Against Panthers, Seahawks hope to end NFC South woes and remain in division hunt

RENTON, Wash. – When the final story of the Seahawks’ 2022 season is written, the most pivotal chapter might be one that could be titled “Five Days in December.”

It’s a five-day period that kicks off with a visit Sunday by the Carolina Panthers for a 1:25 p.m. game at Lumen Field.

Then comes another visit, from the NFC West-leading San Francisco 49ers, on Thursday night.

Win both, and the Seahawks could be in the driver’s seat for the division race.

Lose both, and there almost certainly won’t be a chapter of that story called “How the West was Won,” and there might not even be a postseason entry.

Split the two, and the story could still have a happy ending, depending on what happens elsewhere.

But the Seahawks (7-5) don’t want to let others to write their story and hope to take care of their business. That begins Sunday against the Panthers, who may have the potential to be more of an adversarial opponent than their 4-8 record indicates.

For one, the Panthers reside in the NFC South.

And in one of the odder subplots of Seattle’s season, the Seahawks are 0-3 against the NFC South, having lost to Atlanta, New Orleans and Tampa Bay, none of which has a winning record.

The Seahawks are 7-2 against everyone else.

The Panthers also play a style that could be problematic, with a running attack that has been solid of late and a defense that features one of the NFL’s best pass rushers in Brian Burns. The defense has allowed just 38 points in its past three games against teams led by quarterbacks Marcus Mariota, Lamar Jackson and Russell Wilson.

The running game, led by D’Onta Foreman (563 yards, 4.5 yards per carry this season) has accumulated 169 or more yards in four of the past six games.

Seahawks fans might not need reminding that defending the run has been the team’s Achilles’ heel much of the season. In the past three games, Seattle has allowed 161, 283 and 171 yards to Tampa Bay, Las Vegas and the Rams, respectively. The Seahawks needed some last-minute magic from Geno Smith, Tyler Lockett and DK Metcalf to overcome the defensive issues and pull out a 27-23 win at Los Angeles last Sunday.

“They are physical on the offensive line,” Seahawks defensive coordinator Clint Hurtt said of the Panthers. “In my opinion, they are the best-coached and most physical group that we have seen so far this year.”

That will put more of an onus on a Seattle defense that coaches say has allowed big runs at the wrong time – Seattle has allowed 5.3 yards per carry the past three games, 30th in the NFL.

“We just have to eliminate the explosive plays,” Seahawks coach Pete Carroll said. “We have to keep those at a minimum. Play after play, we have done some really good stuff. But there have been some plays that have gotten away from us.”

The headliner for the Panthers’ defense is Burns, a fourth-year player who has five sacks in his past four games and 10 for the season, tied for fifth in the NFL.

But the Panthers have other quality players on defense, notably former University of Washington star Shaq Thompson, who leads the team with 89 tackles at left outside linebacker, and former Washington State standout Frankie Luvu, who is second with 74 playing right outside linebacker.

Carroll said the Panthers have become feisty on defense since Steve Wilks – a longtime defensive coordinator and defensive backs coach in the league and Arizona’s coach in 2018 – took over as interim coach Oct. 10, replacing the fired Matt Rhule. The Panthers, 1-4 under Rhule, are 3-4 since, giving up 15 points or fewer four times.

“You can see there is a physicality about them that I’m sure is what Steve is looking for,” Carroll said. “It has shifted; you can see it.”

So it may not be easy, with even the Vegas oddsmakers expecting a tough one, with Seattle listed as a four-point favorite.

But with the 49ers being 3.5-point favorites at home, it may be imperative to make Thursday as meaningful as Seattle hopes.

The Seahawks have a 79% chance to make the playoffs, according to fivethirtyeight.com – that Seattle has four of its last five at home helps the odds – and are at 32% to win the division. Those improve to 88% and 38% with a win and 89% and 51% with a win and a 49ers loss.

Conversely, those percentages drop to 56% and 10% with a loss and a 49ers win. Wins by both put Seattle’s percentages at 88% for a playoff spot and 24% to win the division.

Carroll might not care about the odds.

But he didn’t try to deny this week that Sunday could be a turning point.

“This game is enormous for us right now,” Carroll said. “So we have to go get it and do whatever it takes to get that done.”

Metcalf fined for another penalty

This time, at least, Seahawks receiver Metcalf felt he got his money’s worth.

For the second time in three games, Metcalf was fined for an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. It was revealed on Saturday that he was fined $10,609 this time for a flag incurred when he headbutted Rams cornerback Jalen Ramsey in Sunday’s 27-23 win in Los Angeles.

Metcalf was also fined $29,785 following the Tampa Bay game in Munich on Nov. 13 for getting into an argument with an official.

While Metcalf questioned the fine against the Bucs, he didn’t seem to have an issue with the flag he got against the Rams, appearing to indicate he knew a fine was coming.

“Yeah, I headbutted him on purpose,” Metcalf said. “The official’s right there. He (Ramsey) pushed me, so I headbutted him. It’s football.”

The fine is the standard amount for a first offense. As revealed by NFL Media Saturday, Metcalf was one of 10 players fined for unsportsmanlike conduct last weekend for amounts totaling more than $100,000.

Fine amounts are agreed to in negotiations between the league and the players association.