CAROLINA PANTHERS

Raheem Blackshear scored a touchdown among his four carries in the Carolina Panthers' 30-24 win at Seattle Sunday. The win, coupled with Tampa Bay's loss against San Francisco, pulled Carolina (5-8) within a game of the NFC South lead.

The Panthers are playing their best football in time to be an NFC South contender.

Carolina is on a two-game win streak going into Sunday’s game against Pittsburgh and a game behind Tampa Bay for first in the division. Sunday’s 30-24 win against Seattle was the Panthers’ most complete effort of the season, and more important, established them as a team showing improvement as the regular season winds down.

“We talked about doing something that we haven't done all year, which is coming on the road in a playoff environment and winning a football game,” said interim head coach Steve Wilks, who is 4-4 after replacing the fired Matt Rhule. “Couldn’t be more proud of the men in that locker room than I am in the way that we finished that game.”

The Panthers (5-8), who last won a road game in November 2021, imposed their identity on the Seahawks by running the ball and dominating possession with a rotation of D’Onta Foreman, Chuba Hubbard and Raheem Blackshear.

Carolina held the ball for 39 minutes, 16 seconds, leaving Seattle’s offense with little time to counter while wearing down the Seahawks’ defense. The Panthers finished with 223 yards on 46 carries (4.85 yards per attempt) and two rushing touchdowns, which mirrors what happens when they win (191.6 yards rushing yards) compared to the losses (83.3).

“They were flying around to the ball definitely early,” said Foreman, who ran for 74 yards on 21 carries against Seattle. “There were a lot of bang-bang plays. But as we got more into the game, we started wearing them down, man. Those guys were running hard, Chuba (14 carries, 74 yards, TD) and Raheem (4 carries, 32 yards). They kind of got us going. It was great to see them guys go out there and play the way they did.”

Said Wilks: “Everything we do starts up front on both sides of the ball, and we ran the ball. We finished the game when we needed to for us trying to pound the ball in the fourth quarter. Very impressive from the standpoint the protecting the football and then taking it away on the defensive side of the ball. And when you look at time of possession – 39 minutes – which is critical.”

It also helped that Carolina won the turnover battle. The Panthers picked off a pair of Geno Smith passes while Sam Darnold took care of the ball in winning his second game in as many starts.

Darnold completed 14-of-24 passes for 120 yards and a first-quarter touchdown to Shi Smith for the receiver’s first professional score.

“It’s a big one to come out here on the road, obviously our first road win, but, you know, we talked about it,” Darnold said. “It’s not surprising to any of us in the locker room. Might be surprising to people outside the locker room or outside, people that are in our organization, but it's not surprising to us. The way we prepare, the way that we’re confident in ourselves and the way that … we prepare and the way we play, we've been playing really well the last few weeks. Just some games just haven't been able to put it together. The last two weeks we have been able to do that.”

Although Smith tossed a pair of touchdown passes, Carolina’s defense set the stage early, especially cornerback Jaycee Horn, who snagged an interception the Panthers converted into a touchdown for a 10-advantage and shadowed Seahawks receiver D.K. Metcalf (five receptions, 71 yards, TD) most of the day.

“Any time you can take the ball over – take the ball away early is crucial,” Wilks said. “You talk about a momentum changer, particularly in a hostile environment here being on the road, so it was critical for us. Just Jaycee as a whole, he was excited all week about this matchup and this challenge.”

With Wilks leading the way, Carolina is nothing like the team he inherited from Rhule in October. The Panthers with an identity – ground-oriented offense and opportunistic defense – that has them in the thick of the division race. The focus is on the present, with a one day at a time approach that’s working.

“We talk about playoff mentality,” linebacker Shaq Thompson said. “And I told the team last night, these are the games, if you want to be a playoff team, that you have to win. In these environments. And these guys showed up.”

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