ARLINGTON, TX- The Dallas Cowboys are now 9-3 after beating the Seattle Seahawks 41-35 in one of the most exciting games they’ve had in a while.
The Seahawks played this game with everything they had and more, especially considering their playoff contention was highly dependent on this game, but they fell short in the end.
Dallas Cowboys vs. Seattle Seahawks Highlights
Self-Inflicted Wounds Continue
Penalty flags were flying during this game. With a total of nine penalties for 127 yards, this game surpassed the Cowboys’ most penalties at home this season, previously held by their Week 10 matchup with the New York Giants, in which they had nine penalties for 83 yards.
The costly penalties allowed Seattle to score at least 14 points because of defensive pass interference calls on Rashaan Evans and DaRon Bland. Additionally, Dak Prescott’s rushing touchdown was called back because of Terence Steele’s holding penalty.
Going into this game, the Cowboys and the Seahawks were tied for second for having the most penalties so far this season, with a total of 81 each.
The Cowboys have had penalty issues dating back to last season. However, in this game, they were being thrown on both sides, with the Seahawks having 10 penalties for 130 yards.
This will be something Dallas needs to take a closer look at going forward, as self-inflicted wounds can come back and bite them.
Was This a Measuring Stick Game for Dallas’ Defense?
The Cowboys had three weeks of “should win” games against the Giants, Commanders, and Panthers. Seattle was the first team that posed a threat to weaknesses that remained for Dallas.
Going into this game, a big topic of conversation was the Cowboys’ run defense. Yet, Seattle had 72 just rushing yards on 22 attempts in Thursday’s matchup.
The issue wasn’t the run defense, but it was allowing big chunk plays down the field. Dallas allowed Geno Smith to have 334 passing yards off 23 completions.
Furthermore, the Seahawks were 9 of 14 in third-down conversions, which played in their favor the entire matchup.
MORE: Al Michaels Joins NFL Fans With Strong Reaction to DaRon Bland’s Polarizing TNF Performance
The Cowboys’ defensive backs struggled in this game, and the Seahawks’ offense tried bullying Bland. Two of three of DK Metcalf’s receiving touchdowns came when Bland was on coverage.
However, it’s a bright light that Bland didn’t let this waver his confidence and got the team’s only night interception.
INT machine = @DaRon_Bland 🔥
📺: Prime & NFL+ → https://t.co/yLMhJNTZjs pic.twitter.com/T14Pv9KjGM
— Dallas Cowboys (@dallascowboys) December 1, 2023
Dak Prescott Continues To Play Lights Out
Prescott is showing how fearless he truly is when using his legs more. He had 23 rushing yards for the night and took some massive hits throughout the game.
But what was most noticeable about this game was the chemistry he continues to have with the guys around him.
CeeDee Lamb continues to be dominant, having 116 receiving yards and one touchdown in this game.
Moreover, it was nice to see Jake Ferguson get some of the wealth tonight as the tight end had 77 receiving yards and one touchdown, which was a game-changer in the fourth quarter.
Prescott to Ferguson and the Cowboys take the lead with 4:37 to go!#SEAvsDAL on Prime Video
Also available on #NFLPlus https://t.co/YcXzMZb8jY pic.twitter.com/7kgIjgQ6AN— NFL (@NFL) December 1, 2023
Dallas’ offense kept the team alive in this game and answered when they needed to by continuing to get points on the board, which is a change from what they weren’t doing at the start of the season.
Overall, the Cowboys had a bend-but-never-break mentality in this game after a three-game stretch in 12 days.
Dallas will now have a much-needed mini-bye week ahead of next week’s highly anticipated game against the Philadelphia Eagles next Sunday.
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