SEATTLE — It will be difficult for Seattle Seahawks fans to get past the loss, but when they are ready to look for a bright spot from Sunday’s gut-punch 27-23 loss to Carolina, they can look to the production of tight end Jimmy Graham.
Through the first five games of the NFL season, the lack of a connection between Graham and quarterback Russell Wilson was a frequent topic in the media, and rightly so.
Graham came to Seattle from New Orleans for a high price, Pro Bowl center Max Unger and a first-round draft choice, and his output in the first five games did not seem to warrant that kind of sacrifice as he entered Sunday’s game with 21 catches for 204 yards and two touchdowns.
But Graham and Wilson clicked Sunday at CenturyLink Field as Graham exploded for eight receptions for 140 yards.
“No question they made some plays together,” Seattle coach Pete Carroll said. “Jimmy had a tremendous football game, and Russell found him a bunch. That’s the tremendous player that he is.”
Several of Graham’s plays seemed to be the kind that would help the Seahawks break the game open, but they didn’t always work out that way.
In the first quarter, Wilson hit Graham for 16 yards on the first play after Earl Thomas set up the Seahawks at the Carolina 33-yard line with an interception.
But the drive stalled three plays later and the Seahawks kicked a field goal.
On the first play of the fourth quarter, Wilson hit Graham for 45 yards after scrambling to buy time.
But that, too, led to only a field goal.
Then, after Carolina scored a touchdown to cut Seattle’s lead to 23-20 with four minutes left, Wilson scrambled and found Graham for 20 yards on the very next play.
It felt like maybe, just maybe, the Seahawks could get a couple of first downs and run out the clock.
But the Seahawks went backward 8 yards on the next three plays and punted, and the Panthers drove the length of the field for the game-winning touchdown.
So most of Graham’s heroics were wasted, although he did have catches of 25 and 27 yards on the Seahawks’ two touchdown drives.
“Obviously, he’s a big-time threat,” Wilson said. “He made a lot of plays tonight. You can obviously see what he can do. He can do it on a consistent basis.”
It was a good sign for the Seahawks, especially the way Wilson and Graham worked together on plays where Wilson was forced to scramble.
That was the image many looked forward to as they pictured Graham in a Seahawks uniform: a 6-foot-7, supremely athletic figure with good speed and great hands running loose downfield while Wilson buys time to throw.
It was noticeably missing from Seattle’s first five games, but it was an encouraging sign Sunday.
“You can see him do stuff,” Carroll said of Graham. “It was a really good job by Russell to find him.
“The really encouraging thing is that that’s the first time we’ve really seen Jimmy in scramble situations really come to life. He played a fantastic game.”
If you need something to smile about as a Seahawks fan, that will have to do.
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