last two weeks so the Panthers defense will have to step up and not give Seattle a reason to believe they can beat them at their house. The lack of a running game and a featured running back has been Carolina's Achilles heel this season. With no running game to fall back on, Newton has been forced to do more than he should, which leads to mistakes and a one-dimensional offense. Seattle is good enough to expose those weaknesses if they show up in this game.
Carolina plays well at home and Seattle doesn't play that well on the road. Normally this would be a good indicator of how this game would go. But when you're talking about the defending Super Bowl champions, you can't doubt their ability to win any game. Pete Carroll will have his players fired up after losing two straight games. The defense will be out to prove that the last two weeks have been flukes and that they still are the best defensive unit in the league. Newton will struggle in this game without a running game and the Seahawks defense will be able to turn him over multiple times. It will be close for a while, but Seattle will be able to rebound for a big win on the road in Carolina.
Seattle 24
Carolina 20
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