Carolina 14, 
Seattle 34
Carolina (13-5) at Seattle (14-3)
VIDEO PLAYLIST 
| SCOUTING REPORT | ||
Hawks need healthy dose of AlexanderOne of the greatest advantages in all of sports is an outstanding home crowd for an NFL playoff game, and the Seahawks have this advantage in a big way. Seattle is one of the most difficult places to travel to in the NFL because a cross-country road trip is never a treat. Seattle is also the much healthier team, as the strain of back-to-back playoff games has begun to take its toll on Carolina's roster. Several key starters are battling injuries, and starting RB DeShaun Foster will not play due to a broken ankle.
Starting quarterbacks Matt Hasselbeck (Seattle) and Jake Delhomme (Carolina), along with their respective head coaches, have ample playoff experience and have continually made solid decisions with the football and on the sidelines. Assuming there are no lingering affects from his concussion, RB Shaun Alexander will be asked to power the Seahawks in their quest for Super Bowl XL. | ||
· Full Scouting Report 
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| Matchup | |||||||
| W-L | PF | PA | HOME | ROAD | DIV | CONF | |
| CAR | 2-1 | 66 | 55 | 0-0 | 2-1 | 0-0 | 2-1 |
| SEA | 2-1 | 64 | 45 | 2-0 | 0-1 | 0-0 | 2-0 |
| · Complete Standings | |||||||
| TEAM AVERAGES & NFL RANKS | ||
| TEAM OFFENSE | TEAM | PER GAME AVERAGE |
| Total Yards | CAR | |
| SEA | ||
| Yards Passing | CAR | |
| SEA | ||
| Yards Rushing | CAR | |
| SEA | ||
| TEAM DEFENSE | TEAM | PER GAME AVERAGE |
| Yards Allowed | CAR | |
| SEA | ||
| Pass Yds Allowed | CAR | |
| SEA | ||
| Rush Yds Allowed | CAR | |
| SEA | ||
Carolina (13-5) at Seattle (14-3) Sunday 6:30 pm EST NFC Championship
SEATTLE (Ticker) -- It took coach Mike Holmgren seven years to win his first playoff game with the Seattle Seahawks. Now he hopes to lead the franchise to its first Super Bowl appearance.
Under coach John Fox, the Carolina Panthers are seeking their second Super Bowl trip in three seasons. They also are looking to become the first team in 20 years to win three straight road games en route to reaching a Super Bowl.
The Panthers are 4-0 on the road in the playoffs under Fox. They have victories at the New York Giants and Chicago this season following wins over St. Louis in the divisional round and Philadelphia in the conference championship game in January 2004.
Now fifth-seeded Carolina faces a Seattle team that is 9-0 at home and has won by an average of 16 points. Carolina was 6-2 on the road during the regular season.
New England (1985) was the only team to win three straight road games en route to reaching the Super Bowl.
While the Panthers are appearing in their third conference title game in franchise history, the Seahawks are in their second. Seattle suffered a 30-14 loss to the Los Angeles Raiders in the AFC championship game in January 1984.
Holmgren, who won a Super Bowl with Green Bay in the 1996 season and reached another Super Bowl the following year, lost his first three playoff games with Seattle.
But the Seahawks finally ended the NFL's longest run of playoff futility last week with a 20-10 triumph over Washington. It was the Seahawks' first playoff win since a 13-7 victory over the Raiders in December 1984.
The Seahawks ended their playoff drought despite NFL MVP Shaun Alexander, who led the league in rushing with 1,880 yards and set an NFL single-season record with 28 touchdowns, going down in the first quarter with a concussion. He is expected to play on Sunday.
Holmgren is excited about Alexander's return.
"It feels great," Holmgren said. "I mean, he's the MVP of football and a big part of what we've done this season."
Without Alexander - one of five Pro Bowlers on the league's top-ranked offense - fellow Pro Bowler Matt Hasselbeck picked things up by completing 16-of-26 passes for 215 yards while also rushing for a score. He helped the Seahawks overcome three turnovers.
Darrell Jackson also came up big against the Redskins, setting a club postseason record with 143 receiving yards. He had nine catches, including a 29-yard touchdown.
Panthers wide receiver Steve Smith came up short to Alexander in MVP voting but was just as deserving of the award. He tied for the NFL lead in receptions (103) and led the league in yards (1,563) and touchdowns (12) during the regular season.
Smith has been dominant in playoff wins over the Giants and Bears, catching 22 passes for 302 yards and three touchdowns while also running for a score.
In last week's 29-21 victory over Chicago in the divisional round, Smith authored a postseason performance for the ages, finishing with 12 receptions - one shy of tying an NFL playoff record - for 218 yards and two touchdowns. He had a 58-yard TD catch on the second play from scrimmage and hauled in a 39-yard scoring reception late in the third quarter.
