Beastquake II, Marshawn Lynch's ridiculous 79-yard touchdown romp to put the Arizona Cardinals away on Sunday Night Football, was the run of the year. It turned defensive backs into rag dolls, Twitter into a jumble of all caps and exclamation marks and, in the case of his Seattle Seahawks' teammates, NFL vets into starry-eyed fans just as giddy as the rest of us.
Seahawks’ players ‘still in awe’ of Marshawn Lynch
“They haven’t had a run like that since the Underground Railroad.”
Matt Kartozian-USA TODAY Sports
"One word: greatness," cornerback Byron Maxwell told Jayson Jenks of The Seattle Times. "That's the best way I can describe it. ... I'm still in awe. I can't wait to look at it again. Seriously, though."
"It was the best run I've ever seen," said defensive end Michael Bennett, setting up what may be the NFL's quote of the year. "I felt like he was running for freedom or something. Boy, he was gone. They haven't had a run like that since the Underground Railroad."
The run, which saw Lynch stutter-step through a hole, reverse his field, brush off a pair of defenders like a windshield wiper scraping off raindrops, tip toe the sideline and beeline for the end zone, was similar in its jaw-dropping, awe-inducing power to the legendary run in the 2011 playoffs against the New Orleans Saints. There’s been no word whether the crowd’s reaction registered on the seismograph like the first one, but it will certainly send reverberations through NFL history.
"Most times I stay in the moment, and I try not to get caught up in the past or future or what might happen down the line," wideout Doug Baldwin explained. "But in that moment I couldn't help but think, ‘Twenty years from now, we're going to be looking back at that run thinking how amazing that was.' "
Another similarity between the first and second editions of Beastquake was the flying crotch grab into the end zone, something Lynch’s teammates and coaches found endlessly amusing.
"He is who he is. He's going to hold his (redacted)," said safety Earl Thomas. "That's what he do."
“I saw him jump and do his trademark fly-into-the-zone (celebration),” said quarterbacks coach Carl Smith, taking a more tactful approach at the description. “Yeah, I’m going with calling it that.”
“That was the best part,” added Maxwell.
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