TALKING POINTS
This is the Seattle defense observers have gotten used to seeing the past three years.
The Seahawks were’t particularly good on offense in this one, but the defense turned in its second straight grade-A performance. The Cowboys were able to gain some yards on the ground, but Dallas’ vaunted offensive line wasn’t able to dominate proceedings the way it did last week against the New York Giants. Meanwhile, Seattle completely shut down Dallas’ passing game. Granted, it was a passing attack orchestrated by Matt Cassel rather than the injured Tony Romo, but any time a team holds an opponent to fewer than 100 passing yards it’s an accomplishment.
The defense was never better than it was right as the game went into the fourth quarter. Seattle was leading 10-9 when Dallas’ Greg Hardy made a tremendous play to intercept a screen pass and give the Cowboys the ball at the Seattle 15-yard line. But the Seahawks’ defense held firm and limited Dallas to a field goal, which meant Seattle only needed a field goal of its own to regain the lead.
Cornerback Richard Sherman deserves additional praise. Sherman was matched up all day with Dallas star receiver Dez Bryant, who was playing for the first time since Week 1 as he returned from his broken foot. There was much anticipation of Bryant’s return, but Sherman marked Bryant into oblivion (two catches for 12 yards on six targets), rendering Bryant’s return a non-event.
As for the offense, it was an odd mix of good and bad. Seattle did a good job mixing up the run and pass, and for the first time this season quarterback Russell Wilson wasn’t sacked. But the run game had limited effectiveness because it was never able to break one open for a big gain, and the pass game had limited effectiveness because Wilson had some accuracy issues. The offense did do some important work in the fourth quarter, though, coming up with a 17-play, 79-yard drive that resulted in the winning field goal. Indeed, Seattle sustained both its drives in the fourth quarter, something that had been a real problem as the Seahawks blew fourth-quarter leads earlier this season.
Seattle has now clawed itