CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Observed and heard in the locker room after the Carolina Panthers' 13-9 loss to the Seahawks:
Nobody gave a concrete reason that rookie wide receiver Kelvin Benjamin was held out of the starting lineup beyond "coach's decision," as Benjamin and coach Ron Rivera noted. Benjamin said Rivera didn't give him a specific reason for being benched other than he has to be accountable. Benjamin accounted for 94 of Carolina's 266 yards of total offense on four catches.
Rivera often roams through the locker room to keep a pulse on the mood after a tough loss. This was no exception.
Quarterback Cam Newton didn't hesitate when asked what was gnawing at him after the loss. He turned immediately to his two turnovers, a fumble on a read-option play and an interception when he was trying to throw an underhanded pass to tight end Greg Olsen. "There were a couple of times that I forced it and it wasn't needed for me to force it," Newton said.
For the third straight week Newton made a reference to the "hindsight is 20-20" cliché. Three weeks ago, he said it was 50-50 before correcting it to 20-20. Last week, he got it right at 20-20. But Sunday he was back to 50-50. If the Panthers had scored a touchdown on 50 percent of their three opportunities in the red zone -- they had six points -- they might have won.
Linebacker Thomas Davis, who led Carolina's defense with 10 tackles, tried to put into perspective losing a game in which the Panthers held Seattle to 13 points after giving up 37 or more in four of the past five games. "You get excited that we played well defensively," he said. "But at the end of the day, it's a team game."
