Richard Sherman and the Seattle Seahawks won the 2014 Super Bowl. Elaine Thompson / AP
Richard Sherman and the Seattle Seahawks won the 2014 Super Bowl. Elaine Thompson / AP

Sport

Rested Seattle Seahawks a daunting proposition for Carolina Panthers

After 13 straight weeks of games following an early bye, Seattle have been able to use the last week to return to full strength to host Carolina in the NFL play-offs.

Associated Press

January 06, 2015

When the NFL schedule was released last April, the early date of the Seattle Seahawks' bye stuck out as potentially more of a challenge than a closing stretch of six games against mostly NFC West foes.

So in reality, the biggest victory this past weekend for the Seahawks had nothing to do with getting matched against Carolina in the NFC divisional play-off this Saturday.

It was getting a chance to sit at home and do nothing after 13 straight weeks of games.

“Last year it was a little different only because we had a week later in the season. I think we had a bye Week 12 or Week 13. And this year we had it maybe Week 5. That makes for a very, very, very long season,” Seattle cornerback Richard Sherman said. “This one, I guess we needed it more, it helps us more this time around. Guys are banged up. Guys need a break on their bodies. I think we understood the sense of urgency throughout the season that we would need this. That’s why we fought so hard those last couple of games. We want to win them regardless, but we recognised as a team what we needed to get to, to get that rest we needed.”

The Seahawks took the weekend off before returning to practice Tuesday to begin preparations for hosting the Panthers. And there might not be a team outside the NFC West that Seattle has more familiarity with than Carolina. The teams have met four times since coach Pete Carroll took over the Seahawks in 2010, including each of the last three seasons in Charlotte.

While Seattle have won all three of those trips East, none have come easy. The Seahawks won 16-12 in 2012; 12-7 in the 2013 season opener; and earlier this season needed a touchdown in the final minute for a 13-9 victory.

The Seahawks would be the first defending champions since 2005 to win a play-off game the following season if they can get past the Panthers.

“Our bye being early in the year ... that’s tough. It could have gone either way,” Seattle QB Russell Wilson said. “It could have been a bad thing for us or a really good thing for us and I was telling the guys back then that it could be a really good thing for us because hopefully we could get on a roll and stay on that roll and sure enough we did.”

Seattle should be close to full health when the Panthers arrive. The most important addition could be the return of centre Max Unger after he missed the final six regular-season games with knee and ankle injuries suffered in the Week 11 loss at Kansas City.

Seattle have used Patrick Lewis and Lemuel Jeanpierre at centre with Unger out. But Unger is Seattle’s most experienced offensive lineman despite playing in just six games this season.

The Seahawks expect cornerback Tharold Simon and tight end Cooper Helfet to also be available after missing games at the end of the regular season.

There are two injury concerns that even a week of rest might not have answered for Seattle. Defensive tackle Jordan Hill suffered a sprained knee in the season finale against St Louis and backup safety Jeron Johnson dislocated his elbow. No updates about the status of either player are expected until Carroll’s next media availability on Tuesday.

Seattle did add depth on their defensive line by using an open roster spot to sign defensive tackle Landon Cohen on Monday. Cohen hasn’t played in a game since the end of the 2013 regular season. He has spent time with Detroit, Jacksonville, New England, Dallas and Chicago.

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While you're here
Transgender report
Why your domicile status is important

Your UK residence status is assessed using the statutory residence test. While your residence status – ie where you live - is assessed every year, your domicile status is assessed over your lifetime.

Your domicile of origin generally comes from your parents and if your parents were not married, then it is decided by your father. Your domicile is generally the country your father considered his permanent home when you were born. 

UK residents who have their permanent home ("domicile") outside the UK may not have to pay UK tax on foreign income. For example, they do not pay tax on foreign income or gains if they are less than £2,000 in the tax year and do not transfer that gain to a UK bank account.

A UK-domiciled person, however, is liable for UK tax on their worldwide income and gains when they are resident in the UK.

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Cyber warfare - Shaped by geopolitical tension, hostile actors seek to infiltrate and compromise national infrastructure, using one country’s systems as a springboard to launch attacks on others.

The burning issue

The internal combustion engine is facing a watershed moment – major manufacturer Volvo is to stop producing petroleum-powered vehicles by 2021 and countries in Europe, including the UK, have vowed to ban their sale before 2040. The National takes a look at the story of one of the most successful technologies of the last 100 years and how it has impacted life in the UAE.

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Mercer, the investment consulting arm of US services company Marsh & McLennan, expects its wealth division to at least double its assets under management (AUM) in the Middle East as wealth in the region continues to grow despite economic headwinds, a company official said.

