Panthers vs. Seahawks: Latest Postgame Comments, Reaction and Highlights

To nobody's surprise, the Seattle Seahawks soundly defeated the Carolina Panthers during Saturday's NFC Divisional Round clash.

After getting treated to a classic shootout between the New England Patriots and Baltimore Ravens, the NFC squads followed up the titillating AFC bout with a more subdued performance that still delivered way more scoring than anticipated. Behind 268 passing yards and three touchdowns from Russell Wilson, the Seahawks advanced to the NFC Championship Game with a 31-17 win.

The final tally ended up being higher than expected, but it took nearly a full quarter for either squad to pounce. Neither team could establish any flow, and right as Seattle set itself up for a field-goal attempt during the opening period, Ricardo Lockette got called for a 15-yard taunting penalty, knocking his team back out of Steven Hauschka's range. 

On the game's first play from scrimmage, Earl Thomas stripped Jonathan Stewart. Although Carolina recovered that loose ball, it could not scoop up his second fumble later in the first quarter, this time knocked free by Michael Bennett.

Given a short field, Seattle capitalized with a 16-yard touchdown pass lobbed to Doug Baldwin. After watching the first quarter, that score alone looked like enough to wrap this contest up.

Then Carolina stormed the field for a 14-play, 79-yard drive that culimnated in a seven-yard touchdown from Cam Newton to Kelvin Benjamin. As shown by Carolina's Twitter account, Newton flung a dart right into his rookie wideout's lap:

Before the Fox crew could needlessly discuss another momentum shift, Wilson found Jermaine Kearse for a 63-yard bomb. The NFL's Twitter page showed the huge throw and grab, made amid arm wrestling between Kearse and Bene Benwikere:

The play earned Bert Macklin's approval:

A wild sequence closed the half at 14-10. On a field-goal attempt negated by a false start, Kam Chancellor leaped above Carolina's snapper, yet he missed the block. On the next play, he again timed his jump perfectly on a Graham Gano miss.

Then the officials called running into the kicker on the defensive back, who grazed Gano on the way down. Sports Illustrated's Aaron Nagler also ruined the fun by pointing out that Chancellor didn't alter either attempt before Gano booted the third try through the goal post:

The third quarter played out more like the first, uneventful until the end, when Marshawn Lynch woke up Seattle's offense with a beastly 25-yard run. Outside of that tough run, the running back did not have his typical outing, finishing with 59 yards on 14 carries. ESPN Stats & Info detailed the player's divergence from his previous production:

The loquacious star gave some in-depth insight into his output, per ESPN's Britt McHenry:

It set up a Hauschka field goal, giving the Seahawks a seven-point lead. That'd prove to be more than enough, but Seattle added more for good measure. After streaking for a 29-yard reception earlier in the drive, Luke Willson moseyed into the end zone for a 25-yard score:

Placing the final nail in the coffin, Chancellor halted a solid Carolina drive by returning an interception 90 yards for a touchdown, with no leaping required for this score. 

Bleacher Report's Matt Miller gave his stamp of approval to Chancellor, who also collected 11 tackles and a deflected pass:

The safety explained, via Gregg Bell of The News Tribune, how he knew he would seal the victory by going the distance:

Not quite the regular season's 13-9 defensive stalemate, both offenses fared well. Against Seattle's ferocious unit, Carolina managed 4.4 yards per rush, while Newton compiled 246 passing yards and a pair of scores with his two picks.

Meanwhile, Wilson covered up a lacking ground game by averaging an incredibly effective 12.2 yards per attempt. When the 26-year-old quarterback plays that well, the Seahawks are impossible to beat.

Jonathan Ferrey/Getty Images

Incredibly fortunate just to make the playoffs, let alone the second round, Carolina was playing with house money against the 12-4 Seahawks. The loss sends the team back under .500 at 8-9-1 after emerging through an atrocious NFC South before baffling third-string quarterback Ryan Lindley on Wild Card Weekend.

Although the Panthers obviously won't be satisfied with a loss, they exceeded expectations by scoring 17 points in a mostly competitive contest. Head coach Ron Rivera held his head up high during the postgame press conference:

Seattle will now host the winner of Sunday's slate between the Green Bay Packers and Dallas Cowboys. Based on its regular-season meetings against both clubs, Pete Carroll's club is probably rooting for Green Bay behind closed doors.

While the Seahawks opened the 2014 campaign with a convincing home victory over Green Bay, they suffered their only home loss of the year against Dallas, the only team to go 8-0 on the road this season. 

For now, Carroll is just focused on beating whichever team arrives at CenturyLink Field next Sunday. Either way, his squad will have the league's most lethal home-field advantage on its side.

Regardless of who wins Sunday, the Seahawks will enter the NFC Championship Game favored to reach their second straight Super Bowl.