The Seattle Seahawks were able to come away with a 10-9 victory over the Minnesota Vikings on the road in the Wild Card round of the playoffs. It wasn’t a pretty game and it took a lot of luck for the Seahawks to get the job done. Blair Walsh missed a 27-yard field goal that would have won the game for the Vikings.
Pete Carroll has to be thankful for the win, but will need a lot more next week against the Carolina Panthers to pull off another win. Marshawn Lynch has been out for quite some time and there is no news on his status. Even Carroll isn’t sure whether or not his star running back will be back to full health.
Pete Carroll says Marshawn just didn't feel like he could go after practice Friday. Hadn't built confidence. Next step? "I don't know."
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) January 10, 2016
Lynch has been dealing with an injury to his abdomen and there are major concerns about throwing him back on the field too early.
Throughout the seven games that Lynch was able to play this season, he carried the football 111 times for 417 yards and three touchdowns. He may not have been putting up superstar numbers, but adding that kind of a threat on the ground to the current Seahawks offense would be huge.
Carroll and the Seahawks are set to face off against the Carolina Panthers on the road next week in the divisional round of the playoffs.
Seattle always seems to take their game to a new level in the playoffs and they also seem to get a lot of luck this time of year. That was the case against the Vikings and they will need both of those things to happen against Carolina. They will head into Carolina as the underdogs, but if Lynch can play it will close the odds a bit.
Expect to hear plenty of news about Lynch throughout the course of the season, although it doesn’t appear too likely that he will be able to play.