Moore: Seahawks have too many issues to be favored at Carolina

The season is going better for the Seahawks than it is for the Go 2 Guy picking their games against the spread.

I thought the Seahawks would get a huge lift from the removal of a supposedly toxic Percy Harvin from their locker room. I figured that would translate into a 34-10 win at St. Louis last Sunday.

I was terribly wrong – the Seahawks lost 28-26, and now it appears that Harvin had more friends in the locker room than I thought.

Maybe that whole thing was overblown, though I still think it wasn’t – why would you trade a potential superstar for a conditional draft pick if he weren’t stirring up trouble behind the scenes?

Whatever, he’s gone now, and the Seahawks are on to their next challenge, a Sunday game at Carolina, where they will play for the third straight year.

The Seahawks have had two narrow wins there the past two years – 16-12 in 2012 and 12-7 in 2013. Last year they needed a forced fumble by Earl Thomas on DeAngelo Williams inside the Seattle 10-yard line to preserve the win.

So they won by five points last year, and that’s what oddsmakers expect will happen again, favoring the Hawks by 5.

These were the No. 1 and No. 2 seeds in the NFC last year, and both teams might miss the playoffs altogether this year.

The 3-3 Seahawks are in the more desperate position, trailing 5-1 Arizona and 4-3 San Francisco in the NFC West. At 3-3-1, the Panthers lead the NFC South and have more room for error than the Seahawks.

Just like the Seahawks, the Panthers had one of the best defenses in the league last year, but this year they’re really missing Greg Hardy, out due to a domestic violence charge. Carolina is 27th in total defense and allows 137.6 rushing yards a game.

Because of that, I’m so confident Marshawn Lynch will rush for more than 100 yards in this game I bet lunch with Tom Wassell that it’s going to happen.

Russell Wilson threw for more than 300 yards for the first time in last year’s game and should have another good day through the air against a suspect Panthers’ secondary.

Everything is set up for a big offensive day for the Seahawks and a win that would move them to 4-3 and pave the way toward a likely 6-3 record with the next two games against Oakland and the Giants at CenturyLink Field.

But the Seahawks still have all kinds of issues, some of which will play a role in their third consecutive loss. I can’t pick a team that’s traveling cross-country for another 10 a.m. game when it lacks a pass rush and a fullback and leads the league in penalties.

It will also be without four injured starters – Max Unger, Zach Miller, Byron Maxwell and Bobby Wagner. Plus Kam Chancellor and Russell Okung aren’t anywhere near 100 percent.

The offensive line continues to struggle with pass protection, and in my mind, the Seahawks now have an average receiving corps without Harvin.

And as bad as the Panthers’ defense has been, allowing 37 or more points in four of the last five games, the Seahawks have been surprisingly torn apart by opposing quarterbacks this year, all of whom are averaging a QB rating of 103.

Things will turn around next week against the winless Raiders, but it will be more of the same this week.

Prediction: Panthers 24, Seahawks 21
Season record against the spread: 1-5

The Go 2 Guy also writes for SeattlePI.com and KitsapSun.com. You can reach Jim at jimmoorethego2guy@yahoo.com and follow him on Twitter @cougsgo.