How Doug Baldwin Has Become the NFC’s Biggest Playoff X-Factor

January 2, 2016   ·   Sean Tomlinson   ·   Jump to comments

Football is a game filled with suddenness. One deep strike can alter the course of a game, and one muscle rip can change the path of a season, or worse, a career.
The 2015 Seattle Seahawks are quite familiar with the latter form of change. Marshawn Lynch, their five-time Pro Bowl running back, has been out since Week 10 while recovering from an abdomen issue. His replacement Thomas Rawls showed Offensive Rookie of the Year potential before suffering a severe ankle injury. Then, finally, and mercifully, a long-term blow came when tight end Jimmy Graham tore his patellar tendon.
After each injury haymaker landed squarely on the offense’s nose. There was first panic, and then the same question. How will the defending NFC champs replace the production of a player who seemed irreplaceable?
In hindsight, the answer each time was the same: Doug Baldwin.
The fifth-year wide receiver’s role progressively increased when those key offensive components crumbled.&nbs...

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