Ryan Plackemeier vs. Jason Baker trading haymakers in the first quarter in which the two teams combined for seven punts and a total of three first downs. The Seahawks gave up a 54-yard completion to tight end Dante Rosario. It looked like Julian Peterson tried to jam him at the line either that or he expected Rosario to engage him on a block. Instead, Peterson was left chasing Rosario down the field on the longest offensive play allowed by the Seahawks this season. All that progress was negated when John Kasay's field-goal attempt got pushed to the left by the kicker.

The first play of the second quarter showed the difference in the Seahawks defense this season. The Panthers tried a flea-flicker, the running back taking the handoff and then lateralling the ball back to Matt Moore who threw deep for Steve Smith. The trick play has been the bane to this defense. The Super Bowl. The halfback pass for a touchdown against Minnesota last season. Well, this time not only was cornerback Marcus Trufant true to his assignment, sticking with Smith but Deon Grant wasn't fooled for a minute. He broke up the pace and very nearly intercepted the pass.

Halftime synopsis Seattle hasn't been shut out in the first half since the fifth game of the season when the Seahawks were held scoreless for four quarters in Pittsburgh. The Seahawks finished that game with 144 yards of total offense. They currently have 111. The Seahawks have 18 yards of rushing offense and quarterback Matt Hasselbeck has 11 of them on a second-quarter scramble. Shaun Alexander carried four times for a total of 1 yard in the first half.

Third-and-one: It's more like third-and-done for Seattle. The Seahawks have ran the ball twice on third-and-one with two different backs and had two different negative plays. Maurice Morris lost one on third-and-1 to end Seattle's first possession of the game. Alexander just lost six to end Seattle's first drive of the second half. Left guard Rob Sims was beaten by Panthers tackle Kris Jenkins on the third-quarter play.

Post-game recap: The Seahawks gave up 13 points in the fourth quarter, the second-most they've allowed in that period all year. They gave up 14 in the final period of an overtime loss to Cleveland.

The Seahawks didn't have a sack in the game, and they're now 0-4 in games in which they fail to get to the opposing quarterback. Don't pin that entirely on the pass rush, though, because Carolina didn't have Matt Moore just drop back and sit in the pocket while his receivers ran deep routes. This was about quick drops, quick release and quick routes.

The loss, combined with Green Bay's victory over St. Louis, ends any chance Seattle has of earning a first-round bye in the NFC playoffs. The Seahawks are now tied with Tampa Bay with the third-best record in the NFC. Seattle owns the tiebreaker edge over the Bucs by virtue of a head-to-head victory in the season-opener.

I'll be getting to work on our newspaper coverage of the game and check in here later.

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