For many years under former head coach Pete Carroll, it was very clear the Seattle Seahawks were committed to running the football.

Geno Smith on Seattle Seahawks new-look offense: ‘Great things coming for us’

As the NFL continued to evolve more toward the passing game during Carroll’s tenure, the Seahawks remained committed to running the ball. That was made evident oftentimes during the NFL Draft when the Seahawks were never shy about taking a running back early. However, the results on the field haven’t shown that sort of commitment in recent seasons.

Former NFL wide receiver Michael Bumpus would like to see the Seahawks regain their mojo on the ground, and he explained why Wednesday during Four Down Territory on Seattle Sports’ Bump and Stacy.

“You have to be able to run the football,” Bumpus said. “When you look back at the glory days, or just the days when this offense was really moving, when (former Seattle RB) Chris Carson was doing his thing, they were well over 2,000 (rushing) yards, around 2,220 to 2,300 yards. Now I need that to happen, and I also need this team to have an 1,100-yard rusher.”

The Seahawks ranked 28th in the NFL in rushing last season with 1,580 total yards and 92.9 yards per game. The team did manage a respectable 4.1 yards per carry, which was in the top half of the league, but it ranked 31st in rushing attempts. Just two of the bottom 10 rushing teams in the NFL reached the playoffs last season. Seattle wasn’t one of them.

Bumpus highlighted how teams that ran the ball well last season fared. Five of the top seven rushing teams – Baltimore, San Francisco, Miami, Detroit and Buffalo – reached the playoffs. Four of those five teams eclipsed 2,300 rushing yards, and other than the Ravens – who have the fleet-footed Lamar Jackson at quarterback – those teams all had a running back rush for over 1,000 yards. The Lions nearly had two 1,000-yard rushers, with David Montgomery hitting 1,015 yards and Jahmyr Gibbs reaching 945.

The Seahawks appear to have the talent at their disposal in the backfield to rival those kind of rushing numbers with 2022 second-round pick Kenneth Walker III and 2023 second-rounder Zach Charbonnet. Walker rushed for over 1,050 yards his rookie season and 905 last year. Charbonnet ran for 462 yards as the backup last season.

“If you can get a 1,000-yard rusher on your team and collectively you can rush for over 2,300 yards, your chances of making the playoffs are great,” Bumpus said. “You need to be teamed up with a good defense, though. Can’t forget that part of the equation, but this is one part of the equation that you cannot ignore: Run the dang ball and run it well and you have yourself a chance.”

Listen to the full conversation at this link or in the audio player near the top of this story. Tune in to Bump and Stacy weekdays from 10 a.m.-2 p.m. or find the podcast on the Seattle Sports app.

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WASHINGTON (AP) — Julio Rodríguez homered and drove in four runs, and the Seattle Mariners snapped a four-game losing streak with a 9-5 win against the Washington Nationals on Sunday.

Seattle Mariners 9, Washington Nationals 5: Box score

Ty France hit a two-run homer and singled home the go-ahead run for Seattle, which finished 4-6 on an East Coast trip.

With Seattle trailing 5-4, J.P. Crawford doubled leading off the eighth against Dylan Floro (1-1). Crawford took third on a wild pitch and scored on a one-out single by Rodríguez, snapping Floro’s 22-inning scoreless streak.

“Huge game by Julio,” Mariners manager Scott Servais said. “Really happy for him. Everybody’s happy to see it. That’s the Julio Rodríguez we’ve grown to know over the last couple of years and hopefully he can keep that going. That’s the best he’s looked all year.”

Back on 🔝 pic.twitter.com/GqHyL2oTJu

— Seattle Mariners (@Mariners) May 26, 2024

Rodríguez stole second and scored when France grounded a single to right. Rodríguez also capped Seattle’s three-run ninth with an opposite-field single that drove in two runs.

“I definitely loved the bases-loaded single to the other side on the fastball,” Rodríguez said. “The homer was cool and everything but in that moment right there, the moment it happened, I feel like I liked that one the most.”

Watch: Mariners CF Julio Rodríguez homers in 2nd straight game

Austin Voth (2-0) pitched a scoreless inning for the win.

Washington had jumped in front with four runs in the seventh, highlighted by CJ Abrams’ three-run homer off the right-field foul pole against Ryne Stanek.

Joey Gallo also went deep for Washington, which completed a 3-3 homestand.

“We put some good at-bats together late in the game,” Nationals manager Dave Martinez said. “We just couldn’t finish today.”

After managing just two runs in its previous three games, Seattle scored three in the fourth against Patrick Corbin, who entered with a 6.29 ERA.

Rodríguez, who snapped an 0-for-15 skid with a home run on Saturday, hit a leadoff drive to left-center. After Mitch Garver walked, France hit a two-run shot to left.

J-Rod has gone deep in consecutive games. 💥 pic.twitter.com/kcLfkGkjui

— MLB (@MLB) May 26, 2024

Gallo made it 4-1 with his two-out homer in the fifth.

Washington had the tying run at the plate in the sixth when Luis García Jr. hit a foul fly down the left field line. Jonatan Clase raced over to try to make a play, but a fan reached over the railing and caught the ball.

García was ruled out due to fan interference, and the call was upheld after a challenge by the Nationals.

“He had a Julio Rodríguez jersey on and I give him credit there,” Servais said. “I don’t know if Clase would have been able to be able to catch it. He certainly looked like he was going to catch it. My first reaction was ‘That’s fan interference,’ and I was like kind of ticked about it and then I saw he had a Julio jersey on and I said ‘Hey, nice job.’ He helped us out. We’ll take it.”

Seattle right-hander Bryan Woo allowed three runs and five hits over six-plus innings. It was this first time in four starts this season that he allowed more than one run.

Corbin was charged with four runs, three earned, and four hits over six innings.

TRAINER’S ROOM

Mariners: 2B Jorge Polanco left in the seventh inning with right hamstring tightness. … LHP Tayler Saucedo (right knee hyperextension) was reinstated from the 15-day injured list. To make room for Saucedo, RHP Eduard Bazardo was optioned to Triple-A Tacoma.

Nationals: OF Lane Thomas (left MCL sprain) worked out at Nationals Park. He will travel to Atlanta with the team and could be activated Monday.

UP NEXT

Mariners: RHP Bryce Miller (3-5, 3.53 ERA) starts when Seattle opens a four-game home series against the Astros on Monday night.

Nationals: Rookie LHP Mitchell Parker (3-2, 3.32 ERA) makes his eighth start when Washington opens a four-game series at Atlanta on Monday.

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