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Surging Seahawks visit Panthers

Dec 16, 2007 - 1:07 PM Seattle (9-4) at Carolina (5-8) 1:00 pm EST

CHARLOTTE, North Carolina (Ticker) -- A lot has changed since the Seattle Seahawks last faced the Carolina Panthers.

Looking to run their winning streak to six games, the surging Seahawks visit the struggling Panthers on Sunday.

It marks the first meeting between the teams since the Seahawks cruised to a 34-14 victory over the Panthers in the NFC championship game in January 2006.

Two seasons later, the Seahawks still are one of the league's better teams and already have won their fourth consecutive NFC West title.

However, Panthers are not nearly the same team. After missing the playoffs in 2006, the Panthers have been all but eliminated from postseason contention this campaign, leading to speculation about the job security of coach John Fox.

In their most dominating performance of the season, the Seahawks locked up their latest division title last week with a 42-21 thrashing of the Arizona Cardinals.

The Seahawks produced on both sides of the ball last week. Matt Hasselbeck threw for four touchdowns and Marcus Trufant had three of the Seahawks' five interceptions.

Mathematically, the Seahawks are still alive for a first-round bye but for that to happen, they would need the Green Bay Packers to collapse.

Seattle trails Green Bay by two games, meaning it likely with host a first-round playoff game as the NFC's third or fourth seed. The Seahawks are one game ahead of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, the NFC South leader.

While the Seahawks are rolling, the Panthers have collapsed, losing six of their last seven games to likely fall out of playoff contention.

To make matter worse, the Panthers have three games remaining against first-place teams - Seattle, Dallas and Tampa Bay.

The Panthers endured their latest embarrassment last week in a 37-6 loss at Jacksonville. Vinny Testaverde threw for just 84 yards as the Panthers established a season low with 149 yards.