Tag Archives: Marshawn Lynch

State of the team, Week 15: Los Angeles

Hawks have to keep running the ball

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logo-green-bayPete Carroll knows his team has to keep trying to run the ball if it is going to keep winning. That was true vs. the Rams and certainly will apply in the playoffs.

The question: Will the offensive line get it back together or will Seattle have to win the way it did against Los Angeles?

The Seahawks had rolled up 655 rushing yards, at a 6.1 average, over four games heading into last Thursday, leading to some confidence that they might be able to buck their trend of poor performances against the Rams.

But they instead conjured one of their worst rushing games of the season, averaging a season-low 2.4 yards per carry. It was their sixth game under 3.0 this season — the most in Carroll’s seven seasons. It also was the worst rushing performance by that metric since Russell Wilson became QB.

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State of the team, Week 13: Carolina

Hawks return to setting season highs

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logo-carolinaApparently Pete Carroll was right: That dud in Tampa in Week 12 was an exception to the Seahawks’ new rule.

Their explosion in a prime-time payback game vs. Carolina was their third season-best performance in the past four weeks.

In the 40-7 blowout, they set season highs for points and rushing (240) and total (534) yards as Thomas Rawls and Tyler Lockett showed what they can do when healthy.

On a night Marshawn Lynch showed up on the sideline, Rawls had his best game of the season: 106 yards and two touchdowns on 15 carries.

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Franchise history, The roster

Spiller helped Hawks get Lynch, now follows him

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lynch-and-spillerA big reason the Seahawks were able to get Marshawn Lynch in 2010 is C.J. Spiller, so it’s somewhat ironic that the guy who helped Seattle get Beast Mode now steps into the same backfield.

Spiller was the ninth overall pick by Buffalo in 2010, joining Lynch and Fred Jackson in a suddenly – and surprisingly — stacked Bills backfield. John Schneider, in his first year running the Hawks alongside Pete Carroll, tried several times to acquire Lynch that year – finally getting the Bills to part with him in October.

While Lynch went on to star for the Hawks for most of the next six seasons, Spiller ended up a part-time player behind Jackson in 2010 and 2011 before breaking out in 2012, with 1,244 yards (6 per carry), 43 catches and eight total touchdowns. He hasn’t done much since, though, as injuries have knocked him around.

The Hawks obviously are hoping that won’t be a problem as he steps in as the third-down back.

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Week 3: San Francisco
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CHAWK LINES -- 49ers at Seahawks

Russell Wilson said “last week was a battle” and his ankle is feeling better.

Thomas Rawls is doubtful with a shin injury, and Tyler Lockett is listed as questionable.

Rawls has been too overzealous and needs to slow down a bit once he is back out there, coaches say.

Lockett said, “As long as I’m alive, I’ll keep on fighting.”

Jimmy Graham will “continue to grow with us,” Darrell Bevell said.

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CHAWK LINES, Week 3: San Francisco
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CHAWK LINES -- 49ers at Seahawks

The Seahawks have been bad on offense for about six games now.

There are a lot of reasons for the poor running attack so far.

With C.J. Prosise and Thomas Rawls ailing, the Seahawks loaded up on running backs at this week’s tryout session.

One of the only good things on offense in L.A. was the re-emergence of Jimmy Graham, who feels “like a beast.”

Larry Stone says it’s not time to panic yet: “This Seahawks team, under this quarterback, has earned a little bit of rope.”

As disappointing as the offensive stats are, the defensive stats have been downright nasty.

Here are six 49ers to watch when they play in Seattle on Sunday.

Marshawn Lynch supports Colin Kaepernick’s protest against cop violence. (Anyone who has a problem with it isn’t paying attention to the news: Another unarmed, non-threatening black man was killed by a cop in Tulsa this week.)

 

Fun & games, It's bigger than football

Lynch talks retirement & more on trek with Grylls

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lynch-with-gryllsMost Seahawks fans can’t get enough of Marshawn Lynch, even in retirement, and he provided one of the best glimpses into his character yet during his appearance on “Running Wild with Bear Grylls” earlier this week.

