Trip to Green Bay Is Exactly What Marshawn Lynch, Ailing Seahawks Offense Needs

Things did not go at all according to plan for the Seattle Seahawks in Week 1. The two-time defending NFC champions fell 34-31 in St. Louis to a Rams team that harassed quarterback Russell Wilson mercilessly all afternoon long.

The game also marked a less-than-stellar showing for tailback Marshawn Lynch, who managed only 73 yards on 18 carries.

Now, with the Seahawks sitting at 0-1 and questions swirling about the state of the offensive line and the secondary, the Seahawks must travel east to face the Green Bay Packers in Week 2's marquee matchup.

Beating the Packers at Lambeau Field is no small feat. But in some respects, a trip to Titletown could be just what the doctor ordered to help get the Seattle offense untracked.

You know that things aren't going well offensively when there are calls for the coordinator to be fired—from the mother of one of the players.

No, really. As Sheil Kapadia of ESPN.com reports, Marshawn Lynch's mother (per her Facebook page) wants Darrell Bevell's head on a stick after Sunday's setback:

"

Too the smart azz media who wrote that's why marshawn didn't get the ball in the superbowl ,how many times did russell get sacked yesterday, Dont worry i will wait on the answer plus it was totally different at the superbowl the line was better than yesterday no blocking and to the offense caller who should have been fired yes i said it Fired !!! He is the worst play-caller ever the only reason he called that dumb azz play yesterday is to be able to justify the 1 yard that wasn't called in the superbowl ,but most fans already figured this out .were still on a mission but i know the Seahawks staff loves that play caller more than a win ,go figure ‪#‎nfldontpayme# I love this team and will stand up to anybody who tries to destroy it boom!!!!

"

Ah, Facebook. Killing grammar one post at a time.

In some respects, though, momma Lynch has a point. It's a little puzzling that Bevell dialed up 41 Russell Wilson pass attempts versus only 18 carries for Lynch, especially given that Wilson was under constant pressure. He was sacked six times by the Rams, and spent most of the game using his mobility to run for his life.

Rams defensive tackle Michael Brockers told John Clayton of ESPN.com that he was well aware that St. Louis got the Seahawks away from doing what they do best:

"

When you are in shotgun that much, you are not getting the ball to Marshawn Lynch as much. When that happens, you have less to worry about. Sure, it puts a lot of stress on our defensive backs because they have to stay plastered to the wide receivers when Russell Wilson gets out of the pocket. All around, it was a great team win for us.

"

Granted, a Rams front four featuring five former first-round picks will make many offensive lines look bad. But that isn't too hard to do with Seattle's O-line. It is bad. As in 31st in pass protection and dead last in run blocking after one game bad, per Pro Football Focus.

If the Seahawks are going to improve upon that, the days of Wilson dropping back to pass 50-plus times have to stop—now. The Seahawks need to get back to doing what they do: Being the Seahawks. Pounding away with Lynch between the tackles to set up play-action.

And in that respect, thank god for Green Bay.

Last year, the Packers ranked 23rd in the NFL in run defense, allowing just under 120 yards a game. The team only wishes they'd done that well against the Chicago Bears last week. Matt Forte gashed the Packers at will, and Green Bay allowed a whopping 189 rushing yards for the game.

To no one's surprise, Packers head coach Mike McCarthy was not pleased with the effort, according to ESPN.com's Rob Demovsky:

"

That does not cut it. We need to do a better job there. It's really the fundamentals of the game are what we spent a bunch of time [on Monday] talking about and emphasizing with our whole football team. That's where we can make our improvement.

"

But wait, it gets better! One of the Packers' best run defenders, inside linebacker Sam Barrington, was placed on injured reserve Tuesday with an ankle injury, per Michael Cohen of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. Defensive tackle Letroy Guion remains suspended. And just like last week against the Bears, the Packers could be without the services of strong safety Morgan Burnett.

In the team's last two games without Burnett, the Packers have given up an average of 191.5 rushing yards. That's kind of a lot.

It's also a number that jibes with what the Seahawks have been able to do on the ground against a full-strength Packers defense of late. In last year's NFC Championship Game, the Seahawks rushed for 194 yards. In Week 1 last year, the Seahawks rolled up 207 yards on the ground.

And lo and behold, Seattle won both games.

Add up all those big numbers, and it would certainly seem to behoove the Seahawks to cram the football right down Green Bay's throat Sunday.

Packers defensive coordinator Dom Capers told Demovsky that's exactly what he expects to happen: "I think that everybody in that locker room knows Marshawn Lynch. They know what he's capable of doing. So, yeah, we'll be looking to make good strides this week in terms of the tackling."

There's one more benefit to running the ball with regularity against the Pack. According to my highly placed NFL sources, Green Bay quarterback Aaron Rodgers is pretty good. Last year at Lambeau Field, Rodgers failed to throw a single interception.

And without Kam Chancellor at the back of that defense, the Legion of Boom did not look the same against the Rams.

The easiest way to stop Rodgers? Keep him on the sideline. Control time of possession. Control tempo. And the Seahawks aren't going to do that attempting 40 passes.

So don't get cute, Darrell. Don't spread the field. Line up in 12 personnel (two tight ends), hand the ball to your superstar tailback and let him earn that fat paycheck.

Or, you can try to beat the Green Bay Packers at their own game—in their own house.

And deal with the wrath of Marshawn's mom after.

Gary Davenport is an NFL analyst at Bleacher Report and a member of the Fantasy Sports Writers Association and the Pro Football Writers of America. You can follow Gary on Twitter @IDPSharks.