With Seattle Seahawks All-Pro RB Marshawn Lynch a virtual certainty to play in Sunday’s NFC divisional game at Atlanta, the Falcons will look to limit explosive gains by the powerful runner.
Lynch, who has run for at least 100 yards in each of his past five games, missed the week's first two days of practice with a sprained foot. When asked what it would take for Lynch to be sidelined against the Falcons, Seahawks coach Pete Carroll jokingly responded, "Miss the flight? Doesn't show up in Atlanta?"
The Falcons ranked 21st against the run in the regular season, having 53 missed tackles on runs, according to Pro Football Focus. More tellingly, Atlanta allowed 16 runs of 20 yards or more in the regular season -- fifth-highest in the league. It explains why the Falcons were 29th in the NFL on yards allowed per run (4.63 ypc).
“The big thing that you have to do is you have to make sure you take good angles to the ball, and you don’t give up explosive plays,” Falcons coach Mike Smith said.
Lynch, who ranked third in the NFL in rushing yards with 1,590, tied for fifth in runs of 20-plus yards with nine. Last week, Lynch eluded Redskins DB DeAngelo Hall with a jump cut on a game-winning 27-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter.
The Falcons are primed for the challenge.
“He doesn’t shy away from anything,” Falcons DE Kroy Biermann told the Tacoma News Tribune. “He’s gonna get every yard he can. You can see he likes the game and loves to play it. We've got some guys like that on this team.”
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