First look at Seahawks vs. Panthers in divisional round

Cam Newton’s worst games in the NFL have come against the Seahawks.

Now, he’ll have to play them in Seattle. In the playoffs.

That pairing was determined when the Cowboys came back to beat the Lions on Sunday night in the last of four playoff games on wild-card weekend. Detroit’s elimination left the No. 4 seeded Panthers as the lowest remaining team in the playoff pecking order, setting up a game against the top-seeded Seahawks.

It will be the second time the Panthers have played the Seahawks in the playoffs. The two teams played for the NFC Championship in January 2006, a game Seattle won 34-14 to earn the first Super Bowl berth in franchise history.

The Panthers won the NFC South with a record of 7-8-1 this season, becoming only the second team to win their division with a losing record. The Seahawks were the first back in 2010, Pete Carroll’s first season in Seattle.

Carolina defeated Arizona in the wild-card round, holding the Cardinals to 78 yards of total offense, a record-low for an NFL playoff game.

It was Newton’s first postseason victory in his four years in the league, and now he’ll play at Seattle for the first time in his career against a team that he is 0-3 against in the regular season. In fact, the Seahawks have been the single most difficult matchup for Newton. He has been held to fewer than 150 yards in just five games during his career, two of those coming against the Seahawks.

Here are some other facts to know about the matchup:

Recent history: The two teams have played in three successive seasons, each time in Carolina. The Seahawks won all three games, but those victories were by a combined total of 13 points. In fact, the teams combined to score fewer than 30 points total in each of those three meetings.

Last Seahawks victory over Carolina: Oct. 26, 2014. Seattle came back to win 13-9 on a 23-yard touchdown pass to tight end Luke Willson with 47 seconds left in the game.

Last Panthers victory over Seattle: Dec. 16, 2007. The Panthers won 13-10 in a game in which Matt Moore started at quarterback for Carolina. It’s one of only two regular-season victories the Panthers have over Seattle. The Seahawks are 5-2 in regular-season meetings with Carolina, 1-0 in the playoffs.

Playoff pedigree: The Seahawks are making their third consecutive postseason appearance, and this is the fourth time in Carroll’s five seasons that Seattle has reached the divisional round of the playoffs. Carolina is in the playoffs for the second consecutive year, becoming the first team since the formation of the NFC South in 2002 to repeat as division champs. Saturday’s victory over Arizona was the first playoff victory for Newton and Panthers coach Ron Rivera.

Case for the defense: These were the league’s two stingiest defenses in December, neither giving up so much as 20 points in any game the final month of the regular season. The difference? Carolina accomplished that while not playing a single team that finished with a winning record while the Rams were the only team Seattle faced over its final seven games that didn’t finish .500 or better.

Related

Breakdown: Where Seahawks’ NFC West title, playoff odds now standSeahawks’ draft pick of JSN started a run on WRs; he’s clearly been the bestSeahawks Injury Updates: Sam Darnold could return after byeNFL reinstates WR Brandon Aiyuk to 49ers after he left team last yearCards WR Michael Wilson, QB Gardner Minshew suffered serious injuries vs SeahawksRams’ Puka Nacua expected to go on IR with knee, toe injuries