Carroll must fix Seahawks on run, maybe with Lynch
I don't know if the Seattle Seahawks are serious about making a play for Buffalo running back Marshawn Lynch, but I know they should be. For that matter, they should be serious about making a play for any back who can help them get up and running again.
Yeah, I know, coach Pete Carroll talked up holdovers Julius Jones and Justin Forsett recently, and that's great. But if he's so sold on them why couldn't he wait to bring in LenDale White and
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| The Bills are being coy, but Marshawn Lynch is probably available. (Getty Images) |
Of course, that's not my problem. It's the conundrum Carroll faces now that White is gone, and he's down to Jones, Forsett and Washington, who, incidentally, is coming off a serious leg injury. Anyway, if Carroll is as committed to running the ball as he says -- and there's no reason not to believe him -- he better find more relief than rookie tackle Russell Okung.
Don't get me wrong, making changes up front will help. An assistant coach on last year's Seattle staff told me the Seahawks basically had one solid offensive lineman and that the club too often was overwhelmed at the point of attack. So adding Okung and assistant head coach Alex Gibbs to oversee the offensive line should help.
But you better find a lead back, too. While Forsett had his moments last season, he still ran for 619 yards, or less than a third of what NFL leader Chris Johnson produced. Nevertheless, it was only 44 yards shy of the team lead, which tells you why opponents dared the Seahawks to run.
It doesn't take a genius to figure out Seattle desperately needs a running back to produce yards and touchdowns. The last time that happened there was someone named Shaun Alexander in the backfield, and all the Seahawks did was win division titles and go to a Super Bowl.
Now, let's see what happened in the two years after he left. The Seahawks haven't had anyone run for 700 yards in a season, they combined for 17 rushing TDs, their run of division titles ended and they wheezed to 9-23.
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Something needs to happen besides changing head coaches, and that something is finding a back that can do what Alexander did -- namely, run, score and back off opponents. You think Jones is that back? Forsett? That's why taking a long, hard look at someone like Lynch makes sense.
I know, I know, he finally showed up for Buffalo's OTAs Tuesday, and that's terrific. But reports indicate he's unhappy with his situation there and wants out. Not only that, he'd like to return to the West Coast. So find out. Make the Bills an offer they can't refuse.
For the moment, Buffalo is playing hard ball, saying it intends to keep the guy, and maybe that's what happens. But I have to believe there's some posturing going on, with the Bills standing by Lynch until or unless they find the right price for him.
I mean, let's be honest here: If they were so enthralled with him why did they spend a first-round pick on the best running back in the draft? Granted, C.J. Spiller is a completely different package than Lynch, but Fred Jackson isn't. And it was Fred Jackson -- not Marshawn Lynch -- who last year ran for more than 1,000 yards and averaged 4.5 yards a carry.
I'm all for loading up at running back, but not when one of them can be a liability, and I don't know what Marshawn Lynch gives you off the bench if he's miserable and looking to get out. A year ago he gave the Bills virtually nothing after returning from an NFL suspension. Jackson was the better back and the better receiver. Jackson was also one of the game's top returners, producing over 1,000 yards in kick and punt returns.
So Jackson proved he belonged, while Lynch didn't do much of anything. Moreover, when the Bills thought about making themselves better this season they didn't attack their offensive line first; they went after another running back, which tells me how much they believe in Marshawn Lynch.
Lynch isn't the best back in Buffalo anymore, but he's better than what Carroll has in Seattle. I don't know that anything happens with Marshawn Lynch, but I do know something must happen with the backs in Seattle. The best way to protect your quarterback is to surround him with a respectable running game, and it's no coincidence that the last two years have been the toughest on Matt Hasselbeck.
When Green Bay stunned San Francisco in the 1995 playoffs the Packers rushed three and dropped eight into coverage -- practically begging the 49ers to run, which they could not. After the loss, quarterback Steve Young singled out the lack of a running game as the source of the 49ers' undoing, saying that it's not necessarily great backs as it is the threat of a running game that keeps defenses honest.
I mention that because the 49ers' defensive coordinator that afternoon was none other than Pete Carroll. He later moved on to coach the New England Patriots, lasting three years before getting fired. Afterward, he said the biggest mistake the Patriots made while he was there was not keeping star running back Curtis Martin, and he was right. Without him, quarterback Drew Bledsoe didn't have a chance. Neither did Carroll.
Maybe that's why Carroll talks so much about leaning on his rushing attack now. It doesn't matter who quarterbacks Seattle -- Hasselbeck or Charlie Whitehurst -- he's in trouble if the Seahawks don't back off opponents with a running game they must respect.
And he might not be alone. You know what they say about misery. So do yourself a favor, Pete Carroll, and pay attention to what George Santayana once told us: Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it. Find yourself a running game and find it soon.
