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New England Patriots Must Stop Marshawn Lynch To Win Super Bowl XLIX

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By @petahrahgas

Super Bowl XLIX Seattle Seahawks

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It’s hard to say if any team can be 100 percent prepared for the brutality and toughness that is Marshawn Lynch, but the New England Patriots are going to have to be ready for him this Sunday if they want to win Super Bowl XLIX. Beast Mode is coming.

Lynch is in his own class of running backs. He’s big enough and strong enough to move piles and break tackles, but quick and agile enough to elude would-be tacklers just like he eludes answering media questions with actual answers. 

As he would be with any team, Lynch is the linchpin of the Seattle Seahawks’ offense — if Beast Mode wasn’t already such an awesome nickname, Lynchpin would be a definite contender. Russell Wilson is a great quarterback who can beat you both with his legs or his arm, but the Seahawks’ offense is much easier to beat if you can contain the Beast. And that is a lot easier said then done.

But this has to be the Patriots’ game-plan heading into the Gargantuan Salsa. We saw this when the Seahawks fought off the Carolina Panthers in the Divisional round of the playoffs this year. Despite the game ending 31-17 in the favor of the Hawks, through the first three quarters, the Panthers were only down four, trailing 14-10. In large part that was due to their ability to control and stop Lynch. He finished the game with just 59 yards on 14 carries. Against the Green Bay Packers in the NFC Championship, Lynch had 157 yards on 25 carries, just to give you a little comparison.

The Panthers have one of the best front sevens in the league and were able to contain Lynch all game long. However, it was their secondary that ultimately let them down, allowing Wilson to go 15-of-22 for 268 yards and three touchdowns. The Patriots don’t have the Panthers’ front seven — though they might not be far off — but they do have a much better secondary.

The Seahawks’ offense is not known for their receiving corps while the Patriots are now very well known for their secondary. With the likes of Darrelle Revis, Brandon Browner and Devin McCourty roaming around in the Patriots’ secondary, on paper it would seem they have the straight up advantage when it comes to covering Seattle’s passing attack. That being said, this is the Super Bowl and pretty much everything on paper gets crumpled up and thrown out the window.

With the perceived advantage on the back end, the Patriots can afford to commit more players in the box to stop Lynch. I’d fully expect the Patriots to come out in a lot of man-to-man defenses, pushing safety Patrick Chung into the box to help against the run and letting McCourty roam free in the secondary.

Aided by the front seven containing Jamie Collins, Dont’a Hightower and Vince Wilfork, the Patriots have the manpower to contain Lynch and force Wilson and the Hawks to beat them with the passing game.

However, Lynch did get his nickname for a reason, and the Patriots will have their hands full trying to tame the Beast.

Peter Rogers is a New England Patriots writer for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @petahrahgas, “Like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google

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