UK's Chris Matthews a surprising Seahawks star

Jonathan Lintner, jlintner@courier-journal.com 1:45 p.m. EST January 20, 2015

The Seattle Seahawks' Chris Matthews and DeShawn Shead celebrate after an overtime win in Sundays NFC Championship game against the Green Bay Packers.(Photo: AP Photo/Elaine Thompson)

Chris Matthews, former Foot Locker worker and security guard, will on Feb. 1 become the 30th former University of Kentucky player to suit up for a Super Bowl team.

The Seattle Seahawks might not be headed to a meeting with the New England Patriots if not for Matthews, who recovered the pivotal onside kick during the fourth quarter of Sunday's overtime victory against the Green Bay Packers in the NFC Championship game.

Matthews, a backup Seahawks receiver, said he was looking to make a tackle before he realized the Packers' Brandon Bostick bobbled the kick. So he went up for the ball and made the biggest play of his career.

"It was just a surreal moment for me," said Matthews, who told Sports Illustrated he nearly skipped out on his chance to try out for an NFL team, which called one day this time last year and requested he fly to Seattle that same night.

"I don't get off of work until 9 p.m.," he told the Seahawks. "I don't know if I'll make it."

Of course, Matthews came to his senses. And though he made just three appearances at receiver this season and didn't catch a ball, the work paid off on that kick with 2:09 left to go in regulation Sunday.

The 6-foot-5 receiver transferred to UK from Los Angeles Harbor College in 2009. In his second and senior season as a Wildcat, Matthews broke out to catch 61 passes for 925 yards and nine touchdowns two more scores through the air than Randall Cobb, a college teammate who plays for the Packers and made this year's Pro Bowl.

Matthews' name wasn't called during the NFL draft, though. He was later cut from the Cleveland Browns' roster and instead signed on with the Winnipeg Blue Bombers of the Canadian Football League, where he went on to become the Rookie of the Year.

An injury limited Matthews' second year, and then it was off to Foot Locker and working as a security guard at least until the Seahawks called.

"Man, I almost messed up, bad," Matthews told SI of nearly skipping the tryout. "And look at this now."

Seahawks teammate Jermaine Kearse, speaking at a press conference Monday, simply referred to the onside kick recovery as "the Chris Matthews play."

"That was huge," Kearse added. "I talk to Chris a lot and just to see his progression, even when he was on practice squad and when he got activated to the 53, just to see him maximize opportunities is definitely joyful."

Jonathan Lintner can be reached at (502) 582-4199. Follow him on Twitter @JonathanLintner.

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Source: http://www.courier-journal.com/story/sports/college/kentucky/2015/01/20/ex-kentucky-football-player-chris-matthews-surprising-seattle-seahawks-star/22046805/

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Seattle Seahawks expected to be in close game against Carolina

The Seattle Seahawks have been tough at the end of the season, and even tougher at the end of games.

The defending Super Bowl champions, who sputtered early in the fall, have won their past six games and haven't allowed a fourth-quarter point during that stretch, allowing an average of just 66.0 yards rushing and 136.2 passing to finish with the NFL's top-ranked defense for the second consecutive year.

"We finish better than anybody," Seahawks linebacker Bobby Wagner said. "It's a mind-set of tackling, finishing. It kind of signifies what we are as a team. We always talk about finishing, and having nobody score in the fourth quarter is a key component to that."

Carolina is certainly finishing better than it started. The Panthers went 1-8-1 during one 10-game stretch, and were the first team to make the playoffs after going more than two months without a victory. However, the Panthers ended the season with four wins in a row, and last weekend beat Arizona in a wild-card game.

Still, knocking off Seattle will take more.

"We have to play better than we have," said Panthers Coach Ron Rivera, whose team lost at home to Seattle, 13-9, in Week 8. "We just have to be smarter than some of the things we did out there [in the first-round game]. We have to protect the football."

Seattle is looking for its fifth consecutive victory over Carolina in the past five seasons. In the last three of those games combined, Panthers quarterback Cam Newton directed his team to just one touchdown.

Ready to dance

In 2010, Pete Carroll's first season as Seattle's coach, the Seahawks finished 7-9 but won the NFC West to become the NFL's first team to make the playoffs with a losing record.

This season, the Panthers finished 7-8-1 to become the second such team.

"It isn't the prettiest thing, but we got a date to the prom at the end of the day," Carolina safety Roman Harper said. "We're here. She's probably not the best-looking one; she's not going to win prom queen. But we'll have a good time."

Always elusive

Seattle's Marshawn Lynch has gotten plenty of attention for his bruising ability to run the football. But Carolina's Jonathan Stewart has been brutally effective, too. Since replacing the injured DeAngelo Williams in Week 13, Stewart has led the NFL with a rushing average of 101.5 yards per game.

Stewart grew up in Lacey, Wash., and once played a Pop Warner game on the Seahawks' home field, back when the team played in the long-since-imploded Kingdome.

"He looks like he did running in high school," Carroll told reporters this week. "I watched him and recruited and tried to get him way back then."

Stewart chose Oregon over USC. Asked how well he got to know him when he was coach of the Trojans, Carroll said: "Not well enough. We didn't get him."

By the numbers

; CAR;SEA

Points scored; 21.2 (19); 24.6 (10)

Points allowed; 23.4 (21); 15.9 (1)

Pass offense; 219.4 (19); 203.1 (27)

Rush offense; 127.2 (7); 172.6 (1)

Pass defense; 227.8 (11); 185.6 (1)

Rush defense; 112.0 (16); 81.5 (3)

Sacks; 40 (13); 37 (20)

Penalty yards; 47.5 (5); 38.3 (1)

Turnovers; +3 (13); +9 (4)

Farmer's pick

This game should be pretty close, and pits similar teams on both sides of the ball. Neither team will be able to run the ball as well as they're accustomed to. The quarterbacks are going to try to run, and Russell Wilson is a lot quicker and more agile than Newton. If the Seahawks can pressure Newton, and they will, they'll force him to throw when his feet aren't set, and he'll make mistakes. Watch for him to turn the ball over at least three times.

SEAHAWKS 17

PANTHERS 10

Copyright 2015, Los Angeles Times

Source: http://www.latimes.com/sports/nfl/la-sp-seahawks-panthers-matchup-20150110-story.html

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