Justin Forsett and Marshawn Lynch were a dynamic duo back at Cal in 2005 and 2006 and were two of my favorite people on Earth when I was just a young college kid. It's quite awesome to see them back together again in Seattle as the awesomely-named Beast Force, and they were influential in the Seahawks' upset of the Chicago Bears. The two have been like brothers since their time at Cal, and it looks like both might be on the right track.
And it seems they're having a good time off the field. Forsett tweeted.
So the Beast Mode runs out of gas @ a stoplight & I'm the 1 pushing the car through downtown lol thanks to the 2 guys that helped me too
This is the sort of thing that needs further explanation. The explanation makes you wish Forsett was your best friend.
It turns out that Lynch was alone, driving in downtown Bellevue when he ran out of gas, so he decided to give a call to his former Cal teammate. And somehow, once Forsett arrived, Lynch convinced the smaller back to do the pushing while Lynch steered.
Luckily for Forsett, a couple of people came to help push, and luckily for one of those good Samaritan, the guy happened to have a football and a sharpie in his car. And yes, Forsett was more than happy to sign.
Heh. Back to football. John Morgan at Field Gulls was raving about Marshawn's ability after the Seattle Seahawks went into Chicago and upset the Bears.
Workhorse backs like Marshawn Lynch are dying out. That's been my assumption for some time. In a passing league, in which receiving and blocking are as important to a back as running the ball, there's vanishing value in the everydown masher that pushes the pile, breaks tackles, etc. Backs, like defensive tackles, should be fresh and have specialized skills and work in a committee and if any one back doesn't break one hundred yards rushing, that essential milestone, it doesn't matter.
And I think that's probably true. A team doesn't need an everydown back anymore, but though styles change, and back usage is a stylistic change, quality is timeless. Lynch may not profile like a "modern" running back, he's a sturdy generalist rather than a dynamic specialist, but his talent is timeless. Seattle may not need Lynch to take every carry. His stamina and durability may not be the vital assets they once were. Lynch may not tote the rock until he breaks important seeming milestones, but his talent his performance, like an evocative story however written, is undeniable. In the hurry to square and define Lynch, his value relative to his cost, talent of all things was something I didn't emphasize enough. Dude's called Beast for a reason.
Concussions
DeSean Jackson was doing his thing (being awesome), and then boom.
DeSean Jackson, Dunta Robinson Injured (via TheNFLFanzone)
Cindy Boren of the Washington Post has more.
"His discomfort is just where he took the blow, on the right side, right shoulder area kind of up through the neck area," Reid said. "But he's working through that and he's sharp mentally. . . . But he's very sore right now."
Zack Follett had his own awful hit to deal with.
2010 Week 6 Zack Follett Injury (via MattyFordFan)
The Detroit News has more of Follett's perspective of the injury.
"The scariest part was losing feeling in my arms," he said. "I was just laying there kind of trying to calm myself down. I couldn't feel anything at first. Then a couple minutes went by where I started to feel pinches and scratches on my leg.
"There was a big sigh of relief then. My neck was just kind of on fire at that point."
James Harrison was part of one of those hits and has contemplated retirement. Alex Mack has called him out, saying there's nothing legal about what Harrison is doing on the field.
"If you watch the game film, [Harrison] was doing that to everyone on every play," Mack said Thursday. "People would be on the ground and he would try to spear them. There's a play on film where [running back] Peyton Hillis is tackled and he comes up and spears him. It's like you're being cheap, you're being dirty."
Golden Tidbits
- Jahvid Best finds himself in a familiar situation: Stuck on a team without a good offensive line and consistent quarterback play and mired with injuries (this time he has turf TOES on both of his feet), he's had moments of greatness interspersed with chunks of nothingness. On the good news front, thanks to the Detroit Lions bye week, he's coming back for the Cal-Arizona State game this weekend.
- Syd'Quan Thompson registered his first NFL interception last week, picking off Mark Sanchez in Denver's loss to the New York Jets. Mile High Report likes that he's seeing more of the rookie.
- Tyson Alualu racked up five tackles with a knee injury in a Monday Night loss by Jacksonville to Tennessee. He was facing numerous double teams all game long. Here's a nice article about Alualu and teammate Vince Manuwai and their island roots.
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Aaron Rodgers did all he could in a loss to the Dolphins. An 86 yard bomb to Greg Jennings. A game-tying 4th down touchdown run to send the game to overtime. But the Packers couldn't overcome their severe injury issues, and Green Bay fell back to .500. Desmond Bishop has looked pretty good replacing A.J. Hawk and Brandon Chillar.
- Tony Gonzalez is fighting elephant abuse. Don't double-take, you read that right.
- Nnamdi Asomugha explains how Michael Crabtree got so free on that go-ahead touchdown. Also, five questions with Nnamdi.
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