It would be completely fitting for the Mayans to be correct and the world to end this Friday. After all, the Seahawks appear to have found their franchise quarterback (just kidding about the appear part!), look like the most dominant team in the NFL, and I'm attempting to have some fun with numbers. All clear signs that the world will probably end this weekend. For those who don't know, I'm atrocious at math. I won't mince any words. When I was a kid I was a numbers prodigy when it came to sports but that was more because of my photographic memory and that's still the case. However, when thinking about Marshawn Lynch's production from the past 2 demolitions, I had to investigate.
At a glance, the numbers are simply incredible.
ATT/Yds/YPC/TD/Lng
21/241/11.4/4/54
Don't forget to sprinkle in 6 First Downs. So 10 of the 21 carries, nearly 50%, have resulted in either ANOTHER SEAHAWKS FIRST DOWN! or a Touchdown! When you look at that line, you just can't help but smile. I know I can't! The first thing that pops out to me is that it looks like something Lynch probably put up in a game against Cal-Poly or UC Irvine while he was at Cal. You see games like this in college all the time. When you sit back and reflect upon the fact that this is actually TWO games against NFL defenses, in back to back weeks, it's even more amazing.
Really, since the Chicago game Beast Mode has been especially, uhh... beasty? Beastly? Whatever the case may be, it's obvious that Marshawn is following suit with the rest of the offense and thriving with the continued use of the Zone-Read Option. The hesitation it causes when diagnosing the play is an absolute nightmare for opposing defenses. Not being able to anticipate the run and swarm Lynch is getting a lot of "defenseless" players roughed up out there. There's probably not many things scarier than Marshawn Lynch coming at you with a full head of steam while you haven't even decided whether or not he has the ball. As you stand there flat flooted and scrambling to recover, a calm washes over you as you realize that the Oakland Tech product is going to leave you a mangled mess laying in a cloud of dust.
The fun with numbers doesn't stop there. I wanted to dig deeper to see where 'Shawn's successful runs were coming from. I'm broke as a joke, so no NFL Replay for me this year. Next year, it will be a required buy for me as I further try to advance my coverage of the Seahawks. I'd be really interested to see these 21 runs broken down by formation. That's what's missing here. However, let's have fun with what we've got, shall we?
Marshawn Lynch Carries By Quarter (ATT/Yds/YPC/TD)
1st Quarter - 10/90/9.0/2/
2nd Quarter - 7/98/14.0/1
3rd Quarter - 4/28/7.0/1
4th Quarter - NOT FREAKIN' AVAILABLE!
If I told you that the Seahawks would be crushing teams at the end of the season and that Marshawn Lynch would have ZERO, zilch, nada, goose egg carries in the 4th quarter over a 2 game stretch you'd be doing cartwheels. When you consider 'Shawn's history with back/foot problems this can only bode well for the Seahawks as the season continues. Getting your workhorse back quality rest down the stretch while annihilating the opposition is extremely rare. Consider the fact that the Beast has only carried the ball four times in the second half of the past 2 games COMBINED and you further get the picture of how devastating this offense has been.
Marshawn Lynch Production By Direction (ATT/Yds/YPC/TD)
When Shaun Alexander was in town, the misconception was that Alexander achieved all of his success running behind Walter Jones and Steve Hutchinson. While it's true that that remains one of the greatest LT/LG duo's in football history, the Seahawks still managed to have success running behind Robbie "I think I sharted" Tobeck, Chris "50 Shades of" Gray, and Sean "Not Heather" Locklear. Similarly, a developing common theme amongst 12's is that Russell Okung is holding it down while Breno Giacomini is holding back the Seahawks. Let's take a look at Marshawn's production going left, middle, or right over the past 2 historic games.
