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The Best 15 Plays of Marshawn Lynch's Seahawks Career

Counting down the Top 15 plays in Marshawn Lynch's Seahawks career.

With Marshawn Lynch indicating on Sunday his plans to retire after a nine-year NFL career, which included six seasons in Seattle, we take a look back at some of his best and most memorable plays in a Seahawks uniform.

15. 1-yard touchdown run vs. Bears in 2010.

This was far from being Lynch's best run, but his first touchdown as a Seahawk in his first game following Seattle's trade with Buffalo was a precursor of what was to come. Lynch took a handoff from Matt Hasselbeck, and was hit twice in the backfield, then hit once more at the goal line before powering into the end zone.  


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14.  9-yard catch vs. Atlanta in 2013.

When describing his most famous run, Lynch referred to the shove he used to flatten Saints defensive back Tracy Porter as "a little baby stiff arm," but what Lynch did to turn a short pass on third down into a 9-yard gain against the Falcons was most definitely a grown-man stiff arm.  


13. 27-yard touchdown run vs. Washington in divisional round of the 2012 postseason.

The first of many big playoff runs to make this list, Lynch's fourth-quarter run, which featured a nasty cutback in the open field, was part of a big second-half comeback. Lynch's best play in the game, however, might have been the Russell Wilson fumble Lynch scooped up and turned into a big gain. Down 14-3 at the time, the Seahawks could have fallen into too big of a hole to overcome had Washington recovered that fumbled exchange between Wilson and Lynch.


12. Walk-in 7-yard touchdown catch vs. the 49ers in 2013.

Lynch was wide open against a blitzing 49ers defense, and literally walked into the end zone, so this was far from being his most impressive play, but it was a significant one, nonetheless. Not only did Lynch's decision to briefly stop at the goal line, then casually stroll into the end zone demonstrate the swagger that helped make him a fan favorite, but that lopsided win early in the season helped signal a changing of the guard in the NFC West that culminated in Seattle's NFC championship game victory over the 49ers later that season.


11. 77-yard touchdown run vs. Detroit in 2012.

Lynch wasn't known for his straight-line speed during his career, but he could turn it on when necessary, and did so on what at the time was the longest run of his career.


10. 9-yard run vs. Arizona in 2014.

On Seattle's third play from scrimmage, the Cardinals had Lynch dead to rights in the backfield. Three different Arizona defenders stood between Lynch and the line of scrimmage, unblocked, yet somehow Lynch bounced to his right to escape immediate danger, then accelerated to turn the corner and turn a sure loss into a positive gain. While that play wasn't one of Lynch's most memorable, it demonstrated one of his more underrated traits—incredible quick and nimble feet that gave Lynch elusiveness that was often overshadowed by his power and determination.


9. 8-yard catch vs. Baltimore in 2011.

Before the Seahawks could run out the clock in a 2011 victory against Baltimore, a win that started a strong second half to that season for Seattle, they needed another first down. Tarvaris Jackson hit Lynch with a short pass on third-and-5, and Lynch left two Ravens defenders, one of whom was Ray Lewis, grasping at air with a nasty cut. Not only was this an impressive individual effort, it helped clinch an important win for a team trying to find its way.


8. 3-yard touchdown run vs. Oakland in 2014.

One of a handful of runs in Lynch's career that epitomizes the tenacity not just that he brings, but that he inspires from his linemen, who like Lynch kept fighting until he was in the end zone.  


On October 5, 2010, the Seahawks acquired Marshawn Lynch and in his nine years in the NFL Lynch has made some truly spectacular plays, rightfully earning the nickname Beast Mode. 

7. 31-yard touchdown run vs. New Orleans in the divisional round of the 2013 postseason

This wasn't even Lynch's best touchdown against New Orleans in a playoff game, but it was still a very impressive one. On a rainy, windy day when passing success was hard to come by, Lynch carried the load for the eventual Super Bowl champs, rushing for 140 yards and two touchdowns.


6. 43-yard run vs. Houston in 2013.

Lynch didn't score on this play, so it wasn't quite a memorable as some of his top runs, but for sheer tackle-breaking ability and unbelievable balance, this run is tough to beat. Backed up inside their own 5-yard line, Lynch gave the Seahawks some needed breathing room by breaking several tackles on a long scamper down the right sideline.


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5. 15-yard touchdown run vs. Philadelphia in 2011.

When Lynch took the handoff from Jackson, he immediately ran into a pile of white jerseys, but Lynch kept churning his legs and eventually popped out of the scrum to run into the end zone. One of the more obvious example of Lynch's ability to keep plays alive even when they look dead from the start.  


4. 40-yard touchdown run vs. San Francisco in the NFC championship.

The run itself was impressive, from the way Lynch hit the hole to his ability to accelerate into daylight to the tackles he broke before tumbling into the end zone, but just as impressive was how Lynch, once again, had a big game against what at the time was one of the league's stingiest defenses. From when Jim Harbaugh took over the 49ers in 2011, almost no teams or individuals had success against the 49ers running the ball, but Lynch was the exception, going over 100 yards six times in 10 career games against San Francisco, postseason included.


3. Go-ahead 24-yard touchdown run against Green Bay in the NFC championship.

This run capped one of the most unlikely comebacks in NFL postseason history, and while it wasn't the play that sent Seattle to the Super Bowl thanks to the Packers forcing overtime, it was part of yet another big postseason performance for Lynch, who rushed for 157 yards on 25 carries.


2. 79-yard touchdown run vs. Arizona in 2014.

For almost any other running back, this would unquestionably be the No. 1 highlight in a career. But for Lynch, his tackle-breaking, sideline tightrope walking score, which was the longest carry of his career, comes in No. 2, because, well, you know why.


1. Beast Quake.

Were you expecting anything else? Before Seattle's playoff win over New Orleans in the 2010 postseason, Lynch had not rushed for 100 yards as a Seahawk and was still a long ways from becoming one of the most beloved players in franchise history. But with a remarkable 67-yard score that helped clinch an upset victory over the Saints, Lynch immediately secured his place in Seahawks lore, and kicked off a four-year stretch from 2011 to 2014 that would see him establish himself as one of the NFL's best running backs, while also helping the Seahawks find their identity.

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