While Smith has come up big in the playoffs, so has quarterback Jake Delhomme, who is 5-1 in his career in the postseason, including 4-0 on the road.
Delhomme has been superb in the first two playoff games this season, completing 39-of-55 passes for 459 yards and four touchdowns with an interception. He went 24-of-33 for 319 yards and three touchdowns with an interception against the Bears.
The Panthers did lose running back DeShaun Foster, who rushed for 151 yards in the wild-card round, to a fractured right ankle in the third quarter last week.
Carolina now will turn to Nick Goings, who played well last season when the Panthers lost five running backs to injuries. He had five 100-yard games and finished the season with 821 yards and six touchdowns in 16 games.
"He's no stranger to us and he's no stranger to our opponents," Fox said. "He's a guy who played a lot for us a year ago. He's a guy who has respect and confidence from his team, his teammates and me. He's a guy we feel comfortable with."
Goings' role dimished this season behind running back Stephen Davis, who is out for the season with a knee injury, and Foster. He rushed for 133 yards on 37 attempts. He has rushed for 97 yards on 22 carries in the first two playoff games.
The Panthers are expected to have Pro Bowl defensive end Julius Peppers available. He left last week's game early in the fourth quarter with a shoulder injury.
This contest marks a homecoming for cornerback Ken Lucas, who spent his first three seasons with the Seahawks before signing a six-year, $36.5 million contract in the offseason with the Panthers.
Last season, the Seahawks posted a 23-17 victory over the Panthers here on October 31. Alexander rushed for 195 yards - 119 in the first half - and two touchdowns. Hasselbeck was 21-of-30 for 201 yards and a TD with an interception.
Matchup to watch: Smith against left cornerbacks Andre Dyson and Kelly Herndon.
Series: Tied, 1-1.
Next week: The winner plays either Denver or Pittsburgh in Super Bowl XL in Detroit on February 5
- 'Messed-up hand' limits Panthers DE Peppers
- Julius Peppers' hand is a touchy subject in the secretive world of NFL injuries. Coach John Fox would only call it a "messed-up hand."
- Panthers' Gross has broken right leg, not ankle
- Panthers left tackle Jordan Gross broke his right leg, not his ankle, as the team first announced.
- Scouts Buzz: Stafford growing up fast
- Scouts Inc. examines Matthew Stafford's development, the Vikings' dynamic offense and more.
- FBO: Week 11 Quick Reads
- Football Outsiders apply their metrics to Week 11. Findings: Even when Wes Welker doesn't find the end zone, he's historic; Mark Sanchez isn't ready; DeAngelo Williams needs the rock more; and T.J. Houshmandzadeh may have saved Minny's season.
- Panthers become big losers - of excess weight
- There's much less to see when you look at the Carolina Panthers' sideline these days.
- Moore making most of shot with Panthers
- The Panthers' Kenny Moore, shown with students at First Ward Elementary School on March 10, is among the candidates to enter the season as the team's No.
- New fullback has Hoover a bit on edge
- When it comes to locker room grief, Carolina Panthers fullback Brad Hoover gives it as well as anyone.
- Brown's focus is on technique
- If the Carolina Panthers were truly worried about Everette Brown's size, they wouldn't be lining him up the way they are.
- Hoover doesn't plan to go without a fight
- Brad Hoover was walking off the practice field Monday shortly after beating most of his Carolina Panthers teammates in a series of sprints when he told a reporter he couldn't talk until later.
- Walter Jones 'was able 2 get in football stance 2day'
- That's the twitter shorthand from the mountain of a man that has been a fixture at the left edge of Seattle's offensive line.
- Tyler Roehl suffers torn anterior-cruciate ligament
- Tyler Roehl, an undrafted free agent fullback signed by Seattle in April suffered a torn knee ligament during a non-contact practice on Monday, according to reporter Jeff Kolpack of The Forum, in Fargo, S.D. Roehl confirmed that it was his left knee that was injured.
- Seahawks work on short-yardage, goal-line situations at practice
- That's the description offered up by Matt Hasselbeck via his Twitter account. Of course, he used cool acronyms: SY and GL practice today.
- Hasselbeck looks healthy, learning new Seattle offense
- Seahawks QB Matt Hasselbeck looks healthy after being limited to seven games last season.
- Seahawks rookie out to prove he's just the right size
- Working with the Seattle Seahawks defensive line group, Nick Reed looks like a boy among men.
NFL Scores
Sunday, January 22nd 2005
| Pittsburgh | 34 | Final |
| Denver | 17 |
| Carolina | 14 | Final |
| Seattle | 34 |