Can the Patriots stop Marshawn Lynch?

[Fencer]

I saw a Super Bowl prediction column asking whether the Patriots can stop Marshawn Lynch, which seemed to lean towards the answer "No". So, just for the heck of it, I decided to check whether the Patriots had in fact stopped Lynch in the past.

5 games
265 yards
53 YPG
70 carries
3.8 YPC
6 receptions
24 receiving yards
1 TD

http://www.pro-football-reference.com/players/L/LyncMa00/splits/

By the way, those are better numbers on average than he had in the one game he played against the Patriots as a member of the Seahawks. What went right for the Seahawks offensively in that game were 3-4 long passes. http://scores.espn.go.com/nfl/boxscore?gameId=321014026

 

[Username]

I'd feel better about our chances if we still had Brandon Spikes at MLB. It's important that we get into a lead so Russell Wilson may feel he needs to throw it more. I'm comfortable with our DB's against their WR's. But if Lynch is running it down our throat every other snap it could be a long night.

 

[doesntmatter1]

We are rarely destroyed by the run. Off the top of my head I can only recall Moreno, Peyton Hillis, Chris Ivory, and Jamal Charles having great games against us. And I don't even want to count Charles considering our guys were slipping all over that field.

Lynch will have to get past Wilfork, Siglia, and Branch, who all have decent strength, then our over-sized linebackers(mainly Hightower). Lastly, ALL of our safeties are sure tacklers. We just can't give up deep bombs and long scrambles.

 

[slash83]

Pats front 7 is capable of doing so. Wilfork, branch, SS, that right there is over a 1000lbs of man. Jones and nink on the edges, HT and Collins inside... Bring it on.

 

[patsfan-1982]

Lynch had 41 yards the last time they played and the pats WR's Welker and Lloyd had pretty good games vs Sherman and browner but Wilson in his rookie year had his best game of the season vs what was a piss poor secondary that gave up the most pass plays of 20 yards or more in the NFL

 

[FrodoBagginz]

Nice to finally see some real football talk.

Pats are real good at taking out a teams top weapons. I think Lynch might have a decent day just not a great one.

 

[AzorianPats]

Lynch is a piece of junk, with that though he is a beast! His yards after contact is incredible. We have to make sure to keep that contained. He'll truck over 3-4 guys and pick up an extra 5 yards.

He's a problem, but I'm more worried about the QB option with him and Wilson. If we take away their ground game and force Wilson to pass, Seattle could be in for a long night.

 

[Guts]

Pats generally take away what a team does best the way Seattle is going to beat us is in Wilson's arm and ability to extend plays.

 

[slash83]

A lot of pressure will be put on Revis and his ability to take away seattles #1 wr. Fortunately for the pats, not sure you can say they have a legit #1 so whoever Revis matches up with likely be shut down. Pats can afford to load the box vs the option all night long.

 

[ausbacker]

The Patriots Defense has become astute at predominately shutting down what the strength of the opponent appears to be. Against the Seahawks, this will be the run.

The Pats have shutdown Lynch before and I imagine they'll get close to if not doing it again. The real issue is can they shutdown Lynch and Wilson in the run game?

 

[mgteich]

The Patriots Defense has become astute at predominately shutting down what the strength of the opponent appears to be. Against the Seahawks, this will be the run.

The Pats have shutdown Lynch before and I imagine they'll get close to if not doing it again. The real issue is can they shutdown Lynch and Wilson in the run game?

I would say that we take away the opponents #1 weapon. We make sure that their best receiver doesn't kill us. In the case of the Seahawk's, their #1 weapon is Lynch. Yes, we can stop him by putting an extra player in the box.

The OPEN question is whether we can succeed in stopping both Lynch AND Wilson in the running game.

 

[chasa]

the seahawks were definitely the better of the two options (the other being greenbay) I think the seahawks are a great team but i feel like we match up REALLY well with them. I think it's going to be a really great superbowl, And i say the patriots have the edge by about 10 points.

 

[Kontradiction]

No.

Nobody can stop Marshawn Lynch. Especially with the quarterback being a threat to break off a huge run to the outside.

Can the Patriots SLOW Marshawn Lynch down, however? Absolutely. Expect the Patriots to key in hard on their running game and force Wilson to beat them with his arm.

 

[saspack]

How did he do for the bills? Don't recall he was a big factor.

 

[The Brandon Five]

Lynch is a piece of junk, with that though he is a beast! His yards after contact is incredible. We have to make sure to keep that contained. He'll truck over 3-4 guys and pick up an extra 5 yards.

He's a problem, but I'm more worried about the QB option with him and Wilson. If we take away their ground game and force Wilson to pass, Seattle could be in for a long night.

From the "Who's A-scared of Seattle?" thread:

Maybe people should be asking if the Hawks can stop LeGarrette Blount.

 

[Darrone]

Listen, Marshawn Lynch is going to pick up some yards. the name of the game isn't "prevent Marshawn Lynch of running the ball". It's prevent him from getting more than 5 or 6 on any given carry. It's preventing him from picking up 10 and 20 yard carries. They just need to contain him, keep him from getting to that second level, and put the pressure of the pass game. I honestly think if we can force them to throw the ball regularly, they will crumble.

 

[meatface]

So how can the Pats stop Lynch? They really struggled against Baltimore and the Colts aren't really a gauge of their proficiency against the run

 

[Hudson Pats Fan]

Raw stats from ProFootball Reference...includes games played with the Bills

 

[Nunchucks]

Absolutely they can stop Lynch.

 

[Sicilian]

I have no doubt they can stop Lynch. They can stop anybody if they devote enough resources to it. The real question is, can they limit Lynch while still limiting Wilson's scramble ability?

If they go big with Vince, Siliga, and Branch in a 3-4 look, Wilson will break containment.

If they go smaller with two of the bigs and Jones/Nink as the DE's, it will be harder to stop Lynch.

I think the key either way is going to be the play of Collins and Hightower. Those two are going to have to play with some fire.