Jim Moore: No, Seahawks fans don’t win games, but their noise rattled Carolina Sunday
They watched the game but didn’t play a single down. They weren’t out there on special teams either. No matter how many injuries his team had, Pete Carroll would never summon a Seahawks’ fan to come on down and get in the game.
I’m always skeptical about this kind of stuff, but the 12s made a difference Sunday afternoon at Lumen Field, their loudness playing a role in eight false start penalties by Carolina, the most in any NFL game since 2011.
It’s been said that the Seahawks have lost their once dominant home-field advantage, and it’s said for good reason — they have an under .500 record at home the past three years and lost their season opener here to the Rams.
Part of that has to do with the Seahawks not being as good as they used to be — they haven’t been terrible, just not as intimidating on defense as they were in the past.
It was fitting that it seemed like 10 years ago since the Seahawks honored the 2013 Super Bowl team at Sunday’s game.
Those eight false starts are like tackles for loss, one 5-yard penalty after another, proving especially costly to a Panthers’ team with a middling offensive line and a backup quarterback at the controls, one that struggled to move the sticks in the best of circumstances.
Granted, along with so many others, I felt like Andy Dalton gave Carolina a better chance to pull off the upset than Bryce Young, the No. 1 overall pick in the 2023 draft who was out with an injury. Young will be fine and maybe even sensational in time, but in his first two starts, no one saw a superstar in the making. In fact, he looked more like a potential bust than a future Hall of Famer.
At 35, Dalton’s been around every NFL block, seen every coverage and knew what to expect. The Seahawks have also shown a tendency to lose to backup quarterbacks when they’re projected to win.
Dalton and his team hung around for the longest time and even led 13-12 at halftime. But the Seahawks more than doubled their scoring output in the second half and won 37-27, looking like a playoff-contending team again, perhaps even one that can challenge San Francisco and Philadelphia for supremacy in the NFC.
There was so much to like about their overall performance, from Jason Myers’ five field goals to a defense that mostly stifled the Panthers, from a nearly 300-yard passing day by Geno Smith to a two-headed running attack that undoubtedly excited Carroll the most.
Ken Walker rushed for 97 yards, scooting in and around would-be Panther tacklers, and Zach Charbonnet showed why he was a second-round choice, bulldozing his way to 46 yards. Ask Carolina defensive back Sam Franklin Jr. what he thinks of the Seahawks rookie running back after Charbonnet knocked him on his backside near the goal line in the fourth quarter.
The Seahawks picked up 146 yards on the ground in what might have been the most surprising stat of all since they played an entire game with three backup offensive linemen and a portion of it with four.
The depth was also evident on the defense, where Artie Burns filled in nicely for the injured Coby Bryant at the nickel spot, and cornerback Michael Jackson replaced Tre Brown after he suffered a concussion in the first half.
The schedule sets up really well for the 2-1 Seahawks to keep it going. Next up, the Giants on Monday Night Football, an opponent that was blasted 40-0 by the Cowboys in their home opener and looked overmatched again last Thursday against the 49ers.
Jamal Adams is expected to return Monday night from a more than a year absence, and cornerback Riq Woolen should play after missing Sunday’s game. Left tackle Charles Cross could also be back, giving the Seahawks another notable lift.
After the Giants’ game, the Seahawks have an early bye, which will allow them to get healthier, followed by a slew of winnable games - at Cincinnati with a banged-up Joe Burrow, Arizona, Cleveland, at Baltimore (OK, that’s a lose-able game too) and Washington. The relatively soft stretch ends with a game against the Rams at Los Angeles on Nov. 19th.
They’d better take advantage of it in the next two months because a four-game losing streak is possible after that with two games against the 49ers and two more against Dallas and Philadelphia.
But based on what we saw Sunday, the Seahawks appear to have more playoff potential than they did last year, giving the 12’s plenty to shout about the rest of the way.
Jim Moore has covered Washington’s sports scene from every angle for multiple news outlets. You can find him on Twitter @cougsgo, and on KJR-FM 93.3, where he co-hosts a sports talk show from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on weekdays.
This story was originally published September 25, 2023 at 10:15 AM.