Moderatoren » The good news for the Carolina Panthers is they return

CHARLOTTE Ugo Amadi Jersey , N.C. (AP) —to face the Seattle Seahawks where they’ve won 10 straight games.The bad news is it’s highly unlikely the Panthers will play a playoff game in Charlotte, North Carolina, if they reach the postseason.The Seahawks (5-5) can relate.They and the Panthers (6-4) essentially find themselves competing for wild-card spots in the NFC with six games remaining given their chances of winning a division title and hosting a postseason game appear remote. Carolina has lost two straight on the road and fallen 3 ½ games behind New Orleans in the NFC South, while the Seahawks trail the Los Angeles Rams by 4 ½ games in the NFC West.“Right now, we can’t worry about what New Orleans is doing. We can’t worry about the playoff picture. We just have to win a game,” Panthers tight end Greg Olsen said. “In this league, it’s so easy to get caught up in, ‘If this team wins, if this team loses, (then) we can have home-field (advantage). … Hey, if we don’t win some games, we’re not going to be in the playoffs.”In terms of wild-card implications, this game looms as large as any in the NFC.Currently, the Panthers would be one wild-card team, while the Minnesota Vikings would be the other. But that could all change if the Seahawks continue their recent dominance over the Panthers.Russell Wilson is 5-2 against Cam Newton and Carolina.He has averaged 270.3 yards passing per game with 11 touchdown passes and six interceptions. Newton, on the other hand, has struggled mightily against the Seahawks with nine turnovers and only five TD passes.“They get after the quarterback Devin White Jersey ,” Newton said when asked of his struggles against the Seahawks. “That’s what they do extremely well, and they’re very opportunistic in that. You know what they’re going to be in (defensively), they know you know what they’re going to be in, but they just play so fast and rally around the football.”Seahawks coach Pete Carroll wasn’t giving any hints as to how his team intends to slow one of the game’s most dangerous QBs.“If I tell you, then that would help them, huh?” Carroll said.MORE OF MOORED.J. Moore has been looking increasingly more like Carolina’s top receiver — and this week he may need to take on the role of No. 1 receiver with Devin Funchess listed as doubtful with a back injury that has kept him out of practice this week.Moore, the team’s first-round draft pick, caught seven passes for 157 yards and a touchdown in Carolina’s 20-19 loss to the Lions last week, including an 82-yard catch and run. Meanwhile, Funchess had a miserable game with five drops, including one in the end zone.If Funchess is out, the Seahawks can expect to see more of second-year wide receiver Curtis Samuel, who has been explosive in his limited playing time.SACK ATTACKFrank Clark is having a standout year in a contract season for the Seahawks. Clark has already tied his career high with 10 sacks with another six games to go. He has been a consistent threat off the edge and has seven sacks in the past five games.While Clark has been a menace, Seattle is still seeking a complementary pass rusher to work with Clark. Defensive tackle Jarran Reed is second on the team with 5 ½ sacks, but no other player has more than two.Seattle had five sacks of Aaron Rodgers, but Carroll warned Newton is a completely different challenge.“I’m hoping that that will be a part again because if you noticed, we broke the pocket down and that’s important to do with Cam as well because he can get out and really scorch you too L.J. Collier Jersey ,” Carroll said.PRESSURING WILSONThe Panthers realize they need to get some pressure on Wilson and make him uncomfortable in the pocket.That hasn’t been Carolina’s strength this season as it ranks 23rd in the league in sacks entering the week with 23. Carolina isn’t getting much penetration inside, where defensive tackle Kawann Short has gone nine straight games without a sack after registering two in the season opener against Dallas.Wilson is expecting a close game.“We know these games against Carolina have always come down to the wire,” Wilson said. “We have a lot of respect for how they play the game. They play the game the right way, they play the game fast and physical, they play the game smart.”THREE-HEADED ATTACKSeattle has the top running game in the NFL and it continues to be a collaborative effort.Chris Carson, Rashaad Penny and Mike Davis all have had 100-yard games this season.Carson is clearly the primary ball carrier and had 17 carries for 83 yards in Seattle’s win over Green Bay last week. But Penny has been earning more opportunities as his rookie year has progressed, and Davis was the closer for Seattle against the Packers as the one getting carries on the final drive.Seattle has rushed for at least 150 yards as a team in seven straight games.GOTTA GANOPanthers kicker Graham Gano missed an extra point and a field goal in Carolina’s 20-19 loss to the Lions last week. So when coach Ron Rivera opted to go for 2 in the game’s final seconds instead of tying the game, it appeared to show a lack of confidence in his veteran kicker.However, Gano returns home this week where he has made 39 straight field goals.