SEATTLE - Over the final month of the season, Carolina took advantage of its opportunities to make a surprising entry into the NFL playoffs. Ryan Helsley Jersey .Against the defending Super Bowl champion Seattle Seahawks, the Panthers had few opportunities.The Seahawks scored 17 points in the fourth quarter and advanced to the NFC championship game with a 31-17 victory.The Panthers turned the ball over three times, setting up two Seattle touchdowns, while the Seahawks didnt commit a turnover.Well, certainly, we needed them to make some mistakes and that would help, Panthers head coach Ron Rivera said. But it didnt happen, again credit to them. They did some really good things, we made some mistakes. We missed some opportunities. They did some things that lead to winning championships.The Panthers (8-9-1), who finished the regular season with a losing record, essential had been in a playoff mode since early December. They beat New Orleans, Cleveland and Atlanta to win the NFC South title then knocked off Arizona last week in the first round of the playoffs.They played together, they came together and they deserved to be here, Rivera said. Again, I know a lot of people dont agree with me, but thats too bad. Thats the way it is.It took Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson throwing for three touchdowns — all on third downs — to make the difference.Thats big. Third down is the money down, Carolina middle linebacker Luke Kuechly said. They do a good job running. And when you run well, that opens it up for them. He (Wilson) knows whats going on. Hes an intelligent guy, a smart guy. He knows where he wants to go with the football, he makes quick decisions.That first touchdown fit Russell Wilson to a T right there.The Seahawks (13-4) never trailed and became the first defending Super Bowl champion to win a playoff game the following season since New England in January 2006.Since that Patriots victory, three defending champions have earned byes only to lose in the divisional round, the last being Green Bay in the 2011 playoffs.Seattle will host either Green Bay or Dallas next Sunday for a trip to the Super Bowl.Carolina quarterback Cam Newton threw a pair of touchdowns to Kelvin Benjamin, but Carolina couldnt overcome the turnovers. The biggest blow was Kam Chancellors 90-yard interception return midway through the fourth quarter that gave Seattle a 31-10 lead.I dont know if a strong safety can have a better game than Kam did tonight, Seattle coach Pete Carroll said.After knocking off Arizona in the wild-card round last week, Carolina was trying to be the first team to reach a conference championship game after having a losing record in the regular season.Much like the previous three regular-season games between the two teams, Carolina made it difficult on Seattle. The best running team in the NFL this season was held to 100 yards rushing by the Panthers defence.Marshawn Lynch was mostly a non-factor aside from a 25-yard run in the third quarter that helped set up Steven Hauschkas 37-yard field goal on the first play of the fourth quarter.But Wilson was outstanding, especially on third down. Wilson hit Doug Baldwin on third-and-9 on his TD catch in the first quarter.Jermaine Kearses 63-yard TD reception came on a third-and-7. And Luke Willsons 25-yard catch-and-run TD was on third-and-10.Wilson finished with a passer rating of 149.2, the second-highest for any game in his career. He passed for 199 yards on third downs.They just made big plays. It wasnt like they drove. It was just big plays that came back to bite us defensively, Carolina safety Roman Harper said. We will be better because of this. Everything is always something to learn from and we got to do that.Newton played well, but the turnovers overshadowed his performance. Newton finished 23 of 36 for 246 yards and added 37 yards rushing. Jonathan Stewart had been a key to the Panthers late-season surge, and rushed for 70 yards on 13 carries.Newton got away with testing All-Pro cornerback Richard Sherman in the first quarter and watching Sherman dance away with his first career post-season interception.But Seattle took the lead after Carolinas second turnover of the first quarter. Michael Bennett disrupted the handoff between Newton and Stewart and Tony McDaniel fell on the loose ball at the Carolina 28. Wilson connected with Baldwin to take the lead and Carolina never pulled back even.NOTES: Seattle won its eighth straight home playoff game. ... Carolinas 132 yards rushing were fourth-most of any team vs. Seattle this season. ... Benjamin had two TDs in a game for the second time this season.