Seahawks cruise past Eagles
Published 4:00 am Friday, December 2, 2011
- Seattle Seahawk running back Marshawn Lynch carries during the first half of Thursday's game against the Philadelphia Eagles in Seattle. Lynch rushed for 148 yards in a 31-14 victory for the Seahawks.
SEATTLE — Marshawn Lynch loves the prime-time stage, even if he’s rarely given such a spotlight.
But he wasn’t about to accept any praise on a night when he certainly deserved it.
“It was all about the offensive line. We managed the game, we came out victorious, everybody’s happy, and now we’re on to our break,” Lynch said during a very brief locker room appearance. “Thank you.”
Seattle’s hard-charging running back bulled through Philadelphia for 148 yards and a pair of first-half touchdowns, David Hawthorne returned the third of Vince Young’s four interceptions 77 yards for a score, and the Seahawks rolled to a 31-14 victory Thursday that only added to the Eagles’ miserable season.
Lynch ran into and escaped from a massive pileup for a 15-yard TD run in the first quarter, then made a quick cut and went back against the flow for a 40-yard scoring dash on the first play of the second quarter to give the Seahawks (5-7) a 14-0 lead.
It was the second-best performance of Lynch’s career and a capper to what has been his finest stretch as a pro. Lynch never had consecutive 100-yard rushing games until a few weeks ago. Now he’s done it in four of Seattle’s past five, and the only time he didn’t, Lynch had 88 yards in a victory over St. Louis.
His first-quarter, escape-act touchdown against Philadelphia (4-8) gave Lynch eight straight games with at least one score and added a highlight reminiscent of his famous tackle-breaking, 67-yard TD run in last year’s NFC playoffs against New Orleans.
It’s all adding up to more dollars likely coming Lynch’s way. He’s a free agent after the season.
“He fights for every yard, every carry he gets,” Seattle quarterback Tarvaris Jackson said. “It’s like every carry is his last carry.”
Lynch had 90 yards by halftime, the most first-half yards rushing in his career. He averaged 6.7 yards per carry and almost immediately provided a spark the Seahawks needed on a short week.
And he did it while battling an upset stomach that occasionally forced him to the sideline.
“The guy blows my mind every time we step on the field,” Seattle fullback Michael Robinson said.
Golden Tate’s 11-yard, toe-tapping touchdown grab along the back edge of the end zone in the third quarter pushed Seattle’s cushion to 17. Jackson finished 13 of 16 for 190 yards and the one TD pass.
But the Seahawks’ third victory in their last four games wasn’t secured until Hawthorne stepped in front of a swing pass intended for LeSean McCoy and raced untouched in the other direction with 4:24 left. It was Hawthorne’s third interception of the season, but he was getting plenty of grief from his teammates for the length of time it took him to get to the end zone.
And of course, the first guy to greet Hawthorne in the end zone was Lynch running off the sideline without his helmet.
“There is no grief in touchdowns. The slowest touchdown, the fastest touchdown equals seven,” Hawthorne said while teammates yelled “slow” in the background.
Making his third straight start in place of Michael Vick and his two broken ribs, Young couldn’t find the same magic he did in the 2006 Rose Bowl when he led Texas to an upset of Pete Carroll and USC.
Young’s first pass of the night was an awful interception thrown right to Seattle safety Kam Chancellor and nowhere near an Eagles receiver. Young was intercepted in the third quarter as well when a perfect pass deflected off the hands of Riley Cooper and into the hands of cornerback Brandon Browner. Both turnovers led to Seattle touchdowns.
Then came a pass for McCoy when Young clearly didn’t see Hawthorne, ruining the Eagles’ last chance to rally. Seattle safety Earl Thomas jumped Young’s primary target and by the time he came back to McCoy, Hawthorne was ready for the pass.
“He was expecting him to be open and he wasn’t,” Hawthorne said.