Ted’s Talk: Seahawks defense puts Panthers in a grinder

It was the farthest thing from being pretty unless you’re a fan of kickass defense…which I am! The Dark Side showed its true “force” by holding the Carolina Panthers to 139 total yards and 1-11 on third down. They also forced two turnovers and stopped the Panthers on fourth down three times en route to a 27-10 shellacking on the road. Chalk this up as another dominating defensive performance in a year full of them. Really, there was only one good drive that the Panthers had all game, which resulted in their only touchdown in the game. The defense picked up the offense today, sparking them with consecutive turnovers that resulted in Seahawks touchdowns.

Good thing the defense was playing out of its mind, because the offense continued a worrying trend of not showing up until the second half. This was the fifth game in a row where the offense has struggled in the first half. Today, it was a combination of turnovers, poor execution, penalties…if there was a way to shoot themselves in the foot, the Seahawks were on top of it. Playing like garbage for half of the game is not generally a good strategy for winning the game, yet Seattle has done that for the last month and change and still came out on the winning end. I’m not going to complain about that.

Seahawks Droppings

• DeMarcus Lawrence proved his Pro Bowl mettle today with a huge punch out on the drive right after Sam Darnold threw an interception in the end zone. Later on, he had a massive third down sack to put Carolina in fourth and desperate when they were already down by two scores. He was pressuring Bryce Young all game, likely playing more with Derick Hall’s absence. Tank has been such a boon for this young Seahawks defense.
• Ty Okada is a real football player. After being forced into duty early in the season when Julian Love was injured, he took to that position like a pro. When Love came back, Okada was relegated to a reserve role once again. That didn’t last long as Love’s running mate at safety Coby Bryant was injured against the Los Angeles Rams. No worries, Okada stepped in again and seamlessly took over, making some fantastic tackles today. At this point, it makes me wonder if Coby Bryant will get a bigger contract in free agency from another team while Seattle will turn to Okada.
• Mike Macdonald’s defense gave up a franchise record 581 yards last week and seemingly took out their frustrations on Bryce Young and the Carolina Panthers offense. Young passed for 54 yards, averaging 2.3 yards per attempt – a number that would be pathetic if we were talking about yards per carry and NOT a passing statistic. In fact, every rusher for the Panthers averaged more yards per carry than Bryce Young averaged on each pass. How about that for a smothering defense??
• In the fourth quarter, the...