Four instant impressions after the Seahawks beat the Panthers 27-10 to improve to 13-3:
The good and bad of Sam
It seems like every week recently we’re seeing the really good moments of Sam Darnold and the cringe moments of the Seahawks quarterback.
The turnovers are a real problem and something that needs to be corrected after he lost another fumble (sixth of the season) and threw another interception (14th of the year) — albeit both of those were debatable whether they were actual turnovers. But they stood and Darnold joined a rare group of QBs to have at least 20 turnovers in a season and still lead their team to the playoffs. In fact, over the past 10 seasons, Darnold is now one of four quarterbacks have committed 20 total turnovers in a regular season and led their teams to the playoffs: Jalen Hurts (2023), Josh Allen (2023) and Eli Manning (2016).
So that’s the concern. But then there were the other moments in the second half, such as the touchdown pass to AJ Barner, and the decisive drive in the fourth quarter when the Seahawks took more than eight minutes off the clock and capped the drive with another field goal from Jason Myers. Yes, the Seahawks got a huge break when Jaycee Horn was flagged for a face mask on Jaxon Smith-Njigba on third-and-21. But Darnold hit a couple of key throws on third downs during that drive to keep the clock churning.
He will need to play cleaner next week and into the playoffs. But if nothing else, Darnold has shown a resiliency to still make the plays needed even when he’s made mistakes.
Zach attack
It’s always going to be a committee approach in the backfield with both Zach Charbonnet and Kenneth Walker III as options. But something felt different about what the Seahawks saw from Charbonnet on Sunday. It started with the big run on a third-and-long in the first quarter and never let up. Charbonnet finished with 110 yards and averaged a whopping 6.1 yards per carry. He became the first Seattle running back to reach 10 TD runs in a season since Marshawn Lynch in 2014. Charbonnet’s last 100-yard game was last season against Arizona when he rushed for 134 yards.
The Seahawks need to hope this becomes something that Charbonnet can build on moving forward into the playoffs.
Locked down
It was clear at halftime that the Panthers were not going to do much in the passing game against the Seahawks defense. Bryce Young finished just 14 of 24 passing for just 54 yards. He’s the 14th QB all-time to throw for 55 yards or less against the Seahawks when attempting at least 10 passes.
It's even more impressive when looking at the bigger picture across the entire NFL. It's the seventh time in the last 20 years a QB has attempted at least 20 passes and been held to 55 yards or less.
The Panthers are not a dynamic offense and their defense kept them in the game long enough to make the Seahawks sweat after Carolina put together its one touchdown drive. But the Seahawks made a mediocre offense look just that — it’s what good defenses do.
Sit back and watch
The Seahawks will go to Santa Clara, Calif., next week knowing that a win over the 49ers will wrap up the No. 1 overall seed in the NFC and the first NFC West title since 2020.
The division part of that equation could be settled as soon as Monday night if the Seahawks can get some help.
Seahawks fans who want to take the stress out of Week 18 are now the biggest fans of the Bears and the Falcons. Wins by Chicago over San Francisco and Atlanta over Los Angeles would end the NFC West race, although it wouldn’t lock up the No. 1 seed in the NFC.
There was a clear three-stage process for getting to the pinnacle for the NFC going into the game against the Rams. They’ve cleared the first two hurdles. One more to go.
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