Offense hasn’t come easy for Seahawks against Panthers

There’s no doubt about Seattle’s ability to defend its Super Bowl title.

Not after the Seahawks held opponents to 80 points over the final eight regular-season games, the fewest surrendered in the second half of a schedule by any NFL team since 2000.

And on Saturday night at CenturyLink Field, the Seahawks will face a Carolina team whose offense has found the end zone once in the 12 quarters and 28 possessions the Panthers have played against Seattle in the past three years. In fact, Carolina’s defense has scored as many touchdowns as its offense over those three games, the two units scoring one apiece.

Yet for all the difficulty that quarterback Cam Newton and Carolina have had moving the ball against the Seahawks, Seattle’s offense hasn’t been that much better in regular-season games against the Panthers.

The Seahawks haven’t scored so much as 20 points on the Panthers, they’ve committed twice as many turnovers in those three regular-season games against Carolina and while all those games were in Charlotte, the Seahawks are favored at home by 11 points against a team that they haven’t beaten by more than five in any of those three meetings.

Seattle’s offense is more potent than people give it credit for. The Seahawks ranked ninth in the league in total offense and 10th in points scored. They gained more yards this season than they did a year ago and they’ve developed one heck of a closing kick, scoring 69 of the team’s 96 December points in the second half.

It is the perfect complement to the way Seattle’s plays defense. A punishing ground game that takes its toll over four quarters. An opportunistic quarterback who’s better than anyone in the league at veering off script and spinning gold with his ability to escape and throw on the run.

And if the past three regular-season meetings are any indication, the Seahawks may need to improvise their way through this game against a Carolina defense that was second only to Seattle in keeping teams from scoring in December.

Wilson certainly hasn’t struggled against the Panthers. Oh, he has been picked off a few more times, including the only interception he has had returned for a touchdown. That was back in 2012, when Wilson’s hold on the starting job may have been slipping, and he threw a pass behind the tight end that defensive back Captain Munnerlyn intercepted and ran back. It turned out to be one of Wilson’s only mistakes in a game in which he really solidified his status as the starter.

But accuracy hasn’t been an issue in those games. Not for Wilson, who has completed 71 percent of his pass attempts against the Panthers.

For three years now, Carolina has been a turning point for Seattle.

In 2012, it was the game that could have been a breaking point in Wilson’s rookie year and turned out to be a breakthrough. He won on the road for the first time in the NFL.

The 2013 season started in Carolina, the Seahawks using that opening-day victory as a launching pad, and this season it was where Seattle stared down the possibility of falling below .500 for the first time in three years only to have tight end Luke Willson grab a 23-yard pass – and perhaps Seattle’s season – with both hands and refuse to let go.

That was enough for Seattle on that afternoon. If the Seahawks need more than that this time around, the biggest question is whether their offense will be able to provide it against Carolina’s defense.

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