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Seahawks rally late in Carolina, avoid 3-game skid

Oct 27, 2014 - 12:15 AM Charlotte, NC (SportsNetwork.com) - The Seattle Seahawks had never lost three straight games with Russell Wilson under center.

After dropping consecutive games to Dallas and St. Louis, Seattle trailed late in the fourth quarter in Carolina to put that streak in jeopardy.

But Wilson willed his team to a come-from-behind road victory, firing a touchdown pass to tight end Luke Willson with 47 seconds remaining to lift his Seahawks to a 13-9 win over the Panthers.

Seattle (4-3) trailed 9-6 after Graham Gano's third field goal of the game with 4:37 to play. But the Panthers (3-4-1) left too much time on the clock for Wilson, who led a 9-play, 80-yard scoring drive.

First down throws to Cooper Helfet and Kevin Norwood preceded Wilson's 14- yard scramble to midfield. Marshawn Lynch then picked up a first down on the ground, and three plays after the two-minute warning, Wilson hit his tight end for a 23-yard touchdown down the middle of the field.

"As an offense, I felt like we kept knocking and knocking. That's kind of our attitude out there," Wilson said.

Wilson shook off a rough start to finish 20-for-32 passing with 199 yards, a touchdown and an interception. Lynch ran for 62 yards and Doug Baldwin had six catches for 61 yards.

"They're a very good football team," said Wilson. "Their defense makes a lot of plays. They did a lot of great things today."

Cam Newton struggled for the second straight week for Carolina, completing just 12-of-22 passes for 171 yards and an interception. He missed both of his throws and was sacked twice on Carolina's final possession.

"It's a long game and you have to play the whole game," said Panthers linebacker Luke Kuechly. "I thought we did a great job today of playing strong and playing with enthusiasm."

An 11-play drive on Carolina's first touch of the game ended with Gano kicking a 31-yard field goal for an early 3-0 lead.

The Panthers ran 12 plays on their next possession, including seven from inside the 20-yard line and four from inside the 10, but Seattle's defense made a stand and forced another Gano kick.

Paul Richardson's 47-yard kickoff return gave Seattle its best field position of the game, but Wilson was sacked on first down. His 10-yard completion to Ricardo Lockette two plays later set up Steven Hauschka's career-long 58- yard field goal.

The Panthers burned another chunk off the clock, driving back into the red zone before Newton and Stewart got crossed up on a read-option. The ball came free and Cliff Avril jumped on it at the 16, as Carolina failed to find the end zone yet again.

The turnover ignited Seattle's offense. Lynch picked up the second first down of the half with two straight runs, Baldwin moved the sticks twice with receptions of 18 and 15 yards, and Jermaine Kearse's 12-yard catch landed the Seahawks at the Panthers 9.

On 3rd-and-goal from the 7, Wilson looked to dump off a pass to Lynch near the goal line, but the ball deflected off his hands and Josh Norman made a leaping interception. Norman dodged multiple Seahawks and eventually made his way to the 27-yard line.

With just 10 seconds left in the half, Carolina took a knee from there and went into the locker room leading 6-3.

Newton was intercepted by Marcus Burley trying to flip a pass to Greg Olsen on third down to start the half. Seattle converted the turnover into a short Hauschka field goal, tying the game at 6-6.

Carolina's offense was limited to just one first down in the third quarter but got something going early in the fourth. Newton avoided a safety and threw the ball away on first down, then ran for a short loss on second. On third down, Newton got protection and launched a pass downfield for Kelvin Benjamin, who caught it at its highest point near midfield against double coverage for 51 yards. Richard Sherman was among the defensive backs in the vicinity.

Gano's 46-yarder capped the drive, leading to Wilson's heroics.

Game Notes

Seattle has won four straight games against the Panthers ... Seattle hasn't lost three straight games since 2011 ... Benjamin had a game-high 94 receiving yards ... Carolina went 2-for-10 converting on third down.