Seattle Seahawks running back Marshawn Lynch (24) scores a touchdown against New Orleans Saints cornerback Keenan Lewis (28) during the second half of the 2013 NFC divisional playoff football game at CenturyLink Field. The Seahawks defeated the Saints 23-15. Mandatory Credit: Joe Nicholson-USA TODAY Sports
The Seattle Seahawks and San Francisco 49ers have two very talented, young quarterbacks at the helm who can beat you with their arms and legs (to varying degrees, of course), but neither Russell Wilson nor Colin Kaepernick are the focal points of their respective offenses. They are obviously great and important players, but the Seahawks and 49ers hold the running game as their main identity and the main recipe to success when it comes to upending either team is to strangle their running game. Marshawn Lynch and Frank Gore are two of the best backs in the game, and their vision, strength, and explosion/agility make them ideal feature backs in run-heavy offenses that love to play smashmouth football.
So pardon 49ers strong safety Donte Whitner when he says, “make the quarterback beat us,” because he isn’t slighting Wilson, but merely pointing out what must of us should know; Marshawn Lynch is “the man” in the Seahawks offense. I mean, just look at what he did to the New Orleans Saints last week, and he was clearly the difference in a game that featured a major slump from Wilson, who will just about need to shake off of his mini-slump if the Seahawks want to make it to the Super Bowl (though playing at home against Kaep and the Niners helps them out).
According to the San Francisco Chronicle’s Eric Branch, here’s what Whitner said when asked about the guy the 49ers need to take out of the game in order to defeat the rival Seahawks, “Marshawn Lynch. You have to take him away. Like he said, he doesn’t run to get tackled. He’s one of the best backs in the National Football League. Very rough style. We have to take him away and make the quarterback beat us.”
The 49ers have some incredibly gifted run defenders with the likes of NaVorro Bowman, Patrick Willis, and Justin Smith (three elite defensive players) in the front seven, but containing Lynch is definitely not an easy task. They’ll have to be up to it, though, unless if Kaepernick has an incredible game on the road against the Legion of Boom and Wilson flops big-time. That’s not something worth betting on, so trying to quiet down “Beast Mode” is of the utmost importance.