The Seattle Seahawks snapped a two game losing streak with a 13-9 win over the Carolina Panthers on Sunday. It represented the third straight year in which they beat the Panthers on the road by scoring somewhere between 10-20 points. It took a last minute drive to do it, but the team pulled it off. As everyone (team and fans included) gets ready for next Sunday’s home match up against the Oakland Raiders, here are five stats to know from the win.
1. Four and 34
Or, the combined number of catches and receiving yards for rookie receivers Paul Richardson and Kevin Norwood. The two rookie wideouts, who are widely perceived to see major increases in production thanks to Percy Harvin’s departure, had the four catches on only five targets. It’s not a huge output, especially considering it took two players to reach the total, but it’s worth mentioning that in all games, including the playoffs, Harvin only bettered 34 yards through the air three times. Additionally, he only bettered the four catches three times. The point is that his production will be easier to replace then most think.
2. 62
The number of rushing yards racked up by Marshawn Lynch on 14 carries. Since a Week Ten win over the Falcons last year, Beast Mode has topped 100 yards once, occurring during the 36-16, opening game drubbing of the Packers. If you take away a 25 yard run, Lynch’s totals shrink to 13 carries for 37 yards.
There’s apparently rift between Lynch’s camp and the Seahawks, prompting all sorts of talk of the two sides separating. Whether it be by trade, or the team simply cutting the running back, rumors have run rampant. The Seahawks have based a lot of their offensive identity around running the football. Marshawn Lynch is a big part of that. However, the team may be ok with moving on if Lynch keeps posting 62 yard performances.
Just to compare, here are four different running backs in the NFL and their game totals in terms of rushing yards this season-
Running Back One- 3, 79, 132, 107, 6, 25, 49 Total: 401
Running Back Two- 110, 36, 88, 72, 61, 53, 62 Total: 482
Running Back Three- 70, 56, 63, 66, 42, 111, 95, 68 Total: 571
Running Back Four- 102, 44, 44, 84, 44, 7, 107, 43 Total: 475
Running back number one happens to be Kansas City’s Knile Davis. Number two is Lynch, number three is former Seahawk Justin Forsett while number four is former Washington State Cougar Chris Ivory.
3. Nine
Number of different receivers who caught passes from Russell Wilson. These included the previously mentioned rookies, Kevin Norwood and Paul Richardson as well as Lynch, Doug Baldwin, Robert Turbin, Luke Willson, Ricardo Lockette, Jermaine Kearse and Cooper Helfet.
4. One
Punt returned by Richard Sherman. In actuality, the cornerback called for a fair catch on the play. It’s only the second punt return in Sherman’s career. His other punt return was scored as a loss of six yards.
5. 58
Kicker Steven Hauschka’s longest field goal on the day. The place kicker made both of his field goals and only has one miss all year. Over the course of his four years in Seattle, Hauschka has only missed 11 field goals, and has only missed six in the last three years.
All stats courtesy of http://www.pro-football-reference.com/ unless otherwise noted.
