The Sports Xchange

CHARLOTTE — While players were enjoying one more day off before returning to work following the bye week, Carolina Panthers coaches were back in the office Monday morning. For defensive coordinator Sean McDermott, that meant watching film of the Seattle Seahawks’ loss Sunday at the Cincinnati Bengals.

What he saw was Seattle blowing a 17-point lead in the fourth quarter on an afternoon when quarterback Russell Wilson again had to run for his life. And while Wilson’s leaky offensive line is a problem for him, his ability to make plays under pressure is a problem for opposing defenses.

“I turn around to write something down, and I left it on play instead of hitting pause, and I turn back around and he’s still running around,” McDermott said. “He gives you headaches. He drives you crazy.

“You see people when they do get him on the ground, the sideline erupts because everyone knows that’s such a big threat.”

There have been plenty of celebrations across from the Seattle sideline so far this season. Wilson’s line, which includes two converted defensive linemen, has given up a league-worst 22 sacks. Through five games, or 31 percent of the season, that’s already halfway to Wilson’s career high of 44 sacks in 2013. While the Seahawks are struggling to keep their quarterback upright, McDermott was leery about putting too much of the onus on the guys up front.

“Some of that gets spread around probably; they get blamed for it. Their offensive line does a nice job,” McDermott said. “They ran the ball for almost 200 yards. They’re an effective group when they play well together and I think that they have at times.”

McDermott is nearly right about the success Seattle had on the ground in Cincinnati. It was 200 yards on the dot, led by running back Thomas Rawls, who totaled 169.

If you don’t play fantasy football, you may have never heard of Rawls, an undrafted rookie out of Central Michigan. But he has cracked 100 rushing yards in two of his three starts in place of Marshawn Lynch, who has been out with a hamstring injury.

“You look at the body types and they’re somewhat similar. I do think both of the backs are very dangerous,” McDermott said. “Rawls, the one thing you notice about him in the two games of late has been his acceleration through the line. I think he brings a nice spark to that offense in that way.”

REPORT CARD AFTER FOUR GAMES

–PASSING OFFENSE: C-minus. The Panthers have had one of the more anemic passing games in the league, which was expected after No. 1 wideout Kelvin Benjamin tore his ACL in training camp. But QB Cam Newton has made some decent lemonade, teaming with TE Greg Olsen for a couple big games and yet again resurrecting the receiving career of Ted Ginn. Newton has been sacked seven times, the fewest through the first four games of his career.

–RUSHING OFFENSE: B-minus. The Panthers have rushed for more than 100 yards in every game, but they’re extremely dependent on Newton. He’s averaging nearly 11 rushing attempts per game, which is way above his career average. RB Jonathan Stewart hasn’t scored nor has he rushed for more than 62 yards, but he hasn’t been given much room to run.

–PASS DEFENSE: C-plus. Carolina’s pass coverage is in the middle of the pack in NFL rankings. They’ve given up a ton of yards, but not a lot of points. CB Josh Norman has been a bit of a savior. One of the league’s fastest-rising stars, Norman is averaging an interception per game and he has scored twice.

–RUN DEFENSE: A-minus. The Panthers hit a bump in the road against the Bucs, who became their first opponent to rush for at least 100 yards. But for the most part, Carolina has successfully implemented its plan of shutting down a run game before anything else.

–SPECIAL TEAMS: C-minus. Except for three long misses, K Graham Gano has been dependable. P Brad Nortman has struggled with some placement issues and the Panthers’ coverage units have been leaky despite a number of offseason changes.

— COACHING: A-minus. The Panthers did what they needed to during a soft early-season schedule. Coach Ron Rivera said he won’t apologize for being 4-0 and he shouldn’t. But now comes the real test – a four-game gauntlet with Seattle, Philadelphia, Indianapolis and Green Bay.