SEATTLE — The Seattle Seahawks beat the Dallas Cowboys 24-13 in their first win of the season on their home turf at CenturyLink Field. Both offenses could not get anything going during the first quarter. The Cowboys had 38 total yards and the Seahawks had 49 yards, into the beginning of the second quarter.
Things sped up in the second quarter with Seattle being the first to put points on the board, after Xavier Woods could not reach Jaron Brown in the end zone to disrupt the touchdown pass. Dak Prescott did well on the next drive under pressure. He had a perfect 18-yard pass to Cole Beasley on a cross route, and a 10-yard pass to Allen Hurns with a guy in his face. He scrambled on the next play with a pass to Ezekiel Elliott that should have been an easy touchdown with no Seahawks’ secondary on him, but Elliott stepped out of bounds. The Cowboys had to settle for a 50-yard field goal by Brett Maher.
The linebacker core had a strong first half. Sean Lee amassed 5 tackles and 4 assists and Leighton Vander Esch had 3 tackles and 2 assists. Jaylon Smith had great pressure on QB Russell Wilson. However, a missed assignment by Kavon Frazier in the backfield gave the Seahawks an easy TD on a 52-yard pass as Tyler Lockett walked into the end zone, and a penalty by Randy Gregory gave the Seahawks better field position on the field goal to put Seattle up 17-3 heading into the half.
The Cowboys’ defense had a positive start in the third quarter with Byron Jones’ coverage on third and out forcing the Seahawks to punt, as well as Sean Lee and Demarcus Lawrence’s combined tackle on Wilson to put Dallas’ offense back on the field and a chance to score. After Prescott was sacked on third down, the Cowboys’ had to settle for another field goal by Maher to bring the score 17-6 after 9 plays for 54 yards.
The Cowboys had too many turnovers in the fourth and issues on the offensive side of the ball throughout the game to come away with a win. In the opening drive for the Seahawks, Chris Carson had a five-yard touchdown run. On the next drive, McDougald knocked the ball out of Elliott’s hands and the Seahawks recovered the fumble. Jaylon Smith stopped Seattle’s offense on third down and they had to punt. Dallas was finally able to make it in the end zone with Dak’s flip of the ball to Tavon Austin for a three yard TD pass to make the score 24-13. The Cowboys’ were able to keep Seattle from scoring, marched down the field with Beasley gaining first downs, but Earl Thomas intercepted the ball in the redzone.
Prescott finished the game 19 of 34 for 168 yards, one touchdown, and two interceptions. Elliott led the team in rushing with 16 carries for 127 yards. Geoff Swaim led in receiving with five receptions for 47 yards and Beasley right behind with three receptions for 46 yards.
Dallas has to diversify the play calling on the offensive side of the ball and get their ground game rolling. The Cowboys had to rely on their passing game for the majority of the game and Dak had defenders all over him. He was sacked five times and was hit 12 times. The O-line has to do a better job on assignments to protect their quarterback, or Prescott will be leaving the field on a stretcher.
