On strength of three 100-yard rushing games, Seahawks’ Chris Carson NFC offensive player of month
The rest of the NFL is recognizing how vital—and brilliant—Chris Carson has been for the Seahawks.
The league announced Thursday Carson is the NFC’s offensive player of its most important month, December.
Carson gained almost half his 1,151 yards for the season in December. The lead back had 516 yards with five touchdowns in the month. He had consecutive games of 119 yards against San Francisco, 116 in a playoff-clinching win over Kansas City and 122 last weekend in the win over Arizona in the regular-season finale.
Those were half the six 100-yard rushing games he had in the regular season. Now he enters Saturday night’s NFC wild-card playoff game at Dallas as a huge factor opposite Cowboys’ running back Ezekiel Elliott, the league’s leading rusher with over 1,400 yards this season.
Carson also did this last month, Dec. 16 at San Francisco:
Carson said later he didn’t realize it was fourth down when he would not be denied from the end zone. Carson bounced off a wicked, immediate hit from D.J. Jones. He bulled through two other 49ers defenders on his can’t-stop-me touchdown run.
It was so improbable, and appeared so much like he was going down stopped short of the goal line, San Francisco defenders Earl Mitchell and Marcell Harris were running of the line and the field celebrating their teammates stopping Carson—while the Seahawks’ running back was still refusing to go down.
“That was the best part,” Seahawks running backs coach Chad Morton said.
“That was great,” Carson said. “I can see why they did. They thought they stopped me.”
“Tis the season for awards for Carson. He got a trophy from NFL Network’s “Good Morning Football” show for “angry run of the week,” him bulling over Chiefs strong safety Daniel Sorensen at the 2-yard line then dragging him and a Kansas City teammate into the end zone for a touchdown in Seattle’s 38-31 win Dec. 23.
Carson got a trophy for that. He was carrying out of the locker room last week.
Where’s that going? On an ever-expanding mantle as he racks up accomplishments in his second NFL season?
“My mom’s going to take that,” he said, grinning.
This story was originally published January 3, 2019 at 10:07 AM.
