Lynchs impact

[Hawktawk]

It was a big topic of discussion pre game so I thought Id throw it up here. The first play, a hand off was a DOA. It looked like Wilson was trying to go to Lynch on the short pick 6 but he wasn't even looking at Wilson.Overall the offense looked like the early season ineffective offense.
I said dont start the guy, dont design a game plan around him. But it looks like thats what they did initially. If it could go wrong in the first half it did but Lynches return to the field was a resounding thud of a flop IMO...

[NorthHawk]

I don't think they designed the game plan around Lynch.
Rather the Seahawks are a run first team and will always be so under Carroll no matter who the RB is.
That means they have to establish the run and do it early.
Unfortunately, the Panthers DL controlled the Line of Scrimmage the first half so the run game never had a chance to get on track.
On the interception, I don't know if Lynch was supposed to stop or if Wilson missed. Either way, the result was a disaster.

[Hawktawk]

I don't think they designed the game plan around Lynch.
Rather the Seahawks are a run first team and will always be so under Carroll no matter who the RB is.
That means they have to establish the run and do it early.
Unfortunately, the Panthers DL controlled the Line of Scrimmage the first half so the run game never had a chance to get on track.
On the interception, I don't know if Lynch was supposed to stop or if Wilson missed. Either way, the result was a disaster.

It looked to me like Wilson threw the ball sooner than he wanted to avoid the sack but it was definitely intended for Lynch. Lynch never looked for the ball or he could at least have broken up the int. Its fair to say he and Wilson weren't on the same page on the first drive with devastating results.
Seattle handed it off to Lynch for a 4 yard loss and then Wilson threw a pick 6 trying to throw a pass to Lynch so we have to acknowledge the first few plays were designed around Lynch. Rivera said it was exactly what the Panthers had expected and they were obviously ready for it.

[RiverDog]

From my perspective, the first pick was on Wilson, the 2nd he got hit before he released it. Russell was off yesterday, missed some open receivers, got caught a lot trying to avoid sacks. That was perhaps his worst playoff game as a Hawk, not that he was the sole reason for the loss. The defense looked like crap in the first half.

I agree with North. Our offense isn't built around Lynch so much as it is run first. Anytime you get adequate performances out of a RB that was rejected 3 times by 3 different players it shows that RB's performances are more systematic than they are individual excellence. The 31-0 start doomed Lynch or any other RB we had in there. Carolina did not have to respect the run any longer. We couldn't afford to have 12 or 14 play scoring drives eating up 10 or 12 minutes of clock. Our only chance was to score quickly.

[obiken]

The pick six was to Lynch and he overran the play, no doubt it was a bad throw.

[Hawktawk]

The pick six was to Lynch and he overran the play, no doubt it was a bad throw.

I went back and watched the play several times. The pressure is on Wilson almost immediately and the defender Short appears to make contact as Wilson releases the throw. Lynch keeps running and the ball goes right behind him. He never sees it until it is going by. I don't know if he was supposed to sit down right there and kept moving or if Russ just got bothered enough to miss that bad. Either way Kuechly was steaming down on Lynch to blow it up which is what made the pick so easy. Bottom line whiff by Britt on Short, Lynch and Wilson not on the same page and honestly Russ should have eaten it but Russ doesn't just eat it. He has taken full responsibility for the hole he dug for the team.

Later in the game it was proven that the winning strategy against Carolina is throw throw and throw again to the tight ends and receivers. It is their weakness. Their run D is their greatest strength. Lynch had never had a spectacular game against them in 5 tries and yet was inserted on the first play and targeted with the ball on the first 2 plays after 2 months without contact. Hindsight is 20-20 but it was a bad move.