The Carolina Panthers and Seattle Seahawks squared off in the Divisional Round of the playoffs on Sunday. When I ranked each of the four Divisional Round games by watchability, I had the Panthers vs Seahawks matchup as the best of the bunch. Whoops. Almost before you could blink the Panthers led 14-0 and at halftime Ron Rivera’s team led 31-0, thanks to a poor first half by the Seahawks and some really awful clock management at the end of the first half by Pete Carroll’s team. It looked like the Panthers were going to run away with it, but the Seahawks managed to make a game of it, even if it wasn’t nearly as exciting as the Arizona Cardinals win over the Green Bay Packers on Saturday night.
Here at Last Word on Sports, we’ll be handing out post game awards immediately after each NFL playoff game. In particular, we’ll be naming a game MVP, the most surprising performance, an unsung hero and the biggest disappointment.
Without further ado, let’s take a look at which players distinguished themselves (both good and bad) with their performance today.
SEAHAWKS VS PANTHERS POST GAME AWARDS
GAME MVP
JONATHAN STEWART
The Panthers running back last played on Dec. 13 when Carolina took on the Atlanta Falcons in Charlotte. He missed the last three games of the regular season with a foot injury, and just how effective he would be on Sunday was certainly a valid question. But Stewart had himself a game, rushing for 106 yards on 19 carries. It had been 26 games since the Seahawks defense had allowed a 100 yard rusher, but Stewart managed it on Sunday. He also found the endzone twice and had added one reception for five yards. Cam Newton certainly had a good game, throwing for 161 yards and one touchdown with no interceptions. But he only rushed for three yards on 11 carries. While you wouldn’t really be wrong if you chose to make Newton the MVP, I feel that Stewart was the biggest performer for Carolina on Sunday, especially since his 59-yard run to start off the game seemed to set the tone for the Panthers in the first half.
SURPRISE PERFORMANCE
CORTLAND FINNEGAN
Cortland Finnegan gets the “surprise performance” nod because he only played in the Panthers final five regular season games. Sunday’s contest against the Seahawks in the Divisional Round was only his fifth game playing for Ron Rivera’s team this season. But Finnegan was still able to tally six tackles, one pass defended, one quarterback hit and he had one of the Panthers’ two interceptions of Russell Wilson. It was big for Carolina that Finnegan had a good performance, because the Panthers were dealing with multiple injuries to key players in their secondary.
UNSUNG HERO
PANTHERS OFFENSIVE LINE
I know I’m cheating here a little bit by choosing an entire unit instead of one single person, but the Panthers offensive line was really good on Sunday. Against a formidable Seahawks defense Carolina’s offensive line helped Stewart have the big day he had. Plus they kept Cam Newton upright pretty much all day. Seahawks defensive end Frank Clark was the only member of Seattle’s defense to get a hit on Newton when he secured the Seahawks lone sack of the day. It always seems like the offensive and defensive lines of teams go largely unnoticed and it was the same today, but they had a huge impact on the outcome of the day.
BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT
RUSSELL WILSON
I almost went with Panthers wide receiver Ted Ginn Jr. because he was a non-factor and he is supposed to be one of Newton’s top targets. But Ginn’s team won so I went with Russell Wilson. I know the former NC State Wolfpack quarterback had a really nice second half and he finished with 366 yards and three touchdowns. But Wilson’s first half was atrocious and his performance in the first 30 minutes of the game was a big reason the Seahawks found themselves in a hole they couldn’t quite dig out of. Wilson usually takes care of the football, but in the first half he threw two costly interceptions, including a pick-six to Panthers linebacker Luke Kuechly, which put Carolina up 14-0. In addition, the Seahawks clock management at the end of the first half was nothing short of horrific, and that is on Wilson. The Seahawks had issues in many areas on Sunday, particularly in the first half, but their quarterback simply needed to play better.
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