___AP NFL website: www.pro32.ap.org and www.twitter.com/AP_NFL Miles Mikolas Jersey . Tennis Australia chief executive Craig Tiley told local media in comments published Wednesday that John Tomic would not be allowed into Melbourne Park in any official capacity or as a spectator. Custom St. Louis Cardinals Jerseys . Both the top-seeded Djokovic and sixth-seeded Fish took relatively easy paths, with the Serb winning when opponent Jo-Wilfried Tsonga retired in the second set with a sore arm and Fish dominating Janko Tipsarevic in two quick sets. https://www.cheapcardinalsonline.com/74t-gussie-busch-jersey-cardinals.html . Grimes signed a $32 million, four-year contract to remain with Miami. The deal, which includes $16 million guaranteed, rewards Grimes for his recovery from an Achilles tendon injury that forced him to miss almost all of the 2012 season.DAYTON, Ohio -- Given a second chance, T.J. Warren put on a show in the NCAA tournament. The hard-to-guard sophomore forward scored 16 of his 25 points in the second half on Tuesday night, showing why he was the ACCs player of the year, and North Carolina State led most of the way in a 74-59 victory over Xavier in the NCAA tournaments First Four. N.C. State (22-12) didnt have much time to celebrate. The 12th-seeded Wolfpack headed to Orlando, Fla., for a game on Thursday against St. Louis in the Midwest Regional. Warren had the most to do with it. He made up for a freshman tournament flop on the same floor a year earlier and prevented Xavier (21-14) from getting any traction in the second half. "Hes just a great player," coach Mark Gottfried said. "Its hard to keep him down for a whole 40 minutes." Centre Matt Stainbrook led Xavier with 19 points and nine rebounds despite an injured left knee. Leading scorer Semaj Christon was limited to 14 points, and Xavier made only 2 of 14 shots from beyond the arc. Xavier was playing in a familiar arena less than an hour from campus. Familiar, but not entirely friendly. Fans of the Dayton Flyers -- a long-time rival -- booed loudly as they took the court, making for a mixed welcome with a lot of Musketeer fans in the stands as well. Warren made it all a moot point, helping N.C. State take all the drama out of the game over the final 11 minutes. Ralston Turner added 17 points. The Wolfpack went six years between NCAA appearances before Gottfried got them there three years in a row. This was his youngest and least-experienced team: Only two players with tournament experience. They got one of the final at-large bids with a strong closing run, winning ffive of their last six games, including an upset of Syracuse in the ACC tournament. Bobby Tolan Cardinals Jersey. . Warren was the key. And he really wanted a second chance at the NCAA tournament. As a freshman last year, he managed only four points as N.C. State lost to Temple 76-72 at the University of Dayton Arena in its opening game. Hes grown a lot in one year, leading the ACC with 24.8 points per game this season and hitting the 40-point mark twice. He got off to a bad start on Tuesday, missing his first two shots and picking up two fouls in the first 4 minutes, 14 seconds. Warren checked back into the game and hit a jumper for his first points at the 11:29 mark. Christon, who was Warrens roommate at Brewster Academy for one year, kept the Musketeers in it during the first half. He scored off two drives to the basket, starting an 8-1 run. Stainbrooks reverse layup trimmed it to 27-26 with 2:22 left. Jordan Vandenbergs three-point play gave N.C. State a 34-28 advantage at halftime. Dee Davis hit Xaviers first 3-pointer, and Christon scored on a fast-break lay-in that cut it to 39-37. Thats when Warren took over. He had a pair of pull-up jumpers, followed by a steal and a lay-up as N.C. State rebuilt the lead to 51-42. He had another pull-up jumper and a fast-break dunk that made it 57-47 with 7:56 to go. Xavier never got closer than seven points the rest of the way, fading down the stretch. The biggest question for Xavier was how Stainbrooks left knee would hold up. The Big Easts second-leading rebounder sprained a ligament, sat out the final regular season game and was extremely limited in two Big East conference games. He was back in form, but Xavier didnt have enough other scoring options to keep up. ' ' '