Seahawks Trail Panthers at Halftime After Geno Smith's Late INT
The Seattle Seahawks and Carolina Panthers were on opposite ends of the momentum spectrum headed into Week 3's matchup at Lumen Field.
But you wouldn't have thought so after watching the first half on Sunday.
The Panthers, who are without rookie quarterback and No. 1 overall pick Bryce Young, instead leaned on veteran Andy Dalton and saw positive results, as Carolina led Seattle 13-12 headed into halftime.
The two teams traded field goals in the opening quarter, as Carolina held an early 3-0 lead before Seattle responded. The Seahawks then forced back-to-back punts in the second quarter while Jason Myers hit on two more field goals to make it a 9-3 game after Seattle running back Kenneth Walker III burst through the defense for a 36-yard run to set up the third field goal.
But this is where things started to shift in Carolina's favor. Dalton was steady against the Seahawks defense, and he got more comfortable as the quarter went on. This all came to a peak when he connected with receiver D.J. Chark for a 47-yard touchdown with 4:54 left in the half to give the Panthers the lead back at 10-9.
Smith then tossed an interception to linebacker Deion Jones, a former Pro Bowler who was just elevated from the practice squad during the week. The Panthers were set up in field-goal range with the takeaway and cashed in. Kicker Eddy Pineiro hit his second of the game to build the lead to 13-9.
The Seahawks put together an 11-play, 54-yard drive in response to get another field goal with 44 seconds left in the half, but still trailed 13-12.
The Panthers will receive the second-half kickoff.
