A lot of players performed tonight — including Cam Newton, Kelvin Benjamin, Jonathan Stewart and Greg Olsen. But nobody performed better than Kam Chancellor on another victorious playoff night in Seattle.

Carolina came to play and threatened the major upset in a mind-melting first half (more on that in a moment). But Chancellor’s tone-setting performance — hitting, covering, blocking and eventually scoring — sealed another NFC Championship game for the city next weekend.

Chancellor’s near 90-yard romp capped another smothering second half performance. During Seattle’s now seven-game unbeaten run, they’ve consistently started slow and excelled later. They trailed 6-0 to the Rams at the break. They struggled initially against the Niners. It was closer at the half than it needed to be against Arizona (twice) and Philadelphia.

Today was no different.

This particular first half was one of the strangest of the year. Carolina gave away two turnovers and Seattle dropped two more potential interceptions. Seattle thrived on explosive offensive plays — a 63-yard catch-and-run by Jermaine Kearse for a touchdown. Another 33-yarder to Kearse on a scramble drill. The Seahawks dominated field position early on.

And yet after two quarters, it was 14-10. A four-point game. Strangely, in the middle of all of the Seattle positives, Carolina mustered 14 and 13-play scoring drives. Newton ran and threw, misdirection and the read-option kept Seattle off-guard. Stewart drove through tackles for extra yardage.

Penalties also helped the Panthers. A needless Cliff Avril taunting flag offset a personal foul at the end of the second quarter. It kept Carolina in field goal range after Earl Thomas dropped a pick. Ricardo Lockette’s dumb personal foul for throwing a football at a defender was also avoidable, as was Jeremy Lane’s flag while blocking on a punt return. The Panthers out-ran the Seahawks 87-21 at the mid-way point.

It was the customary first-half toil, followed by a one-sided second half. The Panthers had no answer for a masterful Russell Wilson who finished with three touchdowns and was 8/8 passing on third down. This was the type of display that’ll warrant the richest ever quarterback contract in a few weeks.

Luke Willson had another random big game. When he performs like this — you wonder how good he can be. He’s just so inconsistent. He’s a consistent streak away from being the next dynamic receiving tight end in the league.

It didn’t take any unique offensive game plan today. Just Seahawks football. Wilson appeared to be trusting his receivers more than he has at any point this season. He took shots downfield. Oh for a great ‘big’ target like Kelvin Benjamin. A trio of wonderful touch passes really hit the mark — two others could’ve led to touchdowns (one to Kearse, one to Ricardo Lockette) but were half spilled, half defended. It’s those kind of touch passes lofted into the end zone that a Vincent Jackson would thrive on.

Benjamin consistently boxed off Tharold Simon all night, just using his frame and catch radius to dominate. It made life easy for Newton, who performed well generally in his first visit to Seattle. It’d be easy to express concern about Simon’s performance. He did struggle. But this is what an enormous receiver will do more often than not. I’m not sure Byron Maxwell would’ve had any more success. The Seahawks can be even more dynamic on offense if they can just find their Benjamin. The more experienced and proven the better — which is why a deal for Tampa Bay’s Jackson remains appealing.

The pass rush worked in fits and starts. Bruce Irvin, Michael Bennett and Cliff Avril all had explosive plays, but Newton also had a lot of time too. The Panthers seemed to do a good job bunching up the O-line, taking away the interior. You’ve got to praise the quarterback who was incredibly elusive as usual.

It’s a shame Jonathan Stewart is contracted until 2017 or 2018. The way he broke tackles today — he’d be a perfect replacement for Marshawn Lynch if he does depart or retire this year. It’s a little concerning that he ran so well — although Seattle’s defense didn’t do a good job tackling. In fact they were downright poor at times. It might be worth rooting for Green Bay on Sunday — Carolina controlled the ball in the first half and ran efficiently. That’s been Dallas’ modus operandi all year — and Tony Romo has complimented the run attack with a MVP season too. The Cowboys would be a really tough match-up next week.

Yet whoever wins, they’re still going to find it difficult to beat the Seahawks. Seattle’s stars are making big plays at crucial times. Chancellor, Wilson, Sherman, Thomas, Bennett, Irvin, Avril. They’re getting enough support from the Willson’s, Kearse’s and others. And it’s at Century Link.

Time for another NFC Championship game. Whoever the opponent.