Beastmode of old makes a difference
The world outside of Oakland has never known quite what to make of Marshawn Lynch.
You could say the same thing about the Raiders, even after a 27-24 road win over the Miami Dolphins Sunday night.
Even after Lynch carried 14 times for 57 yards, scored two touchdowns and was a central figure in a Raiders win for the first time since Week 1, the argument could be made the 31-yearold running back could have done even more.
Lynch was in all his Beastmode glory in a Week 1 road win over Tennessee, and then whipped the home crowd into a frenzy with his sideline dance in a blowout home opener.
The dance, sitting for the national anthem, having his own film crew and getting tossed from the Kansas City game for coming to the defense of the Chiefs’ Marcus Peters were all things the Raiders on some level understood were possible when they signed Lynch.
The problem was Lynch wasn’t anywhere near the dimension that was supposed to take the Raiders offense to the next level. It was fair to consider whether bringing Lynch on was even a good idea after he sat out last week’s 34-14 loss in Buffalo under suspension.
Those talk radio and social media arguments can be tabled through the bye week, given Lynch’s undeniable impact on a road win in Miami that the Raiders needed to keep their playoff hopes alive.
There are plenty of reasons to remain skeptical with the way the Raiders escaped Miami with a game they should have won comfortably.
Amateur play-callers (and face it, we’re all amateur play-callers unless receiving a paycheck for those services) still have plenty of questions for Raiders offensive coordinator Todd Downing.
But give Downing credit for a decision he made in the first half when Lynch was running into an Ndamukong Suh-sized wall.
On Lynch’s first five carries, he gained two yards. It was becoming all too familiar, given the Lynch’s anemic average of 3.7 yards per carry through seven games.
The Raiders were trailing 6-3 and seemingly had self-destructed on a drive that began with 7:28 left in the half.
It was third-and-3 at the 50, and instead of flooding the field with receivers, Downing had Carr give the ball to Lynch, who bulled for a 6-yard gain to the 44-yard line.
It was a game-altering call, because on the next snap, Carr play-faked to Lynch, the Dolphins bought it, and the Raiders’ quarterback threw a 44-yard touchdown pass to Johnny Holton for a 10-6 lead.
While that sequence was in some respects hidden in terms of Lynch’s importance in the outcome, what happened in the second half was oldtime Marshawn.
On the first series of the fourth quarter, Lynch had consecutive gains of 3 and 14 yards, and he also caught a 5-yard pass. From the 22-yard line, Lynch barged through a hole and scored on a 22-yard run to give the Raiders a 20-9 lead.
In the fourth quarter, with the Raiders at the 3-yard line, Lynch hammered in for a 27-16 lead with 4:37 left. The Raiders would make the points hold up.
After each touchdown, Lynch exchanged handshakes with his offensive linemen, who may finally be getting the hang of blocking for him.
It’s been a delicate dance of blending the inside zone blocking runs Lynch favors with the gap and power blocking the Raiders were used to, and chances are it will still look awkward at times.
The Raiders are also taking the long-range approach with Lynch to the extreme, managing his carries and occasionally yanking him from the game when he appears to be getting in a groove.
The integration of Lynch into the Raiders offense continues. The good news is that the process continues with the idea of the postseason still in play should they ever figure it out.