Seattle Seahawks: Lynch injury should mean more passing

The Seattle Seahawks are huge favorites over the Chicago Bears for Sunday’s game. The game shouldn’t be close, but an injury to running back Marshawn Lynch could cause some serious problems for Seattle. That means that we should see Russell Wilson air it out this week.

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Lynch has a calf injury and will be a game-time decision. He didn’t practice all week, and is listed as questionable on the official injury report. That means he only has a 50% of playing. Even if he plays, he’ll likely be limited.

The Seahawks must have have a plan ready in case Lynch cannot go. One look at the roster and you’ll see that sticking to the gameplay and rolling with the backups isn’t a viable option.

Fred Jackson is 34. His value rests entirely in passing game. If he’s getting more than 10 carries per game the team is just asking for trouble.

That means that most of the carries will have to be given to Thomas Rawls. Rawls is a smart and decisive runner, but he runs with almost now power. He also lacks the skills to make defenders miss. Unless the offensive line opens a big hole for him, Rawls is going nowhere.

That leaves the Seahawks in a difficult position. They’re a running offense with no one to run the ball. Plus, without the the threat of Lynch’s power on the inside, there won’t open openings for Russell Wilson to keep the ball on the read-option.

Put all of this together, and it means that this will likely be the game when we finally see Wilson fling it 40+ times. Seattle is going to need to mount an offense. If they cannot get the job done on the ground, the only option will be to throw it.

With the additions of Jimmy Graham and Tyler Lockett this offseason, Seattle finally has enough receiving weapons to make such an offense work. As long as the offensive line is able to protect Wilson, the Seahawks should be able to easily move the ball through the air.

The last time Seattle played a game without Lynch, the team managed just three points in a downright pain 6-3 loss to the Browns back in 2011. Of course, that offensive dumpster fire had more to do with Charlie Whitehurst than anything, but not having Lynch certainly didn’t help matters.

Next: Lynch injury a bad sign for aging RB

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