CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- Former Carolina Panthers wide receiver Steve Smith saw something in the way the team performed in a 12-7 opening-day loss to Seattle last season that made him predict a rematch with the Seahawks deep into the playoffs.
It almost happened, as Carolina rallied from a 1-3 start to go 12-4 and come within a home win against San Francisco of meeting Seattle in the NFC Championship Game.
There were no such bold predictions following Sunday's 13-9 loss to the defending Super Bowl champion Seahawks, but there was optimism because of the way the defense played.
A unit that entered the game giving up 27.9 points and 388 yards a game held Seattle to 13 points and 310 yards. Eighty of those yards came on Seattle’s game-winning drive late in the fourth quarter.
Quarterback Russell Wilson accounted for 74 of the 80, rushing twice for 21 yards and completing 4 of 4 pass attempts for 53 yards.
Until Wilson went off, the Panthers (3-4-1) were playing at the level they did most of last season when they ranked second in the NFL in total defense. It gave a team that has gone 1-4-1 in its last six games reason to hope there could be a turnaround like last season.
"As long as we continue to put emphasis on the things we did this week, flying around, swarming to the ball, playing complete team defense," said linebacker Thomas Davis, who led Carolina with 10 tackles. "That's who we are, that's what we can do, that's what we’re capable of."
What happened on Seattle's final drive wasn't so much about what the Panthers didn't do as much as it was Wilson doing what he has done all year.
Before that drive the Panthers had held Wilson to 14 yards rushing on four carries. He finished with six carries for 35 yards, a far cry from the 100-plus yards rushing he had in two of the previous three games.
"This is the NFL, man," Davis said. "Guys make plays. That's what happened. He was able to put a drive together that ultimately ended up being the game-winning drive.
"For us defensively, we've got to play this game for four quarters and we've got to finish. ... It came down to us defensively. No matter how well we played early in the game, when the game was on the line we didn't execute and get that win for our team."
That was the attitude of last year's defense that gave up only 15 points a game. Davis believes this year's team can sustain what it began Sunday.
Coach Ron Rivera agreed.
"I'd like to believe so, especially against running the football," Rivera said. "But the one thing that did get us in the end, and kudos to them, was their quarterback."
Wilson aside, the Panthers didn't give up huge chunks after catches as they have been and gave up only one long run -- 25 yards to Marshawn Lynch, who finished with only 62 yards.
The defensive front played arguably its best game of the year, and that allowed Davis and middle linebacker Luke Kuechly to make plays.
"We've got the guys to do it," Kuechly said. "We've got guys who can make plays. We just have to be consistent. That's going to be the message moving forward."
