Marshawn Lynch bulls through Giants defense for impressive-effort touchdown

Marshawn Lynch does not understand why you are in his way. (Elsa/Getty Images) Every season, Seattle Seahawks running back Marshawn Lynch is good for a few

Doug Farrar | Dec 15, 2013

Marshawn Lynch bulls through Giants defense for impressive-effort touchdown /

Marshawn Lynch does not understand why you are in his way. (Elsa/Getty Images)

Every season, Seattle Seahawks running back Marshawn Lynch is good for a few runs that seem to defy the laws of physics. Lynch has a combination of power, second effort and lateral agility that makes him a unique challenge for enemy defenders, and he certainly showed that with 5:39 left in the first half of the Seahawks' game against the New York Giants. Seattle had the ball at the Giants' 2-yard line, Russell Wilson handed the ball off to Lynch, the Giants thought they had the play contained, and then they didn't. Lynch bulled through that defense, somehow stayed alive near the plane of the goal line when it looked like he was about to go down and blew through for the touchdown that gave the Seahawks a 10-0 lead.

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When they talked about the Seahawks this week, New York's defenders and coaches seemed to know what they were in for.

"Marshawn is a hard runner," defensive coordinator Perry Fewell said. "I was fortunate enough to be with him in Buffalo and he goes into Beast Mode, what he calls, so he’ll take on a linebacker or he’ll take on a safety, or he’ll take on a defensive lineman. He’ll challenge them in the hole and then he has the ability to step in the hole and get out of the hole and accelerate down the field. He has all of the elements of a complete back."

Cornerback Terrell Thomas said pretty much the same, and in effect predicted how that play was going to go.

"Marshawn is just a bully out there when he runs the ball, it takes multiple guys to bring him down. I think he’s one of the only running backs to have 1,000 yards the last three seasons, so he’s a solid back, he’s their workhorse and we'll have our hands full trying to tackle him."

Published Dec 15, 2013

DOUG FARRAR

SI.com contributing NFL writer and Seattle resident Doug Farrar started writing about football locally in 2002, and became Football Outsiders' West Coast NFL guy in 2006. He was fascinated by FO's idea to combine Bill James with Dr. Z, and wrote for the site for six years. He wrote a game-tape column called "Cover-2" for a number of years, and contributed to six editions of "Pro Football Prospectus" and the "Football Outsiders Almanac." In 2009, Doug was invited to join Yahoo Sports' NFL team, and covered Senior Bowls, scouting combines, Super Bowls, and all sorts of other things for Yahoo Sports and the Shutdown Corner blog through June, 2013. Doug received the proverbial offer he couldn't refuse from SI.com in 2013, and that was that. Doug has also written for the Seattle Times, the Washington Post, the New York Sun, FOX Sports, ESPN.com, and ESPN The Magazine. He also makes regular appearances on several local and national radio shows, and has hosted several podcasts over the years. He counts Dan Jenkins, Thomas Boswell, Frank Deford, Ralph Wiley, Peter King, and Bill Simmons as the writers who made him want to do this for a living. In his rare off-time, Doug can be found reading, hiking, working out, searching for new Hendrix, Who, and MC5 bootlegs, and wondering if the Mariners will ever be good again.