Marshawn Lynch coming out of retirement and returning to play running back in his hometown of Oakland hasn't had a good beginning or middle. But it can still have a happy ending if the Raiders use him right going forward — by using him as little as possible.
Before Lynch was ejected for making contact with an official in the first half — well before quarterback Derek Carr led the Raiders to Thursday's thrilling 31-30 home victory over the AFC West-leading Chiefs — "Beast Mode" had produced only 266 rushing yards and two touchdowns over six-plus games. Lynch's 3.7 yards per carry indicated that at 31, he had slowed down even more from the last time he played, with the Seahawks in 2015.
The Raiders' power rushing attack featuring Lynch simply was neither effective nor efficient going into the game. Wide receiver Amari Cooper, who scored in Week 1, had all but disappeared in the passing game. Carr had struggled right before suffering his back injury and right after returning from it, and the team really missed him during its listless loss to the Ravens in between.
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But Carr (29-of-52 passing, 417 yards, three TDs) and Cooper (11 catches, 210 yards, two TDs) wasted no time breaking out of their slumps Thursday. The Raiders took full advantage of the many weaknesses beyond Marcus Peters in the Chiefs' secondary to get the two going like the electric "AC/DC" combination they were supposed to be all season.
Carr had the Raiders stepping on the gas all the way through to their last-gasp game-winning drive, capped by Michael Crabtree's untimed TD reception. Carr returned to being the fiery passer who's in total rhythm, consistently firing downfield knowing his team needed every bit of his right arm to outduel Alex Smith.
Meanwhile, Lynch saw only a handful of snaps early, with his two rushes going for 9 yards before he hastened his departure from the game. The rushing attack was plenty effective without him s second-year speedsters Jalen Richard and DeAndre Washington combined for 18 carries and 64 yards and a score. Richard continued to be a factor as Oakland's best backfield receiver.
There was a lot more flow and versatility to the offense without Lynch. Carr, not hampered by the Raiders being desperate to establish Lynch, spread the ball around well. They found more ways to get Cooper open in favorable matchups, and that, in turn, opened up more things up for tight end Jared Cook (six catches, 107 yards), who fulfilled his promise to be a solid third target behind Crabtree and Cooper. All of that helped end a stretch of four straight games, all losses, of scoring well fewer than 20 points.
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The Raiders have done their best to get Lynch involved as a receiver when he's out there, but since one 16-yard catch and run in Week 1, he hasn't done much. In last week's loss to Chargers, a throw from Carr went off Lynch's hand, leading to a costly interception.
When either Richard or Washington is in the game, as they were for most of the night against the Chiefs, Oakland has one more legitimate pass catcher who can make a play and require coverage attention. When Lynch has been getting the snaps, it quickly became pretty predictable the Raiders would be looking to pound him between the tackles.
The rub is the Raiders' talented, experienced offensive line has underachieved in run blocking, which was supposed to be a key part of the equation for Lynch's success. With little room to run and with Lynch lacking burst, most runs with him have been wasted plays.
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Although Lynch was misguided in bursting off the sidelines, getting into a melee and making the ill-fated bump — an action coach Jack Del Rio told CBS's Tracy Wolfson at halftime was "inexcusable" — the move suddenly won't change Lynch's venerable status on the team. Lynch is a great influencer and supporter of young players, and he always has their backs. In Thursday's mini-brawl, even through the results were ugly, he was trying to play peacemaker with his good friend Peters, who was on the other side.
Cutting Lynch isn't the answer, but cutting back his workload is. The Raiders are at their best when they are pass-first and pass-often. They need to put pressure on opponents to either keep scoring or keep up so the strength of their weak defense, premier edge rusher Khalil Mack, can get his opportunities against opposing passers — see his critical sack of Smith before Carr got the ball last.
Lynch was never going to be a 20-to-25-carry back again, but even trying to get him to 15 seemed like a reach. Because he carries so much weight as a locker-room presence and isn't in position to complain about his lack of aging-back carries — a la Adrian Peterson — it's OK to make Lynch a situational player.
Although, in fact, there's no need to bring him in unless it's a short-yardage down or the Raiders are deep into the opponent's red zone. There's no need to force Lynch into the lineup and force-feed him. Carr came out comfortable throwing often, and Lynch leaving didn't hurt him or the offense in any way. It freed the Raiders into being more able to do what Carr does best.
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A goal-line role and perhaps a few chances to salt away Raiders blowouts still give Lynch a shot at the the guts and the glory, and you already know he doesn't care much about the latter in individual terms. In typical fashion of misunderstanding Lynch, there were reports of him leaving the stadium right after the ejection. Those were cleared up when Lynch was reportedly found in the locker room, celebrating a victory — with which he had nothing to do — with all his teammates.
Lynch is still misunderstood by many, but he wasn't a big Raiders mistake. He has just been miscast. If the Raiders' mission to get to the playoffs is based on riding the explosive parts of their offense more, then he needs to fade more out of their game plan.