Chris Carson not the running back responsible for his fumble

It’s the middle of the third quarter and the Seattle Seahawks have forced the Denver Broncos to punt, giving them the ball back at their own 26, down 17-10. The first down play is a run by Tre Madden, gaining seven yards. The next play goes to Chris Carson, who seemingly picks up the first down — and potentially was going to have a huge gain, if not for the fact that Von Miller was there.

Miller was not only there, he surprised Carson from behind, got both hands on the ball, and easily ripped it out for his second forced fumble of the day. This one he also “recovered,” but really he just absorbed the ball, and potentially a piece of Carson’s soul too.

The Broncos got the ball back and thankfully, Case Keenum threw an interception on the very next play, giving Seattle possession at the Denver 41. Somehow the Seahawks lost a fumble and two plays later were 26 yards farther downfield. Carson was credited with a lost fumble, something that will follow him forever, and I’m sure each lost fumble is a sore subject for every running back. This one, however, was not Carson’s fault.

Though Madden did pick up seven yards on the previous play, he also got utterly abused — sorry, I don’t think “abused” is quite the right word for it. It’s more like ... Von Miller didn’t even acknowledge Madden’s existence. Madden ran at him and Miller casually and calmly tossed him aside to make the play.

The fullback position is a bit of a controversial one. Not all teams keep a fullback and the ones that do must justify it with lots of plays that involve a fullback, and/or having one who is exceptional at blocking. Miller is one of the best football players in the history of the game, but a blocking fullback should be a blocking fullback. He should be so damn good at blocking that he’s kept a job on the 53-man roster somehow. Remember, Seattle brought in fullback competition in the final weeks of preseason, so we knew they weren’t deadset on keeping Madden.

Madden got six snaps on offense. This was one of them. The Seahawks lost possession of the ball because he couldn’t even derail Miller for the second they needed for Carson to breakthrough. I wish Tre Madden the best, including just having a better performance for the Seahawks in the future, but this was not a great start to his season and when the team is looking for a roster spot or to make changes, this could be one area they look at.