Eddie Lacy looked done. Then the Seahawks spanked the Colts.
I had written Eddie Lacy off, literally, until he came to life last against the Indianapolis Colts. Can he do even more for the Seahawks?
Up until last night’s contest, Eddie Lacy had done almost nothing as the Seahawks featured back. In fact, he wasn’t featured at all. In the first three games of 2017, Lacy had piled up the very pedestrian figure of three yards. That is not a typo, by the way. Pedestrian is particularly appropriate as he often appeared to be walking to the hole instead of running. Lacy was a healthy scratch – inactive even though he didn’t have an injury – for the 49ers game, and didn’t get any touches against the Titans.
Add this to his dismal five carry, three yards performance against the Packers, and it was very easy to write him off as a loss. He wouldn’t be the only star running back to fall on hard times. Yes, I’m looking at you, Adrian Peterson. I’ll grant you, up until the Colts game, Peterson’s stats made Lacy’s look abysmal. And Peterson has been a bust.
Luckily for 12s everywhere, the Seahawks coaching staff had more faith in Lacy than I did. It wasn’t simply that Chris Carson’s bad break became Lacy ‘s lucky break. Lacy had seven carries before Carson’s injury. Those seven carries are two more than he’d managed in the three previous games combined. Regardless of why Lacy finally got a bigger load, he delivered in this game. 52 yards on 11 carries is respectable. Is it meaningful that after Carson was out, Lacy gained 29 yards in his last four carries? Maybe not, but for the first time this season, he looked like a man who wanted to earn that Hulk Mode nickname.
What’s next for the Seahawks running game?
As already noted in a better piece, the Seahawks have a lot to figure out in the backfield. Is Thomas Rawls ever going to be ready? Can C.J. Prosise stay healthy for more than three weeks? J.D. McKissic was fantastic filling in against the Colts. But can he do that every week? Hopefully he can, as it’s hard to imagine a bigger change of pace guy from Eddie Lacy.
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Best case scenario with Chris Carson placed on inured reserve: Carson recovers from his surgery in time to return this season. He’s eligible to be back on the roster December 3, just in time for the playoff push. In the meantime, J.D. McKissic continues his heroics. Hopefully both Thomas Rawls and C.J. Prosise contribute with five or more touches each game. And Eddie Lacy expands on his performance against the Colts and regains the form he showed last season with the Packers. Don’t forget, he averaged over five yards per carry in 2016. Finally, Hulk Mode may have arrived in Seattle.