Well, the fans have been clamoring for it.  They want to know.  How is Marshawn doing?  What is Marshawn up to? 

Well, let me tell you.  We talked the other day and I can give you an update.  And by talked, I mean I held my Lynch Bills jersey in my hands and whispered sweet everythings to it.  It rarely speaks back except to say (and I’m paraphrasing) "You are a grown man and probably shouldn’t listen to Justin Timberlake anymore."  It also notes that Marshawn is DOMINATING! Most people think Adrian Peterson is great.  They say he is the greatest rookie running back. 

But hey I’m sorry, who is leading Peterson in the most important statistical categories for running backs such as Touchdowns Thrown and Muscle Cars Ghostridden?

MARSHAWN!

And they love him in Buffalo.  I so envy the legions of white people in the stands there who get to watch Marshawn play live or even touch his helmet!

Here are some action shows from the game.  

Foolish Bengals!  Thinking only one person can take down Marshawn.

That guy in the back is saying "MARSHAWN, WE ARE SO LUCKY TO HAVE YOU HERE!"

DUDE, HE IS TWISTING N HOOKING!  I WILL CONTINUE TO WRITE IN ALL CAPS FOR NO APPARENT REASON EXCEPT TO EXPRESS MY EXCITEMENT OVER MARSHAWN! 

Marshawn rushed for 153 on 29 carries with 1 touchdown.  He caught 1 reception for 7 yards and threw an 8 yard TD. 

Now, if you are anything like me, you are saying "What?  Just photos.  No, no, no, I’m not going to be able to finish masturbating furiously to this post if there are only photos of Marshawn."  

Well, don’t worry.  I got you covered.  So, grab more tissues and watch this video.   It’s got all the highlights from the game, which include some non-Marshawn highlights.  Just endure that for the greatness.  You got the Touchdown throw, which went off better than his attempted pass at UDub last year (viewable here).  And it has a SIIIIIIIIIIIICK clip of his TD run.  He breaks like 3 tackles and then BAM is upfield in a flash.

Peterson might get all the pomp and circumstance, but we all know that Mashawn is having a great year.  He has 690 yards on the year on 177 carries for an average of 3.9 yards per carry.  He also has 12 catches for 96 yards.  And he has yet to lose a fumble.  All great numbers.  Sure, Peterson is averaging 6+ yards per carry, but that Vikings line is great.  Marshawn is doing this with a Buffalo Bills offensive line.  He should get an asterik put next to his stats. 

*Done on the Buffalo Bills with Trent Edwards and/or JP Losman as the starting QB. 

So, there you go.  Marshawn is great.  I wish he hadn’t left for the draft.  We could sure use him again this year.  But you can’t begrudge a man his chance to make millions.  And his love for chain restaurants.  He’s a fresh of breath air!

GO MARSHAWN!  GO BEARS! 

Depressed after reading about the DLine?  Here’s something that might slightly cheer you up!  The Linebackers.   

TwistNHook:  Strength of the D, in my estimation.  I am incredibly happy that Follett is back and wreaking havoc.  He is quite the havoc-wreaker.

Yellow Fever:  Follett also seems like the only one on the team who can get a consistent pass rush.  I never expect any of our defensive line to make any plays behind the line of scrimmage anymore, and I’m constantly hoping that Gregory will get a bit more aggressive and actually try and make plays instead of preventing them.  It probably won’t happen (at least not this year, and it may not ever), but if nothing else, Follett looks like he’d be a good fit as a 3-4 rush linebacker.  As for Felder and Worrell Williams, they make a lot of tackles, but I don’t think they make a lot of big plays.  They’re serviceable in my opinion.  And when the strength of your D is merely serviceable, that’s when you end up 6-3.

Ragnarok:  I think it would be egregious not to at least mention Marcus Ezeff, who, if you’ll remember, wasn’t even a starter out of fall camp (it took injuries to get him significant playing time).  His tackle that caused the game-ending fumble at Oregon was money!  (Of course, his late hit on an out-of-bounds play earlier in the game gave Oregon a touchdown, so perhaps we’ll call him ‘even’ for that game.)

Overall, I’d say that quarterbacks have looked far too comfortable against us lately, especially OSU’s Canfield, who was leading the nation in picks at the time, and UCLA’s Cowan, who was possibly more gimpy than Longshore at the time of the game.  Those guys were bad decisions waiting to happen, and that they never did has to fall on our pass rush.

Yellow Fever:  Isn’t Ezeff a safety?

HydroTech:  Correct, ezeff is a safety.

Ragnarok:  My mistake — strike that paragraph. 

TwistNHook:  No.

Ragnarok:  C’mon, please.  I’ll look like an idiot!

Yellow Fever:  More so than usual? 

TwistNHook:  Is that even possible, Yellow Fever? 

Ragnarok:  That’s it!  I’m leaving to join TheBandIsOutOnTheField.com.   

HydroTech:  If we could just focus a bit here, Gregory did blitz more than usual against ASU and when we did it backfired.  Carpenter got the balls off before we could get to him and his WRs got bigger YACs.  I’m all for blitzing (occasionally) but I think a lot of casual football fans forget the huge risks that come with it.  I think a lot of those fans that don’t recognize the risks of blitzing are also the ones that want Gregory to blitz at least 50% of the time and think it’s the solve-all solution to our defensive woes (I think these fans are more inclined to hate Gregory too).  Certainly blitzing every 4 to 5 downs is a great way to keep the offense off balance, but if you consistently blitz then you put yourself at risk for increasingly effective screens, swings, and draws.  As I’ve said many times before, the best solution is to just get a better pass rush out of the front 3 or 4 so we can drop 8 or 7 in coverage.  In my opinion, blitzing is the quick fix but temporary solution with many flaws.  Getting a better DL pass rush (either through scheme or personnel) is the slow fix but permanent and superior solution. 

TwistNHook:  A lot of people love love LOVE the blitz.  Barely beats out Cover 2 Johansson to be the "It" Defensive Scheme, for sure.

But let’s not forget the sage advice of Matthew 26:52, reprinted below:

26:52  Then said Jesus unto him, Put up again thy blitz into his place: for all they that take the blitz shall perish with the blitz.

I think if I can take a few moments to do some Biblical interpretation here, the meaning of that cryptic psalm becomes clear.  Tedford is saying unto him (the him here means just general humanity and is not capitalized, so it doesn’t mean Marshawn) that those who live a lifestyle defined by the blitz shall die by it.  It is not a cure-all.

And look if the Bible says this, who am I to disagree?  Oh yeah.  A Jew. Well, besides that.

Ragnarok:  From reading this discussion, it sounds like a solid B or B+ to me.  Maybe higher if Follett wasn’t injured for part of the year.  But what do I know?  I don’t even know what positions these guys play!