Panthers pounce as Seahawks break down again, lose 27-23

Safety Earl Thomas turned his palms up in disbelief as Greg Olsen caught the pass that broke Seattle’s back.

All of Seattle felt the same way as cornerback Richard Sherman and strong safety Kam Chancellor discussed the blown coverage in another blown game.

Defense collapses again | Offense shares blame | Notebook | What Panthers said

The lead wasn’t as big this time, but the loss was even worse. It was at home. It was to a team Seattle defeated four times over the past three seasons including the playoffs. It was Carolina 27, Seattle 23 at CenturyLink Field.

The Seahawks picked off two passes, they scored on a trick play and Jimmy Graham caught eight passes for 140 yards, the biggest individual receiving day for any Seahawk since 2010. Marshawn Lynch was back from an injury and Kam Chancellor’s holdout ended four weeks ago, yet Seattle was unable to hold onto a lead. Again.

This time, Seattle was up 23-14 after Steven Hauschka kicked the last of his three field goals.

It wasn’t enough because of Seattle’s defense, which for the second straight week surrendered a big lead. Each of Carolina’s four touchdown drives spanned 80 yards. Three of those came in the second half, two in the final period.

The Seahawks were playing without middle linebacker Bobby Wagner, and Jonathan Stewart scored two touchdowns on 1-yard runs in the second half for the Panthers, who then won the game when Olsen caught a 26-yard touchdown pass from Cam Newton with 38 seconds left.

Seattle is now 2-4 this season, and making it worse, the Seahawks have held a fourth-quarter lead in each of those four losses.

They led by 17 in Cincinnati last week only to give up 20 consecutive points. That was Andy Dalton, though. And earlier this year, it was Aaron Rodgers in Green Bay. On Sunday, it was Cam Newton, whose history of difficulties against Seattle includes all four of those losses over the past three seasons, including the playoffs. In fact, the two lowest single-game passing totals of Newton’s career have come in meetings against the Seahawks.

He completed only four of 12 passes in the first half. He had 107 yards passing after three quarters, and yet there he was on the Panthers’ final possession, first checking down to complete a pass to Jonathan Stewart for 8 yards then a throw to receiver Ted Ginn Jr. for 18. That put Carolina at its own 46 with 2 minutes left.

Even after Newton was sacked on the drive, he kept firing. His only incompletion was a spike to stop the clock. He was 12-for-15 passing in the final quarter for 162 yards.

That undid what looked to be a get-well game for the Seahawks. They picked off Newton twice in the first three quarters, converting those to field goals. They scored on a trick play, too, early in the third quarter when Lynch ran to his right, stopped and threw a backward pass to Wilson who then lobbed a pass downfield for Ricardo Lockette.

He wasn’t open. Kurt Coleman had him covered, but Lockette leaped up and reached over the Panthers’ defensive back for a 40-yard touchdown with 11:27 left in the third quarter.

Seattle led 10-7 at a halftime that was tightly contested with two lead changes. That doesn’t mean it was particularly well-played, though.

Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson led all players in rushing in the first half with 48 yards on five carries while Carolina’s quarterback wasn’t throwing with any consistency, Newton completing just four of his 12 pass attempts.

Newton did score Carolina’s only touchdown on a 2-yard run early in the second quarter. That capped an 80-yard drive in which the Panthers ran on 11 of their 14 plays. It was a bit of redemption considering the Panthers lost a cumulative 5 yards over the course of their first two possessions.

Not that Seattle was that much better. The Seahawks managed a total of one first down over their first two drives, and their only score in the first quarter was set up when Earl Thomas intercepted a pass from Newton. Even then, it was close as Steven Hauschka banked in the first of the three field goals he kicked in the game.

Hauschka added a 50-yard field goal in the third quarter and a 43-yarder in the fourth quarter. That gave Seattle a lead that didn’t turn out to be anywhere near secure enough.

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