Marshawn Lynch has carried the ball a total of 16 times in the Seattle Seahawks' two losses after averaging 20 rushes per over the past 42 games entering the 2014 season.
NFL Media's LaDainian Tomlinson opined on Monday's edition of NFL Total Access that Pete Carroll's squad has lost its identity this season.
"Think about it. As the years pass, we've known this team as physical, downhill running team," Tomlinson explained. "But also everything else comes off of their running game -- the play-action pass -- and that's how those wide receivers get open.
"Well, the run game has been inconsistent, maybe because they're trying to create a different identity with Russell Wilson and throwing the football a little bit."
It was no secret this summer that offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell planned to take advantage of the unique talents of Russell Wilson and Percy Harvin by expanding the aerial attack. With Lynch's Seattle future in question beyond the 2014 season, the timing was right to open up the playbook.
The Seahawks have reaped the advantages of that Harvin deception in victories over the Green Bay Packers and Washington Redskins. They have struggled to put the scoreboard on tilt against the San Diego Chargers and Dallas Cowboys because those teams executed a plan toplay keep-away.
Lynch has averaged a gaudy 6.05 yards per carry in the two losses. It's not that the Seahawks haven't been able to run the ball effectively.
The problem is that those two opponents doubled their time of possession and ran nearly twice as many plays.
The offense can exercise more control of those two factors by converting third downs at a higher rate. It's in that trouble spot that Tomlinson's theory comes into play.
This year's offense is more creative and explosive than previous versions. It also leaves the Seahawks susceptible to the same precise, ball-control blueprint the Chargers utilized to slow down Peyton Manning's record-breaking offense late last season.
How many teams have the capability to pull that off? We can count them on one hand.
We recap all the Week 6 action on a jaunty edition of the "Around The NFL Podcast." Find more Around The NFL content on NFL NOW.
