Outside of Marshawn Lynch's legal issues during the offseason, which could lead to a possible suspension down the road, one of the other things he has been dealing with are chronic back spasms. The spasms are so bad, in fact, that he may not even be a go for game one of the NFL season for the Seahawks against the Arizona Cardinals.
Coach Pete Carroll addressed the media on Wednesday and announced that Lynch is listed as day-to-day and that a decision won't be made until later this week as to whether or not he plays. My guess is that they wait until game time to cross that bridge and after all is said and done, he will be on the field.
When Lynch is in the game for the Seahawks, they are a completely different football team. Sure, they have some nice depth behind him with rookie Robert Turbin and Leon Washington, but Lynch is a completely different runner. He adds speed and power to the ground game.
Last year against Arizona, Lynch carried the ball 38 times for a total of 159 yards. That is an average of over four yards per carry, helping to keep his offense balanced through his consistency. Without him, the Cardinals' improving defense may not yield that kind of spread to Turbin and Washington.
So while I believe that he is actually hurt (no, this isn't a ploy to trick anyone), I still think he plays on Sunday. He knows how much his team needs him and with the difficult schedule that each NFC West team faces in 2012, winning each game they can is of the utmost importance. That starts with Arizona.
The Cardinals should expect Lynch to play and will need to stiffen their run defense up if they want to hope to contain him. Otherwise, he may end up going Beast Mode again...
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