The Seattle Seahawks just added a major wild card right before Week 17 in running back Marshawn Lynch. If he’s even close to the man he used to be, the Seahawks could change the face of the NFC Playoffs.
The Seattle Seahawks called on an old friend to change the face of their offense. After only putting 13 points on a bad Arizona Cardinals teams at home, the team signed Marshawn Lynch to bolster their lineup right before the postseason.
Lynch has not played this season, so it’s hard to predict exactly what he’s going to bring to the table. It has everything to do with what he’s been doing in his spare time. Has he been training with high-priced workout experts that are keeping him in game shape, or is he relying on his instincts and his natural talent to try and be effective at 33 years old?
The Seahawks offense has been reliant on the running game all season. They rank third in the league with 138.3 rushing yards per game. However, it’s become Chris Carson and everyone else. Last week against the Cardinals, besides Carson and Russell Wilson, the players with rushing attempts for the Seahawks were David Moore, Travis Homer and C.J. Prosise. Homer is a 6th-round rookie with eight attempts this season. Moore is a wide receiver, and Prosise is a player we’ve tried before, but we know his role is not to be relied upon.
Lynch immediately comes in to the Seahawks lineup and scares opponents. Last season with the Raiders, he wasn’t great, but he wasn’t bad either. He averaged 4.2 yards per carry, but only played six games. He also caught 15 passes in those six games, which might be an important outlet for Wilson. The Seahawks have thrown 80 passes to backs this season, which shows that if Lynch doesn’t get his number called initially he can still impact the play.
We all know what Marshawn Lynch means to the Seahawks franchise. His run against the New Orleans Saints on a 7-9 Seahawks team jumpstarted this era that led to the team’s only Super Bowl win. Will we get that Lynch, going Beastmode on opposing defenses? Probably not, but that doesn’t mean this move might not change the trajectory of the NFC.
Right now, the Seahawks are set to play the Philadelphia Eagles on the road in the first round of the playoffs. However, they take on the San Francisco 49ers in Week 17 in a winner-take-all matchup. If the Seahawks are able to go into San Francisco and win, they usurp the 49ers as champions of the NFC West.
The 49ers are currently the number-one seed in the playoffs, but a loss doesn’t necessarily throw Seattle into that spot. If the Saints and Green Bay Packers both win in Week 17, a likely proposition, they would take the first-round byes, leaving Seattle as the third seed in the NFC. Already, signing Lynch could rework the playoff picture before it even starts.
Even if the Seahawks lost to the 49ers, it might be better for the Seahawks overall. Seattle is 7-1 on the road this season. If they lost this game, they will likely play on the road throughout the playoffs. They would start with a game against the Philadelphia Eagles, who are the most flawed team in all of the playoffs. The Seahawks might even be favored in that game.
The Eagles do have the third-best rushing defense in football, so adding a player like Lynch could be an X-factor. Having no tape on this player in the Seattle offense is a huge advantage going into a playoff game.
If they won that game, that’s where things get interesting.
They would more than likely head back to San Francisco, a place they’ve already won this year. The 49ers were able to hold off Todd Gurley when it came to yardage, but they couldn’t stop him when it mattered. He still scored two touchdowns to make it a very interesting game in Week 16.
That’s the kind of impact Lynch can bring. Maybe he won’t go for 100 yards, but with the game on the line you can trust him to pound it into the endzone. Pete Carroll has learned his lesson when he’s close to the goalline with the game on the line and Marshawn Lynch in the backfield.
No matter who Seattle could play in the NFC Title Game, Lynch could be a game changer. By then, his legs would be fresh and used to a few games. If they get that far, we have to imagine he’s playing at least like a subset of Beastmode. We expect at least one major run in a big spot that’s going to have us pulling out our 24 jerseys one last time.