Carolina Panthers vs. Seattle Seahawks: NFC Divisional Re-Watch
By Reece Helms
2nd Quarter:
The Panthers started the first quarter on fire and it only continued as the second quarter started.
Carolina ended the first near the goal-line and on the second play of the quarter Stewart dove over the top of the Seattle defense to make it a 21-0 lead.
At this point, everyone is shocked about how this game is going. Whenever Seattle and Carolina play the game is usually close. But not this first half.
The Panthers’ lead only started to grow. When Seattle got the ball back, Russell Wilson was picked off again:
Watch Mario Addison on the outside, his pressure on Wilson made this play. The pass rush from the Panthers in the first half was the main reason for the big lead.
After the INT by Cortland Finnegan, the Seattle defense held Cam Newton and company to a field goal.
Wow….a drive for the Panthers not resulting in a TD….unbelievable.
It’s the 12:37 mark of the second quarter and the score is 24-0 Carolina. The crowd in Charlotte was pumped up to say the least, everyone was going crazy.
And for the remainder of the first half, the Panthers kept giving fans something to cheer about. Tre Boston came up with a huge sack off a safety blitz on the next possession as he went untouched on his path to sacking Wilson:
That sack from Boston made it 3rd-and-18 for Seattle. A play later they punted it back to Carolina.
After that three-and-out, Seattle had negative 11 total yards of offense at this point in the game. That’s right….NEGATIVE 11.
Newton led a nine play, 54-yard drive to make it 31-0, courtesy of a great throw from Cam and an even greater catch from Greg Olsen:
During that drive, FOX analyst Troy Aikman said; “I think right now Mike Shula could call plays with his eyes closed, point to something and it would work.”
It was like the Panthers were playing Madden on Rookie difficulty. Every play they called worked.
Once the Seahawks got the ball back, momentum started to tilt in their favor. For once they were moving the ball, getting as far as to the Carolina 18 yard line before being stopped on fourth down.
The Panthers chewed the clock on their next possession, giving Wilson only 1:05 left on the game clock. They got into FG range but kicker Steven Hauschka missed one from 55 yards as time expired in the first half.
Next: Seattle Comes Back in 3rd Quarter