The Carolina Panthers needed the ball to bounce their way if they were going to upset the Seattle Seahawks on the road – and it just so happened their hopes came to fruition.

Panthers wide receiver Terrace Marshall Jr. submitted his name in the Catch of the Year category when he somehow managed to corral a pass from Sam Darnold in between his legs and around Seahawks cornerback Tariq Woolen for a first down in the second half. The little bit of luck was evident.

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On the next drive, Darnold found wide receiver Laviska Shenault Jr. off to his right side. He dove forward to make the catch behind the line of scrimmage. He was untouched and managed to salvage a few yards to inch Carolina closer to a touchdown. Raheem Blackshear would run for an 8-yard touchdown on the next play to put Carolina up 27-17 with 6:57 left in the game.

Seattle would punt on the next drive and score on their final drive, making it a one-possession game. The Seahawks failed to recover the onside kick and Carolina closed out the 30-24 victory.

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Darnold was 14 of 24 with 120 passing yards and a touchdown pass to Shi Smith. Shenault led the Panthers with four catches for 31 yards. Chuba Hubbard led the team with 14 carries for 74 yards, and he had three catches for 25 yards.

Carolina’s defense sacked Geno Smith three times and picked him off twice. Jaycee Horn and C.J. Henderson had an interception each.

Smith finished 21 of 36 with 264 passing yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions. Marquise Goodwin had five catches for 95 yards and a touchdown. DK Metcalf had five catches for 71 yards and a touchdown. Tyler Lockett added five catches for 60 yards and a touchdown.

But Seattle failed to pick up a critical victory in their fight to win the NFC West. They dropped to 7-6 on the year.

Carolina entered the game only two games behind the Tampa Bay Buccaneers for the lead in the NFC South. Their win and the Bucs’ loss inched them closer to the top.

Joe Burrow has been a dominant force for the Cincinnati Bengals over the last season and a half but the one thing he was missing on his resume was a victory over the Cleveland Browns.

He entered Sunday’s game against the AFC North foe and in-state rival 0-4, and it seemed as though the Bengals were entering a trap game as the Browns were playing their second game with Deshaun Watson under center. But as Burrow began the second quarter with a 15-yard touchdown pass to Ja’Marr Chase, those thoughts began to disappear.

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Cincinnati outscored Cleveland 13-3 at halftime and another Burrow touchdown pass – this time to Trenton Irwin – would help elevate the Bengals to a 23-10 victory Sunday over the Browns.

Burrow finished 18 of 33 with 239 passing yards, two scores and an interception. Samaje Perine would also score a touchdown on the ground to help boost the Bengals. Joe Mixon led the team with 96 yards on 14 carries. Chase had 10 catches for 119 yards. Irwin added two catches for 58 yards.

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The Browns would cut the deficit to 10 points late in the third quarter when Watson threw his first regular-season touchdown pass in more than 700 days to tight end David Njoku. Cleveland would turn the ball over twice on downs and fail to get into the end zone for the rest of the game.

Watson finished 26 for 42 with 276 passing yards, a touchdown pass and an interception. Watson added 33 yards on the ground on six attempts. Nick Chubb led all rushers with 34 yards.

Donovan Peoples-Jones finished with 114 yards on eight catches. It was his first time surpassing 100 yards receiving in a game since Week 6 of the 2021 season against the Arizona Cardinals.

Burrow and the Bengals’ win helped keep pace in the AFC North as the rival Baltimore Ravens barely got by the Pittsburgh Steelers behind their backup quarterbacks. Cincinnati and Baltimore match up in Week 18.