Lynch was alternately hilarious and philosophical, opening up to Grylls — who obviously knows little of American football and was not out to get anything from Lynch beyond his cooperation — as they bonded on a two-day trek through the Corsican Mountains.

During one rest stop along their journey, Grylls asked Lynch why he retired from the NFL.

“I’ve been doing this since I was 12, 13 years old. It starts to add up. Wear and tear,” Lynch said. “Full body. And mentally. Having to wake yourself up to go and put in all the work that it’s going to take. You know, the physical, the mental. The media starting to wear — all of it. It just all come together.”

Asked the highlight of his career, he said, “Most people don’t get to walk out or get to go out the way that I did, so that’s probably the biggest highlight.

“When it’s time, it’s time.”

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Contracts

Will Bennett take the Lynch deferment plan?

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Bennett and LynchIt sure looks like Michael Bennett is considering holding out, after all. Why else would his agent come to Seattle on the eve of training camp?

Bennett apparently wants at least $14 million a year, but will he settle for the Marshawn Lynch deferment plan — the deal his new agent, Doug Hendrickson, worked out in 2014?

Per ESPN’s Josina Anderson, Hendrickson and the Seahawks will discuss the Pro Bowl defensive lineman’s “desires” for a new deal this week.

Bennett wants a two- or three-year extension that pays him among the top six or seven defensive linemen in the NFL, Anderson reported. That means at least $14 million per year — double what he is making now.

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The roster, Training camp

Not a ‘knucklehead’ anymore, but is it too late for Michael?

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Michael to CowboysIt took Christine Michael a long time to figure out how not to be a “knucklehead.” But is it too late now?

The 2013 second-round pick never cared enough to try to unseat Robert Turbin as Marshawn Lynch’s backup. And then, last year, he lost his roster spot to undrafted Thomas Rawls, who was such a revelation that he is expected to replace Lynch permanently as Seattle’s No. 1 back.

It took injuries to Lynch, Turbin (waived injured last summer) and Rawls for Michael to finally get some playing time in Seattle. And that happened only after he was traded to the Cowboys, released, picked up by the Redskins and released again.

Michael did well in his return to Seattle, averaging 4.9 yards per carry in the final three games of the season and rushing for 70 yards in the playoff win over Minnesota (Lynch returned for the loss to Carolina, so Michael did not get a carry in that game).

Michael recently told USA Today that he started taking the game more seriously.

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CHAWK LINES, Training camp
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CHAWK LINES -- Training camp new

With training camp starting in one week, let’s look at some pre-camp player reports:

Michael Bennett is griping about his contract yet again. But don’t believe him when he says, “Just get rid of me.”

Russell Wilson, who now looks almost as hulked up as Robert Turbin, told Q13 Fox: “We’ll try to bring back Super Bowl 51 if we can. We’ll do everything we can, every day. That’s a promise.”

Justin Britt’s switch to center is one of the major camp stories to watch.

Pete Carroll reminds us why the Seahawks think J’Marcus Webb will succeed with them.

Can Thomas Rawls take over for Marshawn Lynch — even if he doesn’t play in the preseason?

John Clayton projects Rawls to get 16-17 carries a game, with the other backs getting six or seven.

Christine Michael — among those trying to replace Lynch — admits, “I was just being a young guy, just being a knucklehead.”

Like last year, all eyes will be on Jimmy Graham — from camp through the season.

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Coaches

Cable ‘absolutely’ wants to be a coach again

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Okung and CableIf Seahawks past and present have anything to say about it, Tom Cable will coach an NFL team again.

According to the Huffington Post, Cable “absolutely” wants to be a coach again, and everyone from Pete Carroll to Dan Quinn to Marshawn Lynch is lobbying on his behalf.

The first part of the Post piece is a rehash of stuff Cable has said in several offseason interviews: a progress report on Seattle’s mostly brand-new offensive line and a reiteration that the coaches are very focused on trying to pick up where they left off last season.

The interesting stuff comes at the end, where Cable says he wants to be a coach again — but only in the right circumstance, which he has observed firsthand on a Super Bowl team created by John Schneider, Carroll, Cable and others.

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