Jonathan Stewart’s long run set tone for Panthers’ victory

As soon as Carolina Panthers running back Jonathan Stewart glanced up at the video board at Bank of America Stadium, he knew he’d made a mistake.

Stewart had broken free on a long run on the first play from scrimmage of the Panthers’ NFC divisional playoff game against the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday. With no Seahawks defenders in front of him and the end zone rapidly approaching, Stewart allowed himself the luxury of raising his chin long enough to watch his progress on the video board.

It was then that safety Richard Sherman, the only Seattle player with any hope of running Stewart down, did just that, tackling him at the Seahawks 16 after a 59-yard gain.

“I was looking at the ‘Jumbotron’ and I felt (Sherman) coming,” said Stewart. “I shouldn’t have looked at it, because when I looked up, I slowed down a bit.”

Ultimately, Sherman’s takedown of Stewart didn’t matter. Stewart ended up scoring on a 4-yard run three plays later, giving the Panthers a quick touchdown and setting the tone in what would eventually be a 31-point halftime lead and 31-24 victory.

But the run also signaled the return of Stewart, who had missed the Panthers’ past three games with a foot injury after gaining 989 yards in the regular season and earning his first invitation to the Pro Bowl.

He finished with 106 yards on 19 carries and two touchdowns Sunday, the first time the Seahawks had allowed a 100-yard rusher in 27 regular-season and playoff games (since Week 11 of the 2014 season).

“Yeah, a lot of that came from that first play, which was a mistake,” said Sherman. “They had him bottled up and I think guys lost him in the scrum. Then he came out and a couple of guys could have made a play (but) slipped. So, you give him 59 yards on one play, that’s going to be tough.”　

Stewart said his month-long absence (the Panthers had a playoff bye last week) made a difference.

“It felt good, I felt like I had fresh legs and the offensive line did a fine job,” said Stewart. “You want to score every time you get the ball. That’s what you imagine every time you get out there.”

Panthers coach Ron Rivera said Stewart slightly tweaked his foot during the game, which is why he had just eight carries in the second half.

“We tried to make sure we were shuttling him in,” said Rivera. “We wanted to be careful with it. So he came out a little bit more. He said he felt pretty good … and you saw him running at the end of the game.”

The first play, however, set the Seahawks on their heels, as did an interception and touchdown by Panthers linebacker Luke Kuechly on Seattle’s first offensive series.

“Those two things gave us a lot of energy,” said Rivera.

This story was originally published January 17, 2016 at 6:41 PM with the headline "Jonathan Stewart’s long run set tone for Panthers’ victory."