Seattle Seahawks Vs. Carolina Panthers: Injury Updates
We’re within hours of the biggest Seattle Seahawks game of the season. The ‘Hawks got to sit out the first round of the playoffs, but now it’s time to get serious with the Carolina Panthers in town for the divisional round. Are you excited? You are excited. Everyone’s excited. And rightfully so.
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Football players, as you know, get banged up all the time. Thus, it’s very rare for a roster to be at full strength, and so it should come as no surprise that neither the Seahawks or Panthers currently boast a roster that’s one hundred percent healthy. What might surprise you, then, is just how close both teams are to being complete.
We’ll start with the Seahawks, since we love the Seahawks and not the Panthers. The Seahawks are really healthy right now! Jeron Johnson is the only guy who’s definitely not playing today. You may recognize Johnson as being the strong safety who isn’t Kam Chancellor. You may also not recognize him, for that same reason.
So no big deal. Tight end Tony Moeaki is listed as questionable, and will be a gametime decision. He’s behind Luke Willson and Cooper Helfet on the depth chart, and really just hangs out as insurance. Besides those two, everyone else is a go.
The Seahawks aren’t technically 100% healthy, in that they have two guys on their roster who are hurt. But those guys aren’t starters, and neither figured to be much of a factor any which way. Hell, one of them might yet be healthy enough to suit up. Seattle could hardly ask to be in a better position health-wise.
While the Panthers aren’t missing half their team with injuries or anything, things aren’t quite as rosy for them. Wide receiver Philly Brown, safety Thomas DeCoud, linebacker A.J. Klein, and cornerback Melvin White are all questionable for today. Brown’s a nice second-stringer who also has returned some punts this year. He’s not a huge loss, but safe to say the Panthers are hoping to have him around.
White and DeCoud are both non-starters on defense who may have seen some time on the field, and still might, I guess, since neither is officially out yet. Klein is a nice piece on the line, and would likely be replaced by either Adarius Glanton or Ben Jacobs if he can’t play. That’s the Panthers biggest “if” tonight.
But none of these (potential) losses compares to the one guy Carolina knows they’ll be without: Star Lotulelei. Lotulelei’s one hell of a defensive tackle, and was poised to present quite the threat to Russell Wilson. Lotulelei’s absense will be huge for a Panthers team that certainly will want to force Wilson to hurry it up. Without him, that will be easier said than done.
The Seahawks are going to have more time to move around without having to worry about the powerful and aggressive Lotulelei. He’s one of the best players in Carolina’s defense, but just underwent surgery on a broken bone in his foot. It’s an untimely loss that could prove costly.
Seattle caught a break (no pun intended) when the Panthers lost a star (okay, maybe pun a little bit intended that time). They’re positioned to take advantage given that all their starters and all but one of their backups are going to be healthy come game time. It’s the Seahawks at full strength vs. the Panthers missing a piece. Should be fun.
Next: Seahawks Vs. Panthers: Divisional Playoff Gameday Predictions