Seahawks' 'Beast Mode' Lynch off to slow start

Because Seahawks running back Marshawn Lynch is almost always in "Beast Mode," tackling him is never easy - although he's questionable for Sunday's game with a calf injury and could be a game time decision.

Lynch is off to a slow start this year (33 carries, 114 yards, 3.5-yard average), but he has rushed for over 1,200 yards and more than 10 touchdowns in each of the previous four seasons.

"We've got to get a lot of people there," Bears defensive coordinator Vic Fangio said. "He's a hard guy to tackle one-on-one. He's physical, he's got some dance ability to him where he can jump cut and then slap people by, and he can get back outside. He's a unique combination of power and elusiveness, and once he gets rolling downhill, the power really shines."

Happy returns:

Bears return specialist Marc Mariani didn't have a 108-yard kickoff return for a touchdown like the Cardinals rookie David Johnson last week, but the six-year veteran from Montana had a nice game.

He averaged 28.7 yards on 3 kickoff returns and brought back his only punt return 20 yards.

"He's a really good decision maker, a tough guy, and he's not afraid to catch it in traffic," special teams coordinator Jeff Rodgers said. "It's (about) coaching all 11 guys on the field, but Marc certainly did a great job on that 20-yard return, set us up (at the Cardinals' 44-yard line)."

Rodgers said Mariani was close to bringing the punt back all the way.

"There were a couple of guys that, if they'd have finished (their blocks), maybe we would have scored on that play," Rodgers said. "It's just developing that consistency and showing the guys on tape, 'Here's guys doing it right; here's guys not doing it not quite correct.' If we can all get on the same page, we'll light up the scoreboard ourselves."

Different approach:

Because Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson rushed for 849 yards last season and averaged 7.2 yards per run, teams are forced to scheme him differently than almost every other quarterback.

Using one player to "spy" Wilson and keep him from scrambling for big chunks is one tactic, and another is to maintain strict rush lanes.

"You need to do both," Bears defensive coordinator Vic Fangio said. "You know people. (Teams) have done everything against him. Rush four, rush three and have a fourth guy be a spy, or rush four and have a fifth guy be a spy, or rush six. He's a great quarterback with a unique skill set, so you've just got to mix it up."

Tuning it out:

Opposing offenses have committed a league-high 137 false start penalties at Seattle's CenturyLink Field since 2005, 10 more than the next venue.

"It affects you if you let it affect you," Bears offensive coordinator Adam Gase said of the noise. "But (not) if you have a good system and you do a good job of communicating and make sure you're down as far as signal-wise. If you're working at the line of scrimmage, then it shouldn't affect you."

Last week the Bears had 4 false start penalties after Jimmy Clausen relieved Jay Cutler late in the second quarter.

"That was ridiculous what we had going on there," Gase said. "I think the change of quarterback, there was a slight difference in those two guys' cadences, and that really got our line kind of shaken up a little bit.

"It took us a minute to get things straightened out. Hopefully we've fixed anything to where if that ever happens again, we won't have issues."