Rapid Reaction: Run Game, Stifling Defense Leads Seahawks to 27-10 Win in Carolina
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Seattle Seahawks running back Zach Charbonnet (26) runs the ball against Carolina Panthers cornerback Chau Smith-Wade (26) (obscured) during the first quarter at Bank of America Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images [/caption]
CHARLOTTE, N.C. - Overcoming a first half full of offensive blunders, the Seattle Seahawks turned two turnovers into 14 points in the third quarter to surge past the Carolina Panthers for a 27-10 road victory, staying in first place in the NFC and NFC West standings.
While it was far from his best game, Sam Darnold threw a touchdown pass to AJ Barner and running back Zach Charbonnet found the end zone twice to help Seattle escape with the hard-fought win. Demarcus Lawrence forced and recovered a fumble and Julian Love intercepted Bryce Young in the third quarter to set up two touchdown drives for the offense as Carolina mustered 139 total yards for the game against a stifling Seattle defense.
Here are five quick takeaways from Seattle’s 13th win of the season at Bank of America Stadium:
1. Zach Charbonnet, Ken Walker III carry Seattle’s offense in cold, gloomy conditions.
For much of the 2025 season, the Seahawks have been trying to establish consistency with their run game in Klint Kubiak’s offense, unlocking the talents of both of their standout backs. That process took a massive step forward in Charlotte on Sunday, with both Walker and Charbonnet making a significant impact from the outset. In the first half alone, Walker rushed nine times for 44 yards, headlined by 16 and 11-yard carries. Spearheading the lone scoring drive before halftime, Charbonnet took a pitch from shotgun on 3rd and 15 and rumbled behind tackle Josh Jones on the perimeter, turning the play into a 25-yard gain to set up a Jason Myers field goal.
Continuing to carve up Carolina on the ground, Charbonnet did a mini-hurdle over a diving tackler on an outside zone run on Seattle’s opening drive of the second half, turning upfield along the sideline for a 29-yard gain. On the ensuing drive, gifted short field off a Demarcus Lawrence fumble recovery, he toted the rock three straight plays before plunging into the end zone for his 10th touchdown of the season to put the Seahawks back in front 10-3. While Walker didn’t do much after halftime, the duo combined for over 160 rushing yards and averaged 4.5 yards per rush with Charbonnet plunging into the end zone twice, picking up the slack for an underwhelming air attack.
2. Turnovers and near-turnovers remain a major problem for Sam Darnold and passing game.
Wanting to get his quarterback on the move out of the gate, Kubiak called a play action rollout on the first play from scrimmage, only for the Panthers read the moving pocket like a book. Defensive end D.J. Wonnum deflected Sam Darnold’s pass and the football flew right into the chest of cornerback Jaycee Horn, who fortunately wasn’t able to secure the interception for an early botched turnover opportunity against the NFL’s most turnover-prone signal caller. After a 13-yard completion to Jaxon Smith-Njigba moved the chains, the Panthers again snuffed out a bootleg concept with safety Tre’von Moehrig blitzing off the edge, leading to an intentional grounding call when the quarterback tried to throw the ball away before getting out of the pocket, leading to a punt.
Later in the half, Darnold had another pass swatted at the line of scrimmage by defensive tackle Bobby Brown III that helped stall Seattle’s lone scoring drive, resulting in Myers’ field goal. Two series later, the quarterback bobbled a shotgun snap from Jalen Sundell and then had his arm hit by defensive end Nic Scourton, resulting in a fumble the Panthers recovered at the Seattle 31-yard line. The strip sack by the rookie led to a field goal by Ryan Fitzgerald to tie the game, putting the defense in a near-impossible position trying to prevent points. After lucking out again on a dropped interception off a deflection by defensive tackle Derrick Brown, ex-Seahawks cornerback Mike Jackson got Darnold early in the third quarter on a pick in the back of the end zone, failing to trick the defender on a double move to push his turnover total to 20 for the year. That’s not going to cut it in the postseason.
3. AJ Barner again demonstrates why he belongs among NFL’s premier all-around tight ends.
When analysts dish out their picks for the best tight ends in football, Barner’s name rarely gets brought up, if ever. But the former fourth round pick out of Michigan continues to prove he belongs in that discussion as a key cog in Seattle’s offensive attack, both as a blocker and an incredibly underrated pass catching asset for Darnold. Per TruMedia, Carolina had allowed a 71% conversion rate on third down targets to tight ends this season, and Barner pushed the percentage up when he caught a short dump off on 3rd and 9 in the red zone, breaking multiple tackles before being dragged down at the Panthers four-yard line.
On the ensuing possession, after three straight runs netted a first down and forced an extra defender into the box, Kubiak got his tight end involved again. Not swarmed by an edge rusher as he had been on earlier bootleg attempts in the game, Darnold scrambled out to his right and fired a strike to Barner, who cut inside behind a great downfield block by receiver Cooper Kupp to sprint into the end zone for his sixth touchdown of the season. By the conclusion of Sunday’s game, he had surpassed 50 receptions for the first time in his career and extended his personal-best for touchdowns, delivering in crucial moments to help the Seahawks seize control of the game in the third quarter.
4. Timely turnovers swing the momentum back into ‘Hawks favor after ugly half.
Though the Seahawks ended up winning by three scores in comfortable fashion, the game certainly wasn’t trending that way in the first 30 minutes due to the offense’s aforementioned struggles, as the Panthers went into the break fortunate to be tied. After Darnold’s interception in the end zone to Jackson, the situation seemed to be even more tenuous for the visitors, but the defense did what it has done time and time again this year, saving the day with turnovers of their own at the perfect time. On the snap immediately after Carolina gained possession from Jackson’s pick, Lawrence knocked the ball out of running back Chuba Hubbard’s hands and recovered the fumble with officials ruling he was down by contact. That quick change led to Charbonnet’s first touchdown moments later as Seattle went ahead for good.
On the next possession, Young thought he had rookie receiver Tetairoa McMillan wide open along the sideline on 3rd and 4 and unloaded the ball from the pocket with confidence. But that perceived opening wasn’t there, as Julian Love baited the third-year quarterback into the throw and undercut it for his first interception of the season, returning it 26 yards to the Panthers 29-yard line. Gifted great field position once again, Darnold made Carolina pay this time with his touchdown pass to Barner, pushing the lead to 14 points in an instant.
5. Aside from one drive, Macdonald’s defense turned in a bounce-back performance across the board.
In one of the few highlights of the day for the home team, Carolina opened Sunday’s contest with an 11-yard run from Rico Dowdle, briefly igniting the crowd. But that play wasn’t foreshadowing in the least bit, as the Seahawks held the Panthers to seven yards on the next nine plays, forcing three punts and holding Young to under 10 passing yards on those possessions. On the fourth drive, the defense held serve again after the Panthers had ran 10 plays to get into opposing territory, coaxing an overthrow on 4th and 4 for a turnover on downs. Even after Darnold’s lost fumble late in the first half, the defense didn’t give up a first down before Fitzgerald came on for the game tying field goal.
Pressuring Young relentlessly and bottling up both Dowdle and Hubbard for most of the game with outstanding tackling, including tackles for loss from Ty Okada and Uchenna Nwosu, they limited the Panthers to 65 total yards and stopped all six of their third down conversion opportunities in the first half. The Panthers did claw back to a seven-point deficit early in the fourth quarter when Young pump faked and scrambled for a short touchdown run to make it a 17-10 game, but away from that drive, the Seahawks forced three punts, three turnovers on downs, intercepted a pass, and recovered a fumble on 11 possessions, turning in another dominant outing with the home team mustering less than 140 total yards.
