Don't call it "Beast Quake II"

Marshawn Lynch's long touchdown run Sunday night ranks among the season's most exciting NFL highlights and rates among the greatest plays in Seahawk history.

Many have likened Lynch's 79-yard rampage to the Beast Quake run four seasons ago. 

Certainly, the two plays share many parallels. Both clinched crucial, high-stakes games with big playoff implications. In both cases, Lynch carried the ball, broke free from early contact, produced an impressive burst of sustained speed, deployed a mean stiffarm, and benefited when from clutch downfield blocks thrown by hustling teammates. Both runs ended with Lynch falling backwards into the end zone, cradling the pigskin in one arm while his other hand clutched his crotch in crude defiance of the defenders he had just dominated.

For these reasons, some have lazily dubbed last night's run Beast Quake II.

That is a misnomer, because no real seismic activity registered in Arizona on Sunday night. The original Beast Quake was an authentic tremor caused by 66,000 fans rocking Seahawks Stadium by jumping up and down in celebration of Lynch's epic 67-yard run. There were plenty of Seattle fans in Glendale that night, but not enough to shake the stadium.

To compound the foolishness, one Seattle newspaper set up an online poll asking readers which run was better; the original Beast Quake, or Beast Quake II?

Of course, it's no contest. Sunday night's run was magnificent, but the original Beast Quake featured more broken tackles, a more vicious stiffarm and a better team effort from a convoy of Seahawks blocking downfield to help usher Lynch into the end zone. Moreover, it took place on a bigger stage and in a more heroic underdog context: the only losing team in history to win a division, host a playoff game and eliminate the defending Super Bowl champions.

So, we need a better name for Sunday night's run. I invite suggestions from the teeming legion of Diehard readers. In the meantime, my own proposal draws inspiration from Michael Bennett, who said, "That's the best run I've ever seen. It looked like he was running for his freedom."

Thus, I propose "The Jailbreak."