The Seattle Seahawks improved to 13-3 with a 27-10 win over the Carolina Panthers on December 28 at Bank of America Stadium. Moreover, the win keeps them in pole position to secure the NFC West division and the top seed in the conference with a Week 18 victory.
Seattle’s offense took some time to get going as the Panthers held them to three points in the first half. Nonetheless, the Seahawks’ offense broke out in the second half, recording 24 points.
Darnold went 18-for-27 on his pass attempts with 147 passing yards, one touchdown, and one interception. Despite the Seahawks getting the win over Carolina, CBS Sports’ NFL analyst Danny Kanell doesn’t trust Darnold to help Seattle make a push for the Super Bowl in the postseason.
“I don’t think he’s reliable in the moment,” Kanell said on the December 28 edition of “CBS Sports HQ.” “I think he’s had his moments, but you need somebody who’s going to be reliable, and you have to go on a three- or four-game run to win a Super Bowl. I don’t know if you can trust Sam Darnold to consistently deliver every single time that you’re going to have to do it against the best competition in the league.
“Even [against the Panthers], he was not fantastic, and they did get a good win. But once again, there were just a couple of blunders that make you go, ‘Uh-oh, this will come back to bite you against the better teams.’”
Seahawks Get Strong Message After Beating Panthers
Despite Darnold not having his best game, Seattle came away with the win. After the Seahawks’ games, CBS Sports’ NFL analyst Bill Cowher had a strong message for Seattle, who are on a six-game winning streak.
“They can win on the road,” Cowher said after the Seahawks extended their win streak to six games. “They can win in a dome, and they can win in bad weather, as they proved again today. This team can acclimate to whatever the scenario is, whatever the environment is, and however the game evolves or unfolds in front of you, they adapt, and they adjust.”
Panthers’ Dave Canales Praises Seahawks Defense
Panthers head coach Dave Canales highlighted the Seahawks’ defense, calling it the key factor in the game. While Carolina’s defense contained Seattle’s offense in the first half, Sam Darnold and his teammates picked up the pace and turned things around in the second half.
“Got to give a lot of credit to the Seahawks, coming out here, playing tough all day, coming up with some big conversions throughout the day,” Canales said while speaking to the media after the loss. “And then, from there, I just got to talk about our defense and the amazing game they played to give us opportunities offensively. We didn’t do anything with those.
“A part of that was just the Seahawks, having a great scheme, playing together, making things difficult on us. But we made mistakes. We made mistakes on the offensive side. And when you play a good team like this, you have to be able to take advantage. You got to do things right. And, that’s what we have to look at in front of us there.”
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