LEFT - 9/88/9.7/3
MIDDLE - 5/79/15.8/0
RIGHT - 7/74/10.5/1
Keep in mind that Marshawn's 54 yard run up the middle against Buffalo obviously alters the numbers just a little. I would not expect the Seahawks to rack up 15.8 YPC while rushing up the middle. However, the point is that Marshawn has been picking up chunks of yardage no matter who he's designed to run behind. Giacomini caught a lot of grief, from myself as well, for his penalties plague from earlier in the season. He's put aside the penalties of late and has been impressive in run blocking. He deserves some credit. Another guy who deserves credit is John Moffitt. Asides from being one of my favorite Seahawks, John's also been the Seahawks good luck charm. It just seems that whenever he's in the lineup the Seahawks have put up monster games on the ground. Maybe he's rubbing fruit on his jock strap for good luck like Pedro Cerrano in the movie Major League. Maybe he has a voodoo doll named JoBu. Whatever he's doing, it's working and his good juju is rubbing off on the Hawks offense.
Also interesting to note that 'Shawn has scored 3 times when running behind Russell Okung and Paul McQuistan. Leon Washington and Russell Wilson have also ran it in when running to the left side. They'll never be confused for Walter Jones and Steve Hutchinson but Okung and McQuistan have been mauling, as well as ass-blocking, the opposition as of late. Back to Marshawn and his beastliness...
Marshawn Lynch Production by Down (ATT/Yds/YPC/TD)
Let's take a closer look at Marshawn's production by down over the past 2 games, shall we?
1st Down - 13/96/7.3/2
2nd Down - 7/112/16.0/1
3rd Down - 1/33/33.0/1
That 3rd Down stat certainly stands out, huh? Beautiful. It's obvious that the Seahawks have been extremely successful running on 1st and 2nd down over the past 2 games. Hell, they've been extremely successful at everything. While they haven't had many 1st downs this shows that the team is leaning on Russell Wilson on 3rd downs. The few opportunities Wilson has faced on 3rd down have usually ended up in a Seahawks First Down, which is great news.
Want to know what's really incredible about Marshawn's production over the past 2 games? Over that span he has not had a carry for negative yardage or no gain. He's had 3 carries of 2 yards, 2 carries for 1 yard, and 1 for 3, otherwise every other rush he's attempted has ended up going for at least 4 yards, which is usually the benchmark for a "solid" run.
The Niners come in to town, so it's time to put these numbers aside and focus on preparing for a legitimate All-World defense. 11 Yards Per Carry just ain't gonna happen. Last season at the CLink, we saw Marshawn score the first rushing touchdown the 49ers had allowed all season. Skittles rained down from the stands and the frustration on the face of the 49ers defenders was visible. However, San Fran got the last laugh. Hopefully this time it'll be Marshawn who laughs last.
Hold My Dick, the Remix
At a glance, the numbers are simply incredible.
ATT/Yds/YPC/TD/Lng
21/241/11.4/4/54
Don't forget to sprinkle in 6 First Downs. So 10 of the 21 carries, nearly 50%, have resulted in either ANOTHER SEAHAWKS FIRST DOWN! or a Touchdown! When you look at that line, you just can't help but smile. I know I can't! The first thing that pops out to me is that it looks like something Lynch probably put up in a game against Cal-Poly or UC Irvine while he was at Cal. You see games like this in college all the time. When you sit back and reflect upon the fact that this is actually TWO games against NFL defenses, in back to back weeks, it's even more amazing.
Really, since the Chicago game Beast Mode has been especially, uhh... beasty? Beastly? Whatever the case may be, it's obvious that Marshawn is following suit with the rest of the offense and thriving with the continued use of the Zone-Read Option. The hesitation it causes when diagnosing the play is an absolute nightmare for opposing defenses. Not being able to anticipate the run and swarm Lynch is getting a lot of "defenseless" players roughed up out there. There's probably not many things scarier than Marshawn Lynch coming at you with a full head of steam while you haven't even decided whether or not he has the ball. As you stand there flat flooted and scrambling to recover, a calm washes over you as you realize that the Oakland Tech product is going to leave you a mangled mess laying in a cloud of dust.
The fun with numbers doesn't stop there. I wanted to dig deeper to see where 'Shawn's successful runs were coming from. I'm broke as a joke, so no NFL Replay for me this year. Next year, it will be a required buy for me as I further try to advance my coverage of the Seahawks. I'd be really interested to see these 21 runs broken down by formation. That's what's missing here. However, let's have fun with what we've got, shall we?
