CHARLOTTE — Stop us if you've heard this before, but the Carolina Panthers are going to be facing the top team in the NFC on Sunday when the Seattle Seahawks come to town. This will be the third time this season the Panthers have drawn such a matchup at such a time. Seattle took the top spot in the conference after an epic Thursday night overtime win against the Los Angeles Rams.
The Panthers faced the top team in the NFC twice this season: Week 9 against the Green Bay Packers and Week 13 against the Los Angeles Rams. Carolina won both games.
Now they have to take on the 12-3 Seahawks, who are riding high with the best record in the league (tied with the Broncos and Patriots). The Panthers are 5-11 all-time against the Seahawks. Carolina is 3-5 at home and 2-6 on the road at Seattle. The last time these two teams faced off was in Week 3 of the 2023 season, a 37-27 loss in Seattle.
Get to know the 2025 Seahawks before the Week 17 matchup.
Old friend of the program, Sam Darnold
Panthers fans are already familiar with Sam Darnold, the quarterback who was here in 2021-2022. Since then, he has spent a year backing up Brock Purdy with the 49ers, before finding a resurgence with the Minnesota Vikings, stepping in as the starter after JJ McCarthy was injured in the preseason.
The Darnold redemption arc in Minnesota earned him a multi-year deal with the Seahawks. With an offense that includes Jaxon Smith-Njigba and Kenneth Walker, Darnold has thrived. He is fifth in the league with 3,703 passing yards. He has a 67.2 completion percentage and has thrown for 24 touchdowns to 13 interceptions.
Six of those interceptions came in two games against the Rams, but Darnold also took over in the fourth quarter and overtime of the Week 16 matchup between the two teams to deliver a win.
Smith-Njigba is dominating at the top of the league in receiving yardage. He has 1,637 receiving yards, leading all receivers, on 104 receptions. He's hauled in 10 touchdowns and converted 71 first downs. The latter is second in the entire league.
One reason the Seattle offense and Darnold have been able to operate at such a high level this season is the emergence of Kenneth Walker and Zach Charbonnet. The two have each surpassed 500 yards, with Walker sitting at 879 yards on 190 carries.
A ball "hawking" defense
The Seahawks defense is eighth in the league, holding teams to an average of 302.9 yards per game. It's a formidable unit from front to back. Let's start with the front: Leonard Williams and Demarcus Lawrence have been a force off the edge. They have 12.0 sacks between them and 19 tackles for loss.
On the back end, the Hawks' secondary is, well, ball hawks. Corners Riq Woolen and Josh Jobe, plus safety Nick Emmanwori, are all tied with 11 passes defended. Emmanwori, the South Carolina star, left Thursday's game to test for a concussion protocol but was cleared by game's end.
Defense back Coby Bryant is expected to miss time after initial testing on his knee.
Shaheed's Speed
The Panthers are well aware of the kind of speed Rashid Shaheed possesses; he used it against them plenty of times during his career with the New Orleans Saints. Now, Shaheed has taken his talents to the NFC West, where he's still making teams pay for giving him even an inch of space.
He's averaging 29.5 yards per kickoff return, which is seventh in the league, and notched a kickoff return for a touchdown in Week 14 against the Falcons. Then on Thursday against the Rams, he took a punt back 47 yards for a score. Both touchdowns sparked a comeback win for the Seahawks.
Against the Rams, he also took an end-around for 31 yards, a tactic the Seahawks have taken with Shaheed a few times since acquiring him in early November.
Check out post-game photos from the Panthers 23-20 win over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 16 at Bank of America Stadium.
