Cohen: Seahawks show championship spirit in failed comeback vs Panthers

Photo: Grant Halverson, Getty Images CHARLOTTE, NC - JANUARY 17: Jonathan Stewart #28 of the Carolina...

The Seattle Seahawks' NFC divisional round matchup with the Carolina Panthers was supposed to be a heavyweight fight.

Strikingly similar teams -- featuring MVP candidates in two of the best young quarterbacks in the league, plus a couple of the NFL's best overall defenses -- the squads faced each other frequently enough over the last couple of years to stoke a budding rivalry.

Many expected the game to be a 12-round slugfest, but the fight looked all but over at the opening bell.

Ding, ding.

It started with a punch straight to the mouth when Panthers running back Jonathan Stewart took the ball up the middle of the Seahawks' top-ranked rushing defense for a 59-yard gain. Three plays later, he punched it in from 4-yards out to give Carolina a 7-0 lead minutes into the game.

Then, while the Seahawks defense tried to regroup on their own sideline, the Panthers doubled their lead by taking advantage of what was Seattle's weak point for much of the season: the oft-scrutinized offensive line.

Running back Marshawn Lynch lost three yards in his first carry since mid-November after Carolina defensive tackle Star Lotulelei blew by left guard Justin Britt on Seattle's first offensive play of the game. On the next play, it was Kawann Short's turn to take advantage of an overmatched Britt, busting through the middle and pressuring quarterback Russell Wilson into an errant throw to Lynch that was picked off and returned for a 14-yard touchdown by Panthers All-Pro linebacker Luke Kuechly.

It was a stunning start for a Seahawks team unaccustomed to being pushed around, but the Panthers found Seattle's weakness and hit them squarely in their glass jaw.

It got worse.

Led by presumptive league MVP Cam Newton, Carolina scored 24 points on their first four offensive drives, staking themselves to a 31-0 lead with 6:26 left in the first half. The Seattle defense that led the NFL in scoring for the past four seasons and gave up just one offensive score in their last six road games ended up surrendering three in a matter of 20 minutes.

Ding, ding.

If the contest had indeed been a boxing match, the refs may have stopped the fight then and there, and no one would have blamed them. But though stunned, the Seahawks never let themselves stay on the mat, and showed their fight in a thrilling second half.

"We didn't start the way we wanted to," Wilson said afterward. "But the best part about our football team -- it shows that we've been doing it all year -- is our resilience. ... We had no doubts in our minds that we could still win the game. We showed that all the way to the end."

According to head coach Pete Carroll, Seattle's willingness to fight back after a nightmarish first half was a hard-wired component of the roster.

"There wasn't a guy in the locker room (at halftime) who didn't think we were going to win the football game," Carroll told reporters. "These guys totally believe that they can do whatever they've got to do. They believe in one another. They love each other. They care about it so much that they would do stuff like that and show you who they are and what they're all about."

CHARLOTTE, NC - JANUARY 17: Cam Newton #1 of the Carolina Panthers meets Russell Wilson #3 of the Seattle Seahawks on the field after the NFC Divisional Playoff Game at Bank of America Stadium on January 17, 2016 in Charlotte, North Carolina. less CHARLOTTE, NC - JANUARY 17: Cam Newton #1 of the Carolina Panthers meets Russell Wilson #3 of the Seattle Seahawks on the field after the NFC Divisional Playoff Game at Bank of America Stadium on January 17, ... more Photo: Jamie Squire, Getty Images Photo: Jamie Squire, Getty Images Image 1 of / 116 Caption Close Cohen: Seahawks show championship spirit in failed comeback vs Panthers 1 / 116 Back to Gallery

After regrouping in their corner, the Seahawks started clawing back, starting with the first play of the second half, a 50-yard kickoff return from super-rookie Tyler Lockett.

Ding, ding.

Wilson threw spectacular touchdown passes to Jermaine Kearse and Lockett in Seattle's first two drives of the half, making the score 31-14 midway through the third quarter. The suddenly on-rhythm offense combined with a defense that reverted to its championship form against a Panthers team that seemed uncomfortable holding the lead.

Suddenly, it looked as if the Seahawks were capable of making the most unlikely of comebacks.

Ding, ding.

"We get in these situations. We know that it's a tough hole that we put ourselves in," wide receiver Doug Baldwin said. "But nothing is ever final until that clock has no more time on it. So we're going to fight 'till the last second."

Missteps on the Seahawks' fruitless third drive of the half cost them time and a time out, and though they scored 10 in the fourth quarter to shrink the deficit to seven points, the greatest come-from-behind victory in franchise history proved just out of reach for Seattle when Carolina linebacker Thomas Davis came down with an onside kick attempt with 1:11 remaining.

Newton and the Panthers offense took the field for the final few plays, and the Seahawks' season was over, and with it a chance at a third straight Super Bowl appearance.

But after a 2015 campaign that saw the team overcome a 2-4 start, repeated blown fourth-quarter leads and injuries to some of their biggest stars, Seattle's determination to keep going Sunday revealed its character.

"You look at this game, it's kind of like a microcosm of the season," Carroll said. "We struggled so much to get going, and it took us a long time. When we finally did, we caught fire and we got rolling."

"Everybody in here feels like we just ran out of time," Carroll continued. "There wasn't quite enough time to get this thing done. I couldn't be more proud of the way everybody hung and fights -- but not just for today -- for how this team plays and how we've been all season long. The message was very clear about what they're all about. I think they just proved it today."

In the end, they don't hang banners for moral victories, and the team's ultimately unsuccessful comeback likely won't be remembered alongside their blowout Super Bowl XLVIII victory, or their heart-stopping NFC championship game win and Super Bowl heartbreak the following season.

But perhaps more than any of those matchups, Sunday's loss embodied the resilient spirit of a championship-level Seattle team made up of fighters who thrived on overcoming expectations: They took a punch, got knocked to the ground again and again, then fought fiercely until the final bell.

"We stay at it," cornerback Richard Sherman explained afterward. "We stay the course. Our team has a ton of resolve, so we never lost confidence. We never doubted ourselves. We believed we were going to win."

In the end, the judges' decision didn't go their way, but they went down throwing haymakers.

Ding, ding.

Visit seattlepi.com for more Seattle Seahawks news. Contact sports editor Stephen Cohen at stephencohen@seattlepi.com or @scohenPI.