The Sports Xchange

RENTON, Wash. — A defensive breakdown in communication by the Seahawks led to tight end Greg Olsen running uncontested into the end zone for an easy 26-yard touchdown pass from Cam Newton to give the Panthers the lead with less than a minute remaining.

The defense mistakenly was playing two different calls on the deciding play.

“Some fluke type of stuff,” Seattle safety Earl Thomas said. “I don’t know. There’s a lot of stuff going on. We had half the defense playing this and half the defense playing that, so that’s what happens when we don’t communicate.”

Cornerback Richard Sherman received the correct call from the sideline, which was a form of Cover 2. However, the majority the defense played Cover 3.

That is a problem.

“That was kind of a fluky play,” Sherman said. “We were playing two different plays at the same time. Any time you’re doing that, it’s tough in this league, it’s not going to work out well.”

The play Sherman was running called for him to remain somewhat shallow on his side of the field. The play Thomas believed to be the call asked for him to remain in a middle underneath zone near the right hashmarks. That mix-up meant there was no one in coverage in the deep layer to that side of the field. Once Olsen got behind Thomas, Seattle didn’t have anyone to protect the end zone.

In the end, Thomas thought Sherman had the deep coverage on the play while Sherman believed Thomas was responsible.

“I think Sherm was so close to the sideline he got the correct call, but we didn’t get it echoed to the whole defense so we didn’t get the job done,” Thomas said.

–Tight end Jimmy Graham posted his first 100-yard receiving game since joining the Seahawks against the Panthers on Sunday.

Graham caught eight passes for 140 yards and was quarterback Russell Wilson’s most popular target by far. Graham was targeted 12 times in the game. Wide receiver Doug Baldwin was second on the list, targeted four times.

“Jimmy had a tremendous football game, and Russell found him a bunch. That’s the tremendous player that he is,” coach Pete Carroll said. “The really encouraging thing is that that’s the first time we’ve really seen Jimmy in the scramble situations really come to life. He played a fantastic game.”

It was the first 100-yard gain for Graham since he caught 10 passes for 118 yards for the New Orleans Saints against the Cleveland Browns in Week 2 of last season. Graham recorded his top receiving-yards total since having 179 yards against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Week 2 of the 2013 season.

NOTES: LB Bobby Wagner (pectoral) could have played, but coach Pete Carroll said it wasn’t the right decision to make. Wagner would have been limited and likely would have been unable to recover in time to play against San Francisco on Thursday night. Carroll said he is “pretty hopeful” Wagner will play this week. … C Patrick Lewis started in place of Drew Nowak against the Panthers. It was the first alteration to Seattle’s offensive line this season. Lewis played the entire game but sustained ankle and knee injuries. Nowak could return to the starting lineup Thursday. … FB Derrick Coleman will be reinstated from the suspended list as soon as the team can do so. He was suspended by the team last Thursday after being arrested for his involvement in a two-car accident. Coleman could play this week against the 49ers, but Carroll said he needs to be evaluated by the team’s medical personnel first.