Sam Darnold threw a touchdown pass and Carolina’s defense made several key plays as the Panthers won a road game for the first time in six tries this season, defeating the Seattle Seahawks 30-24 on Sunday.
Carolina (5-8) is within a game of the NFC South lead with a strong resurgence under interim coach Steve Wilks. Racking up 223 rushing yards was huge in the team’s latest success, with Chuba Hubbard and D’Onta Foreman both picking up 74 yards.
The Seahawks (7-6) have dropped three of their last four games and are losing the grip on an NFC playoff spot.
Darnold completed 14 of 24 passes for 120 yards.
Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith couldn’t overcome a pair of first-half interceptions. He finished 21-for-36 with 264 passing yards and three touchdowns, the last of those to Marquise Goodwin for 24 yards with 16 seconds left.
Trailing 20-17, Seattle thwarted Carolina’s 14-play drive that consumed almost seven minutes by making a fourth-and-goal stop at the 3-yard line in the final minute of the third quarter.
That didn’t deter the Panthers, who got the ball back after the Seahawks failed to move out of their own territory.
That resulted in Carolina’s 10-play, 74-yard drive, with Raheem Blackshear running 8 yards for a touchdown. The Panthers expanded their lead to 30-17 on Eddy Pineiro’s third field goal with 1:56 to play.
Carolina, which was coming off an open week on its schedule, scored 10 points in a 21-second span of the first quarter. It began with Pineiro’s 47-yard field goal to conclude a 13-play drive.
Then Jaycee Horn’s interception of Smith and subsequent return put the Panthers at the Seattle 13-yard line. On the next play, Darnold connected with Shi Smith for a 13-yard touchdown.
Hubbard’s 2-yard run early in the second quarter helped extend the lead to 17-0, completing a 12-play, 74-yard march.
Seattle got moving when Tyler Lockett caught Geno Smith’s pass for a 4-yard touchdown.
Pineiro’s 32-yard field goal pushed the Panthers to a 20-7 lead with 2:09 left in the first half.
Geno Smith marched the Seahawks downfield for their second touchdown, with DK Metcalf making a 12-yard scoring reception with 16 seconds left in the half.
Seattle took the opening possession of the second half and chewed up five minutes before Jason Myers’ 27-yard field goal.
–Field Level Media
