Mark Schlereth's key for Seattle Seahawks to beat Panthers

The Seattle Seahawks’ quest to claim the NFC’s top seed continues this weekend as they take on a surprising Carolina Panthers squad that is leading the NFC South.

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The Seahawks are coming off their biggest win of the season, a 38-37 overtime victory over the Los Angeles Rams to gain sole possession of first place in the NFC West and the NFC’s No. 1 seed. But the Panthers are riding high after a massive victory over their own, a 23-20 triumph over the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to stand alone in first place in their division.

The matchup with the Panthers is a game that early in the season looked like a potential breather sandwiched between to huge divisional clashes for the Seahawks. That is no longer the case with the Panthers on the cusp of their first playoff berth since 2017.

What will be the key for the Seahawks to avoid a let down and head back to Seattle with a victory on Sunday? FOX color analyst and former NFL offensive lineman Mark Schlereth shared his insight during a conversation with Seattle Sports’ Wyman and Bob this week.

Carolina’s offense has largely been carried by a strong rushing attack led by running back Rico Dowdle, but Schlereth’s key for the Seahawks is pressuring and containing the running ability of third-year Panthers quarterback and former No. 1 overall pick Bryce Young.

“I think he’s an average quarterback and I think they win not because of him, but they win by surrounding him and running the football and playing complementary football,” Schlereth said. “And the way teams have beaten the Carolina Panthers over the last few weeks – and I really start with a game I called where New Orleans went to Carolina and beat them. They started bringing pressure on just about every down, bringing an extra guy in the box, doing those things and essentially daring Bryce Young to beat them outside the numbers, and he just flat couldn’t do it.”

Schlereth is referring to Carolina’s 17-7 loss to the Saints in Week 10. Young completed 17 of 25 passes for just 124 yards, threw an interception and was sacked twice while posting a 16.8 QBR (50 is average). He was just 4 of 7 for 29 yards when pressured and 5 of 9 for 45 yards when blitzed, per Pro Football Focus.

That would seemingly play to the advantage of a Seahawks defense that is among the best at pressuring the quarterback this season. Seattle is second in the NFL with 110 quarterback hits, fifth with a 26.6% pressure rate and seventh with 42 sacks. That’s all come despite a 19.5% blitz rate that is the sixth-lowest in the league.

But pressuring Young is just the first part of the equation, according to Schlereth. The next part is making sure Young isn’t able to make plays with his legs once he’s under pressure.

“I think the big thing with the Carolina Panthers when it comes to Bryce is, one, containment of the rush to make sure you keep him in the pocket. And then, two, just don’t let him escape. He likes to escape up in the pocket and then get to the edges, and that’s where he’s really been effective,” Schlereth said.

“And he was effective doing that (against Tampa Bay on Sunday). Talking to Todd Bowles, the head coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, he was like, man, listen, we’re gonna try to keep him in the pocket. We’re gonna try to stop him from running. That’s our biggest fear is him running around. And that’s what they tried to do and they still couldn’t do it. He still made enough plays with his feet to keep drives alive.”

Hear the full conversation at this link or in the audio player near the top of this story. Listen to Wyman and Bob weekdays from 2-7 p.m. or find the podcast on the Seattle Sports app.

Mark Schlereth’s key for Seattle Seahawks to beat Panthers

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