__AP Sports Writer Tim Booth in Seattle contributed to this report.__ ATLANTA (AP) — In a Super Bowl short on scoring, it was the New England Patriots‘ defense that set the tone.For most of the season the Patriots have stuck to their principles on defense, making just enough plays to win.They were much more than that Sunday night against the Los Angeles Rams.The Patriots battered and bewildered quarterback Jared Goff and the Rams, stifling the NFL’s second-ranked scoring en route to a 13-3 Super Bowl victory.New England quarterback Tom Brady said the Patriots’ defense set the stage for a win that gave sports fans in New England another set of bragging rights over rival rooters in LA. Last October, the Boston Red Sox beat the Los Angeles Dodgers in the World Series.It also sent linebackers coach Brian Flores, the Patriots’ de facto defensive coordinator this season who is expected to be named Miami Dolphins coach as early as Monday, out with a victory.“They played unbelievable,” Brady said of the Patriots’ defense. “Challenged all these plays. …. They held them.”The Rams’ 3 points equaled the fewest scored in a Super Bowl.When Goff began to find his groove late in the fourth quarter and the Rams trailing 10-3, Los Angeles drove inside New England’s 30 for just the second time in the game.The momentum proved to be short-lived.Enter safety Duron Harmon.Playing in place of Patrick Chung after he suffered an arm injury in third quarter Johnathan Abram Jersey , Harmon combined with cornerback Stephon Gilmore to break up what would have been a touchdown pass to Brandin Cooks. Then, on the next play, Harmon pressured Goff on a blitz and forced him into a throw into coverage that was intercepted by Gilmore .“It was clutch,” Gilmore said of his interception. “I knew he was going to force it up there. Our defensive line put a lot of pressure on him and he chucked it up there and I was able to make a play.”New England’s offense took it from there, sealing the victory with a 9-play, 72-yard drive that ate up 3:05 and ended with a 41-yard field goal by Stephen Gostkowski.The Patriots’ defense gave Goff different looks all night and many of them seemed to confuse the 24-year-old quarterback. They routinely sent an extra deep safety on third-and-short situations and disguised their blitzes up the middle. The latter benefited linebacker Dont’a Hightower, who dropped Goff for a pair of sacks to stunt drives.New England finished with four sacks for the game.“We’ve got a special group,” Hightower said. “We were able to do a lot of different stuff and they weren’t able to pick it up. We were able to get a lot of one-on-one rushes all game and able to get up on the quarterback.”It added up to an abysmal performance by Los Angeles on third-down situations. The Rams were 0 for 6 on third down in the first half and 3 of 13 for game. New England also held Los Angeles to just 260 total yards.None of the Rams’ running backs were able to get much traction, either.Los Angeles, which entered the game averaging 175 rushing yards per game during the playoffs with four touchdowns, mustered just 3.4 yards per rush on third down. All-Pro running back Todd Gurley finished with 10 rushes for 35 yards. C.J. Anderson, who had 167 yards and two touchdowns through two playoff games, had seven carries for 22 yards.Cornerback Jason McCourty, who joined brother Devin McCourty after being traded to New England this offseason, also had some pivotal pass breakups.“It’s the best feeling ever,” Devin McCourty said of watching his brother. “He’s done everything right this year. He’s been an inspiration to every guy.”New England bailed Goff out early in the fourth quarter when Gilmore was called for defensive holding on Goff’s third-and-11 pass attempt, giving the Rams a fresh set of downs.But the Patriots recovered Maxx Crosby Jersey , using a sack by Jonathan Jones, a holding penalty against the Rams and tackling Gurley for a loss to force a punt.Linebacker Kyle Van Noy said the team also got energy from Chung, who returned to the sideline in the fourth quarter wearing a sling.“I don’t know what kind of injury he had, but it didn’t look good,” Van Noy said. “Anytime you have a captain go down like that you feel for him, you want to step up for him.”It was the second straight impressive performance by the Pats’ defense.In the AFC championship game the Patriots held the Kansas City Chiefs, the NFL’s top-scoring offense during the regular season, scoreless in the first half. They held the Rams, which averaged 32.9 points per game during the regular season and 28 points in the playoffs, to just three points.“We ain’t stars over here,” Van Noy said. “We just come to work and keep grinding and grinding and grinding. It shows. Look at the scoreboard again. We’re champs, baby.”