Mercer Wealth, which globally has $160 billion in AUM, plans to boost its AUM in the region to $2-$3bn in the next 2-3 years from the present $1bn, said Yasir AbuShaban, a Dubai-based principal with Mercer Wealth.

“Within the next two to three years, we are looking at reaching $2 to $3 billion as a conservative estimate and we do see an opportunity to do so,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Mercer does not directly make investments, but allocates clients’ money they have discretion to, to professional asset managers. They also provide advice to clients.

“We have buying power. We can negotiate on their (client’s) behalf with asset managers to provide them lower fees than they otherwise would have to get on their own,” he added.

Mercer Wealth’s clients include sovereign wealth funds, family offices, and insurance companies among others.

From its office in Dubai, Mercer also looks after Africa, India and Turkey, where they also see opportunity for growth.

Wealth creation in Middle East and Africa (MEA) grew 8.5 per cent to $8.1 trillion last year from $7.5tn in 2015, higher than last year’s global average of 6 per cent and the second-highest growth in a region after Asia-Pacific which grew 9.9 per cent, according to consultancy Boston Consulting Group (BCG). In the region, where wealth grew just 1.9 per cent in 2015 compared with 2014, a pickup in oil prices has helped in wealth generation.

BCG is forecasting MEA wealth will rise to $12tn by 2021, growing at an annual average of 8 per cent.

Drivers of wealth generation in the region will be split evenly between new wealth creation and growth of performance of existing assets, according to BCG.

Another general trend in the region is clients’ looking for a comprehensive approach to investing, according to Mr AbuShaban.

“Institutional investors or some of the families are seeing a slowdown in the available capital they have to invest and in that sense they are looking at optimizing the way they manage their portfolios and making sure they are not investing haphazardly and different parts of their investment are working together,” said Mr AbuShaban.

Some clients also have a higher appetite for risk, given the low interest-rate environment that does not provide enough yield for some institutional investors. These clients are keen to invest in illiquid assets, such as private equity and infrastructure.

“What we have seen is a desire for higher returns in what has been a low-return environment specifically in various fixed income or bonds,” he said.

“In this environment, we have seen a de facto increase in the risk that clients are taking in things like illiquid investments, private equity investments, infrastructure and private debt, those kind of investments were higher illiquidity results in incrementally higher returns.”

The Abu Dhabi Investment Authority, one of the largest sovereign wealth funds, said in its 2016 report that has gradually increased its exposure in direct private equity and private credit transactions, mainly in Asian markets and especially in China and India. The authority’s private equity department focused on structured equities owing to “their defensive characteristics.”

Skewed figures

In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458. 

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Global events: Much of the UK’s economic woes were blamed on “increased global uncertainty”, which can be interpreted as the economic impact of the Ukraine war and the uncertainty over Donald Trump’s tariffs.

 

Growth forecasts: Cut for 2025 from 2 per cent to 1 per cent. The OBR watchdog also estimated inflation will average 3.2 per cent this year

 

Welfare: Universal credit health element cut by 50 per cent and frozen for new claimants, building on cuts to the disability and incapacity bill set out earlier this month

 

Spending cuts: Overall day-to day-spending across government cut by £6.1bn in 2029-30 

 

Tax evasion: Steps to crack down on tax evasion to raise “£6.5bn per year” for the public purse

 

Defence: New high-tech weaponry, upgrading HM Naval Base in Portsmouth

 

Housing: Housebuilding to reach its highest in 40 years, with planning reforms helping generate an extra £3.4bn for public finances

What is graphene?

Graphene is a single layer of carbon atoms arranged like honeycomb.

It was discovered in 2004, when Russian-born Manchester scientists Andrei Geim and Kostya Novoselov were "playing about" with sticky tape and graphite - the material used as "lead" in pencils.

Placing the tape on the graphite and peeling it, they managed to rip off thin flakes of carbon. In the beginning they got flakes consisting of many layers of graphene. But as they repeated the process many times, the flakes got thinner.

By separating the graphite fragments repeatedly, they managed to create flakes that were just one atom thick. Their experiment had led to graphene being isolated for the very first time.

At the time, many believed it was impossible for such thin crystalline materials to be stable. But examined under a microscope, the material remained stable, and when tested was found to have incredible properties.

It is many times times stronger than steel, yet incredibly lightweight and flexible. It is electrically and thermally conductive but also transparent. The world's first 2D material, it is one million times thinner than the diameter of a single human hair.

But the 'sticky tape' method would not work on an industrial scale. Since then, scientists have been working on manufacturing graphene, to make use of its incredible properties.

In 2010, Geim and Novoselov were awarded the Nobel Prize for Physics. Their discovery meant physicists could study a new class of two-dimensional materials with unique properties.