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Carolina Panthers: How They Can Defeat The Seattle Seahawks

By Raphael Garcia

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With the bye week come and gone, the Carolina Panthers are looking to move to 5-0. To get there they will have to find a way to defeat the 2-3 Seattle Seahawks. This is a very interesting game because the two teams have played each other closely in recent matchups and have a relatively similar style of play. Either way the game on Sunday goes; this could become a major catalyst for how well the team performs through the rest of the year.

Also on Spin Zone: Will Cam have a good week against Seattle?

ESPN matchup predictor gives the Seahawks a 67.3 percent chance to win on Sunday. A major aspect of that equation is that the Panthers are going into the Seahawks home turf where crowd noise is always a major concern. To negate that Carolina will have to lean on their running core to control the clock and possession of the ball. However, this game pits two of the best rushing defenses in the league against one another.

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Carolina has allowed 92 yards per game compared to Seattle’s 92.6. Yet, offensively both teams have strong rushing attacks that are averaging more than 130 yards per game (132.3 for Carolina and 142.4 for Seattle). The unit that can set the tone by running the ball will have the better opportunity to win this game.

Unfortunately for the Panthers, they are coming into this game without a few of their defensive weapons.  Linebacker Luke Kuechly has been removed from the concussion protocol that has kept him out of action since Game 1. Kevin Patra of NFL.com reported that he returned to team practice on Tuesday and that he is planning to play.

However, Jonathon Jones of the Charlotte Observer reports his replacement A.J. Klein is now on the very same concussion protocol after an injury against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Newly acquired Jared Allen is also battling injury and most likely will not play on Sunday, as reported by Darin Gantt of NBC Sports.

Those are key injuries in what will have to be a strong defensive effort by Carolina in order to win this game. They cannot afford to get in a shootout style game that requires high scoring because that is not their makeup at this point in the year. Marshawn Lynch is listed as “Questionable” via the ESPN game preview and not having to deal with his abilities would be a major boost to the Panthers’ outlook. Still, they cannot allow this game to light up the scoreboard too often. Even though they are scoring an average of 27 points per game, many of those opportunities came from key defensive efforts.

That brings the conversation around to Cam Newton. Seattle has only one interception and seven forced fumbles at this point in the year. Newton and the offense have been playing mistake-free football and that must be the story for them to win this game. Newton is riding a two-game streak without any interceptions and needs to keep that momentum going through Sunday’s matchup.

Plus, he needs to be able to spread around the load offensively. Greg Olsen and Ted Ginn Jr. will be the primary receiving targets but Corey Brown and Brenton Bersin need to continue their rapid improvement in this vital game. From a rushing standpoint, Jonathan Stewart hasn’t been much to talk about this year. As much of the attention will be on Newton, he will be needed to switch up the attack against this strong run defense.

In what is expected to be a low scoring game, the Panthers will have to lean on their defense and play mistake-free football if they are to defeat the Seattle Seahawks. Even though this is a matchup that features a 4-0 team versus a 2-3 team, there is a lot that will be found out about how “real” these Panthers are come Sunday.

Next: Is Cam really a franchise QB?

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