Injuries are slowly piling up for the Seattle Seahawks, but head coach Pete Carroll believes Marshawn Lynch could return for the playoffs.
Bob Condotta of the Seattle Times notes Carroll doesn’t expect Beast Mode back for Week 17 but is optimistic about the Wild Card Round of the postseason.
"I would think he could make it back,'' Carroll says of whether Lynch can play in playoffs.
— Bob Condotta (@bcondotta) December 30, 2015
Carroll added that while Lynch isn’t quite over the hump, he “is working out all day long basically.”
Seattle has played reasonably well without its star running back, but Thomas Rawls’ season-ending injury means the offense needs a boost. Fred Jackson, Bryce Brown and Christine Michael aren’t the collection of running backs a Super Bowl contender employs.
Now, saying Lynch is the perfect answer would be foolish. He’s only appeared in seven games, managing 417 yards and three touchdowns while averaging 3.8 yards per carry behind a mediocre offensive line. Nevertheless, Lynch is clearly the best option potentially available for the playoffs.
The Seahawks are locked into a wild-card berth, though the seed will depend on the outcome of the contest between the Green Bay Packers and Minnesota Vikings.
Whichever team wins will earn the NFC North crown, while the loser falls to a wild-card slot. Seattle holds the tiebreaker over Minnesota but not Green Bay. Granted, none of this matters until the Seahawks upend the Arizona Cardinals, who are battling for home-field advantage and likely won’t rest starters.
Long story short, the Seahawks are in a fine position. The first playoff opponent will be a struggling Packers club, the Vikings — who Seattle has defeated — or the inconsistent Washington football team.
The Seahawks can advance without Lynch in the Wild Card Round, but they’ll need the physical runner to have a realistic chance at making another Super Bowl run.