Marshawn Lynch Carries By Quarter (ATT/Yds/YPC/TD)
1st Quarter - 10/90/9.0/2/
2nd Quarter - 7/98/14.0/1
3rd Quarter - 4/28/7.0/1
4th Quarter - NOT FREAKIN' AVAILABLE!
If I told you that the Seahawks would be crushing teams at the end of the season and that Marshawn Lynch would have ZERO, zilch, nada, goose egg carries in the 4th quarter over a 2 game stretch you'd be doing cartwheels. When you consider 'Shawn's history with back/foot problems this can only bode well for the Seahawks as the season continues. Getting your workhorse back quality rest down the stretch while annihilating the opposition is extremely rare. Consider the fact that the Beast has only carried the ball four times in the second half of the past 2 games COMBINED and you further get the picture of how devastating this offense has been.
Marshawn Lynch Production By Direction (ATT/Yds/YPC/TD)
When Shaun Alexander was in town, the misconception was that Alexander achieved all of his success running behind Walter Jones and Steve Hutchinson. While it's true that that remains one of the greatest LT/LG duo's in football history, the Seahawks still managed to have success running behind Robbie "I think I sharted" Tobeck, Chris "50 Shades of" Gray, and Sean "Not Heather" Locklear. Similarly, a developing common theme amongst 12's is that Russell Okung is holding it down while Breno Giacomini is holding back the Seahawks. Let's take a look at Marshawn's production going left, middle, or right over the past 2 historic games.
LEFT - 9/88/9.7/3
MIDDLE - 5/79/15.8/0
RIGHT - 7/74/10.5/1
Keep in mind that Marshawn's 54 yard run up the middle against Buffalo obviously alters the numbers just a little. I would not expect the Seahawks to rack up 15.8 YPC while rushing up the middle. However, the point is that Marshawn has been picking up chunks of yardage no matter who he's designed to run behind. Giacomini caught a lot of grief, from myself as well, for his penalties plague from earlier in the season. He's put aside the penalties of late and has been impressive in run blocking. He deserves some credit. Another guy who deserves credit is John Moffitt. Asides from being one of my favorite Seahawks, John's also been the Seahawks good luck charm. It just seems that whenever he's in the lineup the Seahawks have put up monster games on the ground. Maybe he's rubbing fruit on his jock strap for good luck like Pedro Cerrano in the movie Major League. Maybe he has a voodoo doll named JoBu. Whatever he's doing, it's working and his good juju is rubbing off on the Hawks offense.
Also interesting to note that 'Shawn has scored 3 times when running behind Russell Okung and Paul McQuistan. Leon Washington and Russell Wilson have also ran it in when running to the left side. They'll never be confused for Walter Jones and Steve Hutchinson but Okung and McQuistan have been mauling, as well as ass-blocking, the opposition as of late. Back to Marshawn and his beastliness...
Marshawn Lynch Production by Down (ATT/Yds/YPC/TD)
Let's take a closer look at Marshawn's production by down over the past 2 games, shall we?
1st Down - 13/96/7.3/2
2nd Down - 7/112/16.0/1
3rd Down - 1/33/33.0/1
That 3rd Down stat certainly stands out, huh? Beautiful. It's obvious that the Seahawks have been extremely successful running on 1st and 2nd down over the past 2 games. Hell, they've been extremely successful at everything. While they haven't had many 1st downs this shows that the team is leaning on Russell Wilson on 3rd downs. The few opportunities Wilson has faced on 3rd down have usually ended up in a Seahawks First Down, which is great news.
Want to know what's really incredible about Marshawn's production over the past 2 games? Over that span he has not had a carry for negative yardage or no gain. He's had 3 carries of 2 yards, 2 carries for 1 yard, and 1 for 3, otherwise every other rush he's attempted has ended up going for at least 4 yards, which is usually the benchmark for a "solid" run.
The Niners come in to town, so it's time to put these numbers aside and focus on preparing for a legitimate All-World defense. 11 Yards Per Carry just ain't gonna happen. Last season at the CLink, we saw Marshawn score the first rushing touchdown the 49ers had allowed all season. Skittles rained down from the stands and the frustration on the face of the 49ers defenders was visible. However, San Fran got the last laugh. Hopefully this time it'll be Marshawn who laughs last.
Hold My Dick, the Remix
