RENTON, Wash. — The Seattle Seahawks went about quieting the noise the best way possible — by going on the road and winning a football game.

Not that it was easy, and not that it figures to quell all of the talk focused on the team.

However, a 13-9 win over the Carolina Panthers, clinched when Russell Wilson threw a 23-yard touchdown pass to Luke Willson with 47 seconds left, was the best medicine possible for the Seahawks after another week of stories about locker room unrest and various other issues.

One story, for instance, stated that some teammates questioned whether Wilson is “black enough.”

Others speculated that running back Marshawn Lynch won’t be with the team in 2015 and said that he is barely communicating with team management.

Coach Pete Carroll insisted that none of that is true, adding that any talk of the team experiencing distractions is baseless.

“They are fine,” Carroll said. “Our locker room is solid. They are together. They are really determined. And I don’t think you can get any more together than that. And they are surprised as we are as coaches that you guys have these questions about us. But we understand it’s part of it, and we are not going to get frustrated by it. We are just going to keep working with our business.”

Still, the questions would only have increased had not Wilson led an 80-yard, nine-play drive culminating in the pass to Willson for what was Seattle’s only touchdown of the day.

The win snapped a two-game losing streak and improved Seattle’s record to 4-3, critical on a day when the NFC West-leading Arizona Cardinals beat the Philadelphia Eagles to improve to 6-1.

The Seahawks, who played three of the past four on the road, now return home for two games in which they will be prohibitive favorites — Sunday against the Oakland Raiders and the following Sunday against the New York Giants.

Seattle needs to take care of business in those games to get to 6-3 before a final seven-game stretch that features six in a row against teams that all won at least 10 games last season: the Kansas City Chiefs, Philadelphia and two each against Arizona and the San Francisco 49ers.

Seattle will need to play better than it did against the Panthers, though, to make a real run at a Super Bowl repeat, especially on offense.

A week after gaining a season-high 463 yards against the St. Louis Rams, Seattle was held to 310 by a Carolina team with a defense that gave up 37 or more points four times this season.

Wilson was off target much of the day, completing 20 of 32 passes, but he finished with a flourish.

The Seattle defense, though, had one of its better games, including tying a season high with three sacks.

It was the third consecutive year Seattle won at Carolina, all in slugfests: 16-12 in 2012 and 12-7 in 2013.

“It was really exciting to see us play tough, hang tough through the mistakes and the issues and whatever problems occur and then finish with a real sense of completing the job,” Carroll said.

REPORT CARD VS. PANTHERS

PASSING OFFENSE: B-minus — QB Russell Wilson was far from sharp, hitting on 20 of 32 passes for 199 yards. However, he was at his best when he needed to be, completing four of four for 53 yards on Seattle’s final drive. Doug Baldwin had the best day among Seahawks wide receivers, making six catches for 61 yards. He has 13 receptions for 184 yards in two games since the trade of WR Percy Harvin. RB Marshawn Lynch was targeted four times but dropped two passes, including letting a pass go off his hands near the end zone that was picked off by the Panthers, killing Seattle’s best drive of the first half. TE Luke Willson also dropped a potential touchdown pass in the third quarter but came back in the fourth quarter to make the winning TD grab.

RUSHING OFFENSE: B-minus — The rushing attack was feeble early — Seattle gained just 22 yards on six carries in the first half as the Seahawks ran just 23 offensive plays. However, the running game picked up in the second half, and Seattle finished with 119 yards on 26 carries. The offensive line again struggled at times to get a push, and Lynch had 62 yards on 14 carries, 25 coming on one play. Wilson also got loose late a few times and finished with 35 on six attempts.

PASS DEFENSE: B-plus — Seattle had two goals in this game: to keep TE Greg Olsen and WR Kelvin Benjamin in check. Seattle performed the former well, as Olsen had just one catch for 16 yards and was not a factor in the red zone. Seattle gave up eight touchdown passes to tight ends in the first six games of the season. Credit CB Tharold Simon, S Kam Chancellor and LB K.J. Wright for that success. As for Benjamin, he had four catches for 94 yards, including a 51-yarder against CB Richard Sherman, who spent most of the day shadowing Benjamin. Sherman said later Benjamin simply beat him a few times. But the big picture was good, as QB Cam Newton threw for just 171 yards and had a 61.0 passer rating, the lowest of the year allowed by the Seahawks.

RUSH DEFENSE: B-plus — Seattle got gashed a bit early in the game as the Panthers held the ball for six or more minutes on each of its first three drives, led in part by RB Jonathan Stewart, who had 34 yards on nine carries in the first half. Seattle stiffened in the red zone, though, giving up just two field goals and forcing a turnover. The Seahawks ended up allowing 114 yards on 31 carries, but Seattle was stout when it needed to be, and it did a good job containing Newton, who was limited to 24 yards on 12 carries despite the Panthers running a lot of zone-read option.

SPECIAL TEAMS: B — After the failure of the previous week when the special teams were largely responsible for a loss at St. Louis, the special teams returned to form Sunday. Steven Hauschka tied a franchise record with a 58-yard field goal, and Paul Richardson, in his first game handling kickoff returns, had a 47-yarder that set up Hauschka’s kick. The coverage was also solid other than allowing a 49-yard kickoff return to start the second half. The return, though, did not result in points.

COACHING: B-plus — It was a different sort of week for the Seahawks, coming off two losses and with lots of national reports of player unrest and jealousy toward Wilson. And when Seattle fell behind 6-0 early, it was tempting to wonder if everything was falling apart. However, the Seahawks hung tough, played strong defense in the red zone — allowing just six points on three Carolina possessions inside the 20 — and were able to rally late to get the win. Strategically, Seattle mixed up some things on defense to contain Newton and get a better pass rush, and that paid off, as Carolina managed just 266 total yards. Ultimately, Seattle got a win it desperately needed.