RENTON, Wash. — It was a game that might have caused more consternation than optimism in the Seattle Seahawks’ fan base, as the team had to work until the final minutes to finally subdue the Oakland Raiders at home, 30-24.

Perpetually sunny coach Pete Carroll, though, viewed it a little differently.

He saw the team get a win while playing through a series of injuries that had Seattle able to dress just 45 healthy players while doing so in a style he considered Seahawk-esque.

Seattle got the win largely on the strength of a running game that gained 149 yards in a driving rain and a defense that forced two turnovers that led to 10 points and held the Raiders to 226 yards.

That style of play, Carroll said, has him optimistic as Seattle heads into the second half of the season.

“I am really excited about the second half,” he said Monday. “Really excited about it because we have captured the real essence of what we are about, which is playing really hard.”

They’ll need that to continue in the last eight games if they are to catch an Arizona team that continues to show that it may really be the favorite in the NFC West. The Cardinals improved to 7-1 Sunday with a win at Dallas, dominating a Cowboys team that a few weeks ago beat the Seahawks in Seattle.

Seattle begins its second half Sunday with a game against the New York Giants, who were 3-4 entering a Monday night game against the Colts.

But that game is the last against a team that has a losing record until the final contest of the season.

After that come games at Kansas City (5-3), home against Arizona, at San Francisco (4-4), at Philadelphia (6-2), San Francisco and Arizona. Seattle likely has to sweep Arizona to have a shot at winning the NFC West and avoiding having to almost certainly be on the road for every playoff game it would have.

For now, though, Carroll is looking just to the Giants — and to getting healthy.

Seattle was particularly makeshift on the offensive line Sunday, playing without starting center Max Unger for the fourth straight game and left tackle Russell Okung, who strained his calf in practice last week. Seattle also was without back center Steve Schilling for most of the game, going instead with third-teamer Patrick Lewis. And guard James Carpenter left in the second half with a sprained ankle.

Carroll said offensive line coach Tom Cable called it the most challenging game of his career to coach.

Given the state of the offensive line, Carroll said on Monday that “our expectations were that we survive the game. And we got through it and the quarterback didn’t get killed, and we made it through it and we go on and we’ll be better this week.”

In fact, Carroll said as many as six players who were not available Sunday could return for the Giants: Unger, Okung, safeties Kam Chancellor and Jeron Johnson, defensive tackle Jordan Hill and cornerback Jeremy Lane. Lane is coming off the short-term injured reserve and the team will have to make a move at some point this week to get him back on the 53-man roster.

Seattle had just 45 players in uniform for the Oakland game, including two — Unger and Schilling — the team didn’t really want to use (Schilling ended up playing when there was another injury up front).

“That was an unusual situation,” Carroll said. “But we should jump right back out of that this week.”

NOTES: LB Malcolm Smith, who missed the Oakland game with a groin injury, is likely again out this week. … CB Byron Maxwell, out the last three weeks with a calf injury, is likely again out this week. … MLB Bobby Wagner, out the last three weeks with a toe injury, is making good progress but likely out this week. … TE Zach Miller, who has missed five games following ankle surgery, is again still out and it remains unclear when he will return.

REPORT CARD VS. PANTHERS

–PASSING OFFENSE: C-minus — A steady rain and a makeshift offensive line didn’t help, but Seattle’s passing attack Sunday was probably the least effective it has been all season, especially when considering the opponent. Russell Wilson completed just 17 of 35 passes for 179 yards — the first time this season that he completed less than 50 percent of his attempts — and had a quarterback rating of just 63.9. There were at least four dropped passes, two by tight end Luke Willson. But Wilson was also simply off on a handful of throws, admitting after the game that he didn’t play well and didn’t have a great reason. The only thing that really saved it was a five-catch day, on five targets, by running back Marshawn Lynch, who led Seattle with 76 receiving yards.

–RUSHING OFFENSE: A-minus — Another solid day in this area, due in large part to some really tough and hard running by Lynch, whose 67 yards on 21 attempts don’t really detail his impact on the game. Lynch powered through the Oakland defense for a 3-yard touchdown run on the first series of the game to set the tone, and continually got yards where there didn’t appear to be much room to run. Backup Robert Turbin also had some nice moments (35 yards on five carries) as the Seahawks finished with 149 on 38. It was just 3.9 yards per attempt, but more than enough to carry the offense on a day when the passing game was pretty miserable.

–PASS DEFENSE: A-minus — For the most part, it was a continuation of the return-to-form performance of the previous week at Carolina as the Seahawks picked off Derek Carr twice — returning one for a touchdown, with the other setting up a field goal — and held him to a passer rating of 66.5. Carr did throw two short touchdown passes to tight end Mychal Rivera. But the Seahawks didn’t give up a pass of longer than 23 yards (that coming on a dump-off to Darren McFadden on which he broke a few tackles). Playing particularly well was cornerback Richard Sherman, who had an interception and two passes deflected, as well as a forced fumble. The pass rush was also again a little better, with the Seahawks getting just one sack but rarely allowing Carr much time.

–RUSH DEFENSE: A-minus — Oakland came into the game with the worst rushing offense in the NFL, so the stats have to be considered in that light. Still, the Seahawks wanted to make sure the Raiders didn’t break that trend, and they achieved that goal as the Raiders gained just 37 yards on 18 carries, with a long of 10 by fullback Marcel Reece. Seattle returned K.J. Wright from middle linebacker to the weak side and he responded with what might have been the best game of his season with a team-high 13 tackles. Nose tackle Brandon Mebane also had a solid game clogging the line up front.

–SPECIAL TEAMS: C — All of the injuries of the past few weeks really impacted Seattle’s special teams, which had a couple of costly plays that helped the Raiders get back in the game in the third quarter. Notably, rookie Brock Coyle missed a block that allowed a blocked punt recovered for a touchdown in the third quarter, while the Seahawks also allowed a 27-yard punt return later in the quarter that set up another touchdown. Conversely, Seattle forced a fumble on a kickoff and also got a 38-yard punt return by Doug Baldwin that set up a critical field goal in the fourth quarter. The Seahawks also recovered a final onside kick by the Raiders after Oakland had closed the gap to 30-24. Kicker Steven Hauschka had an odd day, recovering the fumble on the kickoff and making three field goals, but also simply misfiring on one from 46 yards for his second miss of the season. Seattle hopes the special teams return to their usual, more consistent state once some of the injured players get back.

–COACHING: B — It’s been a weird few weeks for the Seahawks with the injuries and the Percy Harvin trade and the accompanying national attention. And certainly, the Seahawks have not looked like the dominating Super Bowl champs of a year ago. But coach Pete Carroll has been able to keep the team upright enough to get to 5-3 after the first half of the season, and still in position to win the NFC West, especially if some of the key injured players get healthy, as expected. Seattle also had a sensible game plan for the Raiders, going early and often with Lynch and the running game and being able to sit on an early 24-3 lead to ride out a needed win.