Helmet rule will force changes for Seahawks
Mar 21, 2013, 1:03 PM | Updated: 1:08 pm
By Brent Stecker
How much will the NFL’s new helmet rule affect the Seattle Seahawks? When it comes to running back Marshawn Lynch, it could be a lot.
As ESPN 710 Seattle’s Brock Huard points out in the video below, a signature play pertaining to the new rule (which will penalize offensive players 15 yards for using the crown of their helmets to make forcible contact with a defender in the open field) is Lynch’s run against then-San Francisco 49ers safety Dashon Goldson last season. Lynch caught a screen pass and took it into the open field, and rather than opting to go out of bounds, he lowered his head and made full contact with Goldson. It was a memorable play in the Seahawks-49ers rivalry, but next season the same play could have a very different result.
“I wonder, is that a penalty?” Huard says. “By the letter of the law, I think this is going to be a penalty next year. … (The new rule) is going to impact our Seattle Seahawks.”
