THE SEATTLE SEAHWAKS held on for a 30-27 victory over the Carolina Panthers off the foot of Sebastian Janikowski in a crucial NFC matchup in Carolina on Sunday.
The back-and-forth battle came down to the wire with the game tied at 27-27 at the two-minute warning after three lead changes. Panthers veteran Graham Gano had a chance to give his team a late surge but missed a 52-yard field goal with one minute, 45 seconds remaining to set Seattle up for a successful final drive to seal the win.
Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson finished 22 of 30 for 339 yards and two touchdowns with no interceptions.
But Panthers quarterback Cam Newton was the real star under centre. He was perfect through the first half, setting a franchise record as he completed 14 of 14 passes for 159 yards and a touchdown before throwing his first incompletion of the game with his first pass of the third quarter. However, he followed that up with a 26-yard rush for a first down.
Newton finished 25 of 30 for 256 yards with two scores and a pick.
Meanwhile, Panthers rookie Christian McCaffrey exploded as he logged 17 carries for 125 rushing yards and a touchdown while adding 11 catches for 112 receiving yards and another score. Sadly, his standout performance wasn’t enough.
Seattle’s victory kept the Los Angeles Rams from clinching the NFC West. The Seahawks will next head home to host Richard Sherman and the rival San Francisco 49ers in Week 13 action.
Carolina entered the Week 12 matchup three and a half games behind the first-place New Orleans Saints but dropped their first home game of the season and third straight overall. The Panthers will next visit the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in an NFC South showdown.
Elsewhere, Tom Brady has yet another feat to add to his already impressive resume as he became NFL’s new leader in total passing yards.
The New England Patriots quarterback surpassed Peyton Manning’s leading mark of 79,279 yards, which includes both the regular season and playoffs.
He reached the record during his 301st career game as he led the Patriots past the New York Jets with a 27-13 victory.
The five-time Super Bowl champion finished Sunday’s game with a career total of 79,416 passing yards after completing 20 of 31 passes for 283 yards. Brady ranks fourth in regular-season passing yards behind Drew Brees, Manning and Brett Favre. Brees passed Manning for the number one spot on 8 October.
Meanwhile, the Buffalo Bills came out on top against the Jacksonville Jaguars, the Ravens beat the Raiders and the Buccaneers beat the 49ers.
There were also wins for the Browns and the Patriots.
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