Seahawks will return to ‘normality’ against Panthers in Carolina

Published 11:09 pm Tuesday, January 12, 2016

RENTON — Beyond how cold they were and all that happened in their latest, looney adventure, the Seattle Seahawks essentially Jimmy Valvano-ed.

They survived. And advanced.

And now they are renewed.

The winners in last weekend’s 10-9 escape past the Vikings in a Minneapolis deep freeze know they are headed to where it will be nearly 55 degrees warmer on Sunday. That’s Charlotte, North Carolina, where it is predicted to be 45 degrees for the NFC divisional playoff game between sixth-seeded Seattle (11-6) and No. 1 seed Carolina (15-1)

“It will be great to get back to normality,” Seattle cornerback Richard Sherman said.

Normal, as in Sherman’s eyelashes aren’t going to freeze together in Charlotte. They did during the win at Minnesota in last weekend’s wild-card round.

The temperatures aren’t the only things that are going to be familiar for Seattle at Carolina. The opponents is, too.

This will be the sixth game between the Seahawks and Panthers in the last four seasons, and the third in 12 months.

In October the Seahawks blew a 23-14 lead with 5 minutes remaining at CenturyLink Field in Seattle. They lost on a Cam Newton pass down the center of the field to wide-open tight end Greg Olsen with 26 seconds left. Sherman was in one, correct coverage while the rest of the Seahawks’ defensive backs were in the wrong one.

On Jan. 10, 2015, also in Seattle, Newton’s 31-yard pass to Olsen got Carolina inside the Seahawks 20 with 6 minutes left in a 24-10 playoff game. Kam Chancellor then intercepted Newton and ran 90 yards the other way for the clinching touchdown in Seattle’s 31-17 win in last postseason’s divisional round. That sent the Seahawks back to the NFC championship game.

That is one of Carolina’s two losses in its past 21 games dating to November 2014.

The Seahawks have in the last two years been where these Panthers — undefeated until the next-to-last week of this regular season — are trying to get: to the Super Bowl. Seattle enters Bank of America Stadium Sunday trying to become the first team in the NFL’s salary-cap era that began in 1994 to reach three straight Super Bowls.

“If you can be the best, beat the best,” Panthers standout cornerback Josh Norman told Charlotte-area media members in team’s locker room this week.

Carolina enters as the league’s highest-scoring team, at 31 points per game. The Panthers are second in rushing offense and are getting back running back Jonathan Stewart. The former star at Timberline High School in Thurston County missed the last three regular-season games with a sprained foot yet still gained 989 yards.

“The Panthers are a great team, and that will be a special game,” Seahawks defensive end Michael Bennett said.

His ability to disrupt Stewart and Newton in the Carolina backfield as he has in most foes’ this season will be key Sunday.

“We have had great battles with this team,” Bennett said. “And we always come back when it’s time to play championship football.”

The average of the final scores from the last five meetings in this series over the last three-plus years is Seattle 19, Carolina 14. Four of those five games have been decided by five points or fewer. As that average score indicates, Seahawks versus Panthers is usually grinding and rugged.

Even with how well Newton and the Panthers’ offense has been rolling, the Seahawks expect another street fight for a spot in next week’s NFC championship game.

“It’s going to be fun. It’s always fun when we play Carolina,” Sherman said. “It’s going to be a physical game, back and forth. Both teams are going to run it. Both teams are going to hit each other in the mouth.

“We’ll see who’s standing at the end.”

Bennett dodges scare

The Pro Bowl defensive end limped out last weekend against the Vikings for one play late in the game. He initially feared a major knee injury, but was relieved.

He’s already been playing all season through a grotesque-looking right big toe, the bottom of which looks dislocated when he has his socks off.

“My toe went out and I was like, ‘Oh!’ Then I was like … go back in (the game),” Bennett said. “God blessed me that I didn’t tear anything. Probably (knee) meniscus out of place or something like that. You have to step up and play big football.”

Bennett had an injection two weeks ago in the toe and hasn’t missed a game this season, when he’s been one of the league’s most disruptive and quick defensive linemen.

Carroll’s homecoming

The league voting to approve the move of the Rams from St. Louis back to Los Angeles means Seahawks coach Pete Carroll will likely be coaching a game next season in an old home.

The Rams’ best option for a temporary venue until their new stadium is finished in suburban Inglewood in 2019 is the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum. That’s where Carroll coached USC through 2009, when he became the Seahawks’ coach.

Think there would be a chance for a media frenzy around Carroll next season in the NFC West game against the Rams there?