PANTHERS AT SEAHAWKS REVIEW

panthers at seahawks REVIEW
Score: Seattle 34, Carolina 14

Seattle, WA - (MySportsbook.com) - Shawn Alexander rushed for 132 yards and two touchdowns while Matt Hasselbeck added a pair of scores through the air, as Seattle advanced to the Super Bowl for the first time in its 30-year history with a convincing 34-14 victory over Carolina in the NFC Championship Game.

Alexander carried the ball 34 times and showed no effects from a concussion which knocked him out early of last weekend's divisional-round win over Washington, while the Seahawks' defense neutralized the dangerous Steve Smith to punch their ticket to Detroit.

Seattle, the top seed in the NFC, will face Pittsburgh February 5 at Ford Field in Super Bowl XL. The Steelers posted a 34-17 decision over Denver at Invesco Field in Sunday's AFC title game.

"Being in the locker room and talking to all the people in there, I realize this a big deal to a lot of people." said Hasselbeck.

Smith, who racked up 22 catches for 302 yards and four total touchdowns in earlier playoff wins over the Giants and Bears, was limited to 33 yards on five receptions. The All-Pro wideout did have a 59-yard punt return for a TD in the second quarter for the Panthers' first points.

Hasselbeck completed 20-of-28 passes for 219 yards and delivered scoring strikes to Jerramy Stevens and Darrell Jackson in a near-flawless performance.

His counterpart, Jake Delhomme, suffered through a miserable day in contrast. Carolina's signal-caller and leader went just 15-of-35 for 196 yards and threw three interceptions, two of which helped the Seahawks build a big early lead.

Delhomme did connect with Drew Carter on a 47-yard touchdown pass in the fourth quarter to close out the scoring. Carter ended with 88 yards on a pair of receptions.

The Panthers couldn't run the ball, either. Nick Goings, subbing for the injured DeShaun Foster, had just two yards on five attempts before leaving due to a helmet-to-helmet collision with Seattle's Lofa Tatupu late in the first quarter. Carolina mustered a mere 36 yards on the ground and all but abandoned the run game after Goings departed.

"They outplayed us, they outhustled us, they overall flat out beat us," said Smith.

Smith's first catch didn't come until early in the second quarter. By that point, Seattle held a cushy 17-0 lead after taking advantage of two Delhomme miscues.

Delhomme's first critical mistake came in the first quarter with his club in an early 7-0 hole.

Looking for Smith down the middle, Delhomme didn't see Tatupu underneath. The rookie linebacker stepped in front to make the interception and took it 21 yards before being tripped up at the Carolina 20.

An 11-yard connection from Hasselbeck to Stevens quickly gave Seattle a 1st- and-goal, but the Panther defense held and forced Josh Brown's 24-yard field goal that put Seattle up 10-0 late in the first quarter.

On Carolina's next possession, Delhomme underthrew Keary Colbert while under heavy duress, and the pass was picked off by Marquand Manuel and run back 32 yards to the Panthers' 17. Alexander ripped off a 15-yard run to the one soon afterward, then powered into the end zone on the second play of the second quarter to extend the Seahawks to a commanding 17-point advantage.

Carolina mustered just six total yards in the opening quarter and its lone first down came via a defensive holding penalty.

"We talked about it all week, to take away a lot of the things they like to do," said Seattle head coach Mike Holmgren. "We had a pretty good pass rush and we tried to tackle them."

The Panthers' offense began to show some life on their ensuing drive, as Carter made a leaping 41-yard catch to the Seattle 26. However, a holding penalty and Rocky Bernard's sack of Delhomme induced another punt.

Smith, who was visibly frustrated by lack of plays coming his way early on, took matters into his own hands shortly afterward. The big-play receiver fielded Tom Rouen's line-drive punt at his own 41, then sprinted up the middle and shook off a tackle before outracing the coverage unit to the end zone.

The touchdown, which came with 9:05 left in the half, appeared to be nullified at first by an illegal block by Vinny Ciurciu, but officials waved off the flag after consulting.

"Some people think I'm getting upset when I'm not getting the ball," Smith explained afterward. "I get upset when we're not moving the ball, when we're not operating as an efficient unit as an offense. This is a team effort and whenever a team is not moving the ball they way we like to, everybody's frustrated."

Seattle answered with a 10-play, 57-yard drive capped by Brown's 39-yard field goal that pushed the lead to 20-7 with 4:03 remaining before intermission. Alexander helped set up the kick with back-to-back runs of 11 and 18 yards.

The Seahawks continued their domination once the second half began, marching 65 yards in eight plays on the opening possession of the third quarter to push the margin even further.

Alexander racked up 27 yards on three carries during the series, including a powerful 16-yard burst to the Carolina 20. Two plays later, Hasselbeck pump- faked before hitting an open Jackson down the right sideline for a 20-yard touchdown and a 27-7 advantage less than four minutes into the period.

The Panthers offense, meanwhile, continued to bog down. Carolina went three- and-out on its first two drives of the second half and Delhomme threw his third interception of the day to kill the third in Seattle territory.

"I think the biggest thing was how well our defense was playing and how our crowd was into (the game)," Hasselbeck remarked.

Alexander's second score of the afternoon, a one-yard plunge with six minutes to play, put Seattle up 34-7. Carter hauled in Delhomme's deep ball less than a minute later to make things somewhat more respectable.

Hasselbeck found Stevens wide open over the middle for a 17-yard touchdown that opened the scoring with 5:31 left in the first quarter. Backup quarterback Seneca Wallace made a dazzling over-the-shoulder grab of a Hasselbeck deep throw for a 28-yard gain right before the TD strike.

Jackson finished with six catches for 75 yards while Stevens had 66 yards on six grabs.

Game Notes

Seattle was playing in only its second conference championship game in franchise history. The Seahawks lost to the Los Angeles Raiders in the AFC title game during the 1983 season...Holmgren, who guided Green Bay to back-to-back Super Bowls in 1996 and 1997, became the fifth head coach in league history to take two different teams to the big game. He joins Bill Parcells, Dan Reeves, Don Shula and Dick Vermeil...Carolina was bidding to become the first team in NFL history to win five straight playoff games on the road...Alexander's yardage total eclipsed the club playoff record of 123 yards set by Dan Doornink against the Raiders on December 22, 1984...Delhomme had thrown just two interceptions and 10 touchdowns in his previous six playoff appearances.

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