The Oakland Raiders had a chance to get back into the game with a chance to score on the one-yard line during the third quarter against the Los Angeles Chargers. Unfortunately, Marshawn Lynch was forced to re-live one of the most devastating moments of his career.
Rather than hand off to Lynch, the Raiders decided to attempt a pass which inevitably got picked by Melvin Ingram. According to Jason Owens of Yahoo Sports, Lynch was well-aware of the similarities between this call and the one in Super Bowl XLIX:
“I done seen it happen to me on the game’s biggest stage,” Lynch told reporters. “Now it’s happened in a regular season game. It’s all right, though.”
Many may remember when the Seattle Seahawks decided to throw at the goal-line rather than hand the ball off to Lynch. The play has now been pegged as one of the most boneheaded decisions of all time. Unfortunately, Lynch was forced to re-live that pain.
He was understandably frustrated with the call. The veteran is widely considered the best power back in the game and has made a career out of being difficult to bring down. Yet, two different coaches have now opted to bypass that in favor of throwing the ball at the goal-line. To make matters worse, all he could do was watch helplessly as the ball was intercepted both times.
Despite his frustration, it appears as though Lynch is hoping to avoid the same media scrutiny that occurred last time around. This is certainly encouraging for head coach Jon Gruden, who has understandably received the brunt of the criticism. Regardless, Lynch’s calm approach will extinguish all the flak that Gruden has taken for Oakland’s poor start.
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