SEATTLE — Woody Johnson will have to wait at least another week for the head coach of his dreams. And if the Seahawks defense has its way, he’ll have to wait even longer than that.  Dan Quinn is still too busy coaching the best defense in the NFL, and on Saturday night at CenturyLink Field, he gave everyone one more look at why he is the favorite for the Jet job, guiding his unit to one more record in a 31-17 dismantling of the Carolina Panthers in the NFC divisional playoffs. The Jets have interviewed Quinn already, but they can’t make a move on him until Seattle’s playoff run is over.  Quinn’s defense forced a Jonathan Stewart fumble on the game’s first play from scrimmage. And the defense sealed the victory with 5:55 left, when the underdogs still held a sliver of hope, and Cam Newton made his final mistake.  With Carolina trailing by 14 on second-and-4 from the Seattle 13, Newton spied tight end Ed Dickson open in the flat and fired — except Newton threw the ball to Kam Chancellor, the Seahawks safety who intercepted the pass at the 10 and raced the next 90 yards for the game-sealing TD that made it 31-10.  “I was looking at Cam,” Chancellor said. “You could see him under duress. He just wanted to get rid of the ball fast, so I stayed next to my guy, and he just turned and threw it.”  It was the longest scoring play in franchise postseason history. Naturally, it had to be from a defender, right? For two seasons, these Seahawks have been built around Quinn’s suffocating “D.”  “That’s Seahawk football,” receiver Doug Baldwin said of Chancellor’s score. “I’m not surprised. We have a good defense.”  Quinn’s defense pushed Seattle into its second straight NFC Championship Game next Sunday. The defending champs await the winner of this Sunday’s Cowboys-Packers showdown at Lambeau Field, and they look as imposing as ever. They have now won seven straight since a 24-20 loss to the Chiefs on Nov. 16, and their defense looks near-impenetrable.  Everything seemed to be clicking on Saturday against the overwhelmed Panthers. Russell Wilson passed for three TDs, a postseason career high, Chancellor (11 bone-crushing tackles) did his best impression of the Tasmanian Devil and was all over the field, and the defense forced three turnovers, all charged to Newton.  It all came together in the second half, when Seattle outscored Carolina 17-0 before Newton completed a garbage-time TD pass to Kelvin Benjamin with 2:34 to play.  “We’re playing for each other,” said always-loud cornerback Richard Sherman. “Guys are playing selfless; there aren’t any egos, there aren’t any agendas, and guys just want to do whatever it takes to win. Guys are playing for one another, they don't care about stats."  But the stats are starting to come, and the offense, long considered the weak link on the team, is starting to find its groove. Marshawn Lynch was held to 59 rushing yards on Saturday, and Wilson was sluggish to start the first quarter, but with 50 seconds left in the period, he lobbed a pass over the entire Carolina defense for Baldwin, who raced under it in the end zone for a 16-yard score.  Then, with 4:54 left in the half, Wilson gave Seattle a 14-7 edge it would never relinquish, launching a rainbow from his own 37 for receiver Jermaine Kearse, who held off safety Bene Benwikere with his left hand and cradled the reception with his right, then raced to the end zone and leaped over the pylon. The lead grew to 24-10 with 10:26 left in the game, when Wilson added his third TD pass, a 25-yarder to Luke Willson.  “That’s something that we really cherish, explosive plays,” Seahawks coach Pete Carroll said. “There were some beautiful plays. Jermaine had a terrific game.”  But these Seahawks have always been about defense, and after the game, they couldn’t stop talking about Chancellor and his well-timed interception. It was the play that capped the night — a dynamic night for Chancellor.  Long before he snuffed out any hope of a miracle Panther comeback, he made his mark on his game at the end of the first half, twice leaping clear across the Carolina offensive line to nearly block Graham Gano’s field goal tries. The first time he drew a false start penalty, and the second time he was called for running into the kicker. Gano eventually kicked a 35-yard field goal to make it 14-10 at the half, but the plays left an impression.  “We call him Bam Bam,” Sherman said. “He goes to a very dark place. . . . He can take your soul.”  So can the Seahawks defense. And that’s why the NFL will keep waiting on Dan Quinn.
There was an open receiver. And then, there was Kam Chancellor with the ball and the longest touchdown in Seahawks postseason history.