Seahawks vs. Panthers: Score and Twitter Reaction from 2014 Regular Season

Shortly before the Seattle Seahawks took the field Sunday, ESPN's Chris Mortensen reported the team was preparing to move forward without running back Marshawn Lynch in 2015. It was the latest prodding in what's become an increasingly tumultuous season for the defending champs rife with rumors of infighting and a divided locker room. 

Russell Wilson and Co. showed the Carolina Panthers that even a divided Seattle team is capable of winning games.

Wilson connected with tight end Luke Willson from 23 yards out with under a minute remaining, and the Seahawks defense held the Carolina offense without a touchdown for a 13-9 victory at Bank of America Stadium.

Down 9-6 after a Graham Gano field goal, Wilson led the Seahawks offense on a nine-play, 80-yard touchdown drive for the win. He completed all four of his passes and scrambled for 21 yards on the critical drive, which saw Seattle leave less than a minute for the Panthers to score a touchdown.

Kevin Seifert of ESPN noted that Wilson got his game together at the perfect time:

Carolina's ensuing drive faltered when Cam Newton's pass on 4th-and-25 fell incomplete. The drive, which looked like a mess from the outset, saw Newton take back-to-back sacks to force the nearly impossible fourth-down situation. When the final pass drilled the turf in front of Jonathan Stewart, Chris Burke of Sports Illustrated was perplexed to say the least:

Seattle's win moves it back above the .500 mark at 4-3, while the Panthers will have to wait on the result of Sunday night's game between the New Orleans Saints and Green Bay Packers to see where they stand in the NFC South.

The Seahawks came into Week 8 with the media's microscopic lens pointed in their direction. Seattle's decision to trade wide receiver Percy Harvin coupled with a disappointing 3-3 record led to speculation of a Super Bowl hangover and a potential locker room mutiny against Wilson.

While Mortensen indicated reports of an internal fissure were overblown, head coach Pete Carroll was clear they weren't immune to the criticism.

Bob Leverone/Associated Press

“We have hopefully embraced that in a sense and we’re not surprised by it," Carroll told reporters, via Gregg Bell of The News Tribune. "It’s not as comfortable sometimes when the topics come up. The media can come up with whatever they want to in terms of asking questions and challenging. And they’re going to scrutinize us highly. We expect that.”

Seattle responded in particular on the defensive end, as it thwarted any Carolina attempts at a downfield attack and forced Newton into intermediate throws. The Panthers quarterback threw for 171 yards and completed 12 of 22 passes, throwing a first-half interception in Seattle territory. His biggest connection of the day came on a 51-yard downfield prayer Kelvin Benjamin brought in despite double coverage.

Offensive coordinator Mike Shula came into the battle of reigning NFC division champs with a ball-control-oriented game plan, featuring a heavy dose of read-options for Newton. While those plays are a good sign that Newton is fully recovered from the rib injury that marred the first part of his season, the plays were only intermittently effective.

Bob Leverone/Associated Press

The Seahawks defenders held their gaps and chose to let Jonathan Stewart beat them over Newton. The QB had 24 yards on his 12 carries, while Stewart finished with 79 yards in what was easily his best game of 2014.

As has been the case all season, though, putting the ball in the hands of someone other than Newton often led to disaster. The Panthers fumbled four times, including gaffes by tight end Ed Dickson and wide receiver Brenton Bersin. Only one of those fumbles was lost, but miscues halted what looked like promising drives.

Of course, the Seahawks offense was not without its own bouts of sloppiness. Wilson threw an uncharacteristic red-zone interception in the second quarter, when a pass intended for Lynch bounced off the running back and into the hands of Josh Norman. As noted by ESPN Stats & Info, it was only the second red-zone interception of Wilson's career:

The Seahawks spent most of the afternoon in need of a dynamic playmaker, while the guy who used to fill that role was debuting in New York. Like Seattle's own defense, Carolina did an excellent job of limiting Wilson and Co. to small chunks of yardage. Doug Baldwin had six catches for 61 yards, but otherwise the receiving corps was held silent.

In what may be a sign of things to come, the Seahawks tried mixing things up by working in all three of their running backs. Robert Turbin caught three passes out of the backfield for 32 yards, while Christine Michael continued working his way back into the rotation with 12 yards on four carries.

Bob Leverone/Associated Press

Lynch, who is yet to comment on reports of internal friction, had 62 yards but received a relatively low 14 carries. The Pro Bowler has been under the 20-carry mark for four straight weeks, the first time that's happened since 2012. NFL writer Chris Cluff, citing Mike Silver of NFL.com, indicated that Lynch and Carroll have clashed over the back's workload:

With Michael—the team's second-round pick in 2013—healthy, it'll be interesting to see how Carroll chooses to deploy Lynch going forward. If the Seahawks are actually planning to move on, it might be best for them to see what they have on the roster. It's possible a combination of Michael and Turbin could give Seattle an approximation of Lynch's skill set going forward. 

Aaron Nagler of Sports Illustrated thinks Michael can take the reins:

That said, the off-the-field nonsense doesn't matter right now. The Seahawks are in a three-team battle atop the NFC West and need all hands on deck with Harvin gone. Lynch may not be there in 2015, but it behooves all parties to coexist peacefully. For now.

Follow Tyler Conway (@tylerconway22) on Twitter.