Even though it’s starting to look more and more like Seattle Seahawks running back Marshawn Lynch won’t be able to play Sunday against the Pittsburgh Steelers due to a lingering abdomen issue, head coach Mike Tomlin isn’t letting his guard down when it comes to him and backup running back Thomas Rawls.
“Obviously we’ve got our hands full in trying to minimize the run game, whether it’s Marshawn Lynch or Rawls, or both, or combinations of both,” said Tomlin during his Tuesday press conference. “They’ve had great success in all of the above scenarios. We know Beast Mode is who he is. They’ve utilized both guys situationally within games. We saw what Rawls is capable of last week. The reality is they have a sound and solid run game and they’ve got a good offensive line.”
Last week, Lynch sat out the Seahawks game against the San Francisco 49ers, but Rawls more than picked up the slack as the rookie undrafted free agent rushed for a career-high 209 yards and one touchdown .If that’s not enough, Rawls also caught 3 passes for another 46 yards and a score in the Seahawks 29-13 win.
Rawls, who runs violent just like Lynch does, has now rushed for 604 yards on the season and he’s managed to do that behind a suspect Seahawks offensive line.
In their Week 10 win over the Cleveland Browns, the Steelers defense held their two running backs to just 5 yards rushing on 10 carries.
