CHARLOTTE — The defense wouldn’t let Ricky Watters rumble; Tim Biakabutuka didn’t fumble; and for a change, Panther fans had no reason to grumble.

Tumbling, stumbling Carolina — at least formerly tumbling, stumbling Carolina — enjoyed one of its easiest wins in years with a 26-3 romp over sleepy Seattle at Ericsson Stadium on a cool Sunday afternoon.

It was win or pack in the season for the Panthers, who improved to 2-3. And win they did in their first meeting ever with coach Mike Holmgren’s Seahawks (2-4).

New offensive coordinator Richard Williamson, who took over for Bill Musgrave this week, certainly didn’t hurt and probably helped.

“Guys didn’t want to mess up,” said Carolina’s Kris Mangum. “Richard doesn’t accept messing up.”

“Richard did a nice job — made nice calls,” offered Panther head coach George Seifert, smiling for the first time in weeks. “But the big thing today was that we didn’t have the miscues and the errors that have plagued us in recent games.”

To a man, the Panthers talked about a new attitude and how things were turning around, but before anyone gets too excited, the single biggest reason for the rout had to be that Seattle was flat-out exhausted. The Seahawks were playing their third straight road game. Monday night, they played in Kansas City. Then they flew back to the West Coast. Then they flew to Charlotte.

Ironically, the representatives of a city known for Boeing were done in by the airplane. The Seahawks’ jet-lagged legs were obvious — from star running back Watters to a two-steps-slow defensive secondary which couldn’t have contained Donald Trump, much less Donald Hayes.

The Panthers took full advantage of their slow-motion foes, putting up a couple of first-half touchdowns to take control. Quarterback Steve Beuerlein, who had a big day with 332 passing yards, found wideout Hayes over the middle and Hayes raced 43 yards for Carolina’s first score. Then fullback William Floyd, who’d dropped a few in the early going, made a juggling catch at the goal-line and collapsed in the end zone to make it 14-0.

There was really only one moment of truth. That came with the Panthers on the march and all set to go up 21-0 with 5:24 left in the first half. That’s when Beuerlein made his worst decision and toss of the day, badly underthrowing a pass that was picked off by Seattle’s Chad Brown.

Based on their previous two disasters, the Panthers might have been expected, at that point, to allow the Seahawks back in the game. But they didn’t. Carolina’s defense, which was stout all day, promptly forced a three-and-out. Momentum went right back to thePanthers.

Carolina finished the second quarter with drives that netted long field goals (44 and 42 yards) by brand new placekicker Joe Nedney, cut recently by the Denver Broncos. Nedney’s kicks made it 20-0 at halftime and the standing joke on press row was that with Nedney replacing the unfortunately named Richie Cunningham, happy days had finally returned to Ericsson Stadium.

The second half was duller than a No. 2 pencil after a long morning of SAT taking. Carolina was content to use the clock with short, safe passes to tight end Wesley Walls (102 yards) and runs by the suddenly sure-handed Biakabutuka. Meanwhile, Carolina’s defense toyed with new Seattle quarterback, lefty Brock Huard, whose brother is a reserve quarterback for UNC.

Huard ended up with OK stats (19-for-34, 172 yards), but very little of it came when it mattered. The Panthers’ totally disregarded Huard’s ability to burn them deep and bunched eight and nine defenders within easy reach-out-and-touch distance of Watters.

“Their quarterback was young, so we talked about taking the run away and making the kid beat us,” said Panther strong safety Mike Minter. “We weren’t going to let Watters get started. If you let Ricky get started, he’s trouble.”

Seattle averted a shutout with a field goal late in the third quarter, but the Panthers stayed on cruise control and were never in any danger of fouling up this one.

“Every win is critical,” said Seifert. “But some are more critical than others. In light of the tough week we just had, this one was highly critical.”

“A win was imperative,” echoed talkative Panther strong safety Eugene Robinson. “Now, everyone’s attitude’s right and everyone’s happy. I’ll be braggin’ to my teammates all week about how good they are. This is one we can build on.”

NOTES:Holmgren, who was coaching Green Bay in Super Bowls not long ago, was clearly embarrassed by his team’s performance. “We were lousy in every phase of football,” he said. ... Panther receiver Muhsin Muhammad left the game with a tight hamstring. ... Seattle was the last franchise in the NFL to do battle with the Panthers. ... Biakabutuka, who had 103 yards on 23 carries, now has 2,070 rushing yards for his career. He passed the late Fred Lane (1,967 yards) as the team’s all-time leader. ... Next for the Panthers is a trip to New Orleans.