THIS EVENING’S NFC divisional match was a real game of two halves.
The first was all about the Carolina Panthers who ran riot with four touchdowns to lead the Seattle Seahawks 31-0 at the break.
(You can see all of the action from that first half here. We were using words like “embarrassing” and “unmerciful hiding” and — at that point — it was a pretty accurate reflection of how the game was panning out.)
But the second half belonged to the beseiged Seahawks who managed to completely shut down Cam Newton and the Panthers’ offence while getting into gear themselves.
They responded with two touchdowns early in the third to cut the deficit to 31-14 before Russell Wilson conjured up this escapist dream to connect with Jermaine Kearse with six minutes to play.
BAM! 31-21.
Time was against Seattle though and after forcing the Panthers to punt, they got the ball back with just 2:49 remaining.
Wilson again drove them down to within scoring distance but the Carolina D stayed strong when it needed to most, and held the visitors to a 36-yard Steven Hauschka field goal.
Trailing 31-24 with a little over a minute remaining, all that was left was for the Seahawks a try an onside kick. The Panthers recovered and — after very nearly throwing the game away — move on to the NFC Championship game which they will host in Charlotte next Sunday night.
