Week 1 continues with a full sled of NFL games. The Seattle Seahawks meet the Carolina Panthers at Bank of America Stadium for both teams' season openers. This matchup might not be drawing much attention around football because of one simple fact, the Seahawks will win this game.
One thing is to be a supporter, but one thing is to be delusional. There are a couple of delusional Panther fans around this world, just check out the conversations taking place in NFL's Game Center.
The Panthers and Seahawks might only be even in the quarterback position. Talent wise, both Russell Wilson and Cam Newton can make plays on offense. If anything, Newton gets the advantage since Wilson looks like the better player because of his teammates. However, when looking at other positions, the Seahawks have the clear advantage.
At running back, the Seahawks have Marshawn Lynch, who will surely take control of the team's ground game. He will be in charge of opening up the field for Wilson. A healthy Steve Smith will probably burn the Seahawks' secondary, but if he doesn't then the Panthers' talent on the receiver end will become useless.
The Seahawks' strength is defense. They give their offense plenty of chances to win and if those guys can't score, the defense takes matters into their own hands. They forced a total of 11 turnovers; seven fumbles and four interceptions. The Seahawks made quarterbacks' lives a misery when behind center during the preseason, picking up 14 sacks.
Will the Panthers defense make as much noise in Week 1 as they did during the preseason as they scored four touchdowns on defense, picked up 10 interceptions and picked up six fumbles? If they are the real deal, then maybe the Panthers might have a chance. However, this matchup favors the Seahawks, who have proven they can play defense for 48 minutes.
Final Score
Seahawks 40-15 Panthers
