SEATTLE — I don’t know what it is about Sunday night games, but Seattle seems to thrive in the spotlight.

Seattle improved its prime-time football record to 18-3-1 all time with a commanding 37-7 win over the Carolina Panthers on Sunday night.

There were quite a few storylines floating through this game, especially from individuals. Here are some of the bigger stories coming out of the game:

• Earl Thomas — The defense was flying around. The defense was making Cam Newton ponder life away from football. The defense was rolling hard.

Then, on a Newton pass deep, Earl Thomas went up for what appeared to be an interception that would have sealed all of the momentum in fluorescent green. And Thomas was whipped by Kam Chancellor, who went up for the ball as well, accidentally.

Thomas landed hard. Thomas stayed on the ground. Thomas looked hurt. He was — a possible fractured left leg on the play ended his night.

One play after Thomas left the game, Newton threw a deep ball, which appeared to be more of an arm punt, to Ted Ginn Jr. Ginn caught it and rolled into the end zone for a 55-yard touchdown.

That was Carolina’s lone big play of the night. And, it did it with Seattle’s main defensive stalwart being carted into the medical tunnel.

“This game has been so good to me no regrets…,” Thomas tweeted just before halftime. “A lot is running through my mind including retirement thanks for all the prayers.”

A retirement hint just after he got the diagnosis smells like a snap reaction to a season-ending injury for Thomas. The tweet hit the stadium and the fanbase like a spark to dry grassland. The roar of the fire could be heard miles away.

Once the fire calms down, Seahawk fans will imagine Thomas will stick around.

• Thomas Rawls — For a few moments, Thomas and Rawls were both on the sidelines. Rawls went through concussion protocol while Thomas was in the medical room getting checked out and returned in the second half. This was good for the offense.

His first half of play was more than enough for fantasy football fans — 11 rushes, 103 yards, two touchdowns. His 45-yard sprint through a big hole in the Carolina defense for his second touchdown marked the beginning of the end of any resemblance of a competitive game.

Rawls’ style of running has been sorely missed by the Seahawks. It isn’t Marshawn Lynch-esque, but it is powerful enough to make defenses pause when he hits the hole. Carolina got beaten up trying to stop Rawls.

By the way, Lynch was in the building and on the bench for this game. It must be more enjoyable to be on the sideline when you know you aren’t getting into the game. He spent the time with Michael Bennett, hugged players and team personnel on the sideline and then ran into the locker room as Jimmy Graham was finishing the scoring with a touchdown catch early in the fourth quarter.

He’s all about that action, boss. Rawls, too.

• Cam Newton — If it wasn’t for the 55-yard touchdown pass to Ginn Jr., Newton’s best play of the night was being “benched” for the opening play of the game.

With everyone wondering what was going on, reserve quarterback Derek Anderson (a former Cleveland Brown, by the way) threw an ill-timed pass to Mike Tolbert. The ball was tipped and Seattle’s Mike Morgan caught it for the interception.

Newton violated a “dress code rule” and came back after Seattle kicked a field goal to “capitalize” on the turnover. After that, he ran and ran and ran away for his life from the Seattle defense.

All of that for a necktie that he forgot to pack. Damn, it wasn’t a good night for him, was it?

• Jonathan Stewart — The Timberline High School and University of Oregon grad had a rough night. He usually expects a lot of himself week in and week out, but he especially puts emphasis on games in Seattle.

He just didn’t get many chances to run the ball on Sunday.

Stewart ran for 50 yards on 11 carries on the night and was relegated to helping Newton stay up on pass protection when the Panthers fell behind. Most of his yards came when the game was out of reach, which made him an accessory to killing the clock.

You know, can anyone see Stewart in a Seahawks’ jersey before his playing career is done?

• Steven Hauschka — If you need a kicker to win a fantasy football contest, you can’t do much better than to get Hauschka for the stretch run in the postseason.

After a rough couple of weeks for the kicker, Hauschka had an easy night — 23, 37, 31 and 28 yards — on a 4-for-4 field-goal night. It must be easy when your defense is smothering the opposition and your offense is giving you short distances to kick a ball between the goal posts.

On a night like Sunday’s, a stout kicker is a luxury and a blessing. On a fantasy football team, he can kick you into a win.

• Tyler Lockett — The second-year speedy wide receiver from Kansas State is still running away from Carolina as you are reading this.

The 75-yard fly sweep to start the second half finished in the end zone and he could have just kept on running. It effectively ended the game, but league rules dictated the teams had to finish the time on the field and they obliged.

Lockett was just one of several wide receivers who were given sure-fire catches from quarterback Russell Wilson. Mr. Wilson threw for 277 yards on 26-for-36 attempts and one score and the offense rolled up 534 yards all together on the Panthers.

And all together, it was another Seahawk Sunday Night. Just ask Marshawn Lynch, if you can catch him.

Rob Burns: (360) 537-3926; rburns@thedailyworld.com; Twitter: @RobRVR.