It started Monday when Carolina coach Ron Rivera repeated his mantra that the next game the Panthers play is their most important because it's the next one.
Tight end Greg Olsen later added:
"We're not going to make it the Super Bowl. We're obviously going up to a difficult place to play; everyone knows that. They're a talented group; they're very good. But it's the fifth game for us, it's Week 6 of the season, and we're not going to base the rest of our season on one game.”
After they practice Wednesday before heading off on their bye weekend, and throughout next week, that's the gist of what most Panthers will likely say about their upcoming trip to Seattle. Sure, the Seahawks have a five-game win streak in the series that includes four wins over the past three seasons, but "it's just another game."
Yet, it isn't.
"Seattle's been the standard for the last couple years in the NFC, so they have that target on their back," cornerback Bené Benwikere said Tuesday during his weekly appearance on WFNZ's 'Primetime.'
"No matter how much anybody wants to say, coaches, anybody wants to say, 'Oh, we're not targeting them because we're our own people, we're our own players,' we've lost. So of course, they have that target. We want to beat them."
Benwikere's candor wasn't just appreciated, it's also understandable. One of the keys to Carolina's late-season turnaround, Benwikere was beaten by receiver Jermaine Kearse for a 63-yard touchdown in the second quarter of Seattle's playoff win. It was the only score Benwikere allowed as a rookie.
"Just for that simple play, I'm eager to get back. I almost had an interception and also I gave up that big touchdown. So I'm eager to capitalize and make those actual plays that I was so close to making, and I guess, redeem myself," Benwikere said.
"I don't like losing; they beat me. They beat us twice. They came to our house and beat us, and we went there and they beat us and I gave up a big play, so I look at that as I can't allow another big play. I need to step up my game in a sense, so for me, I look at it as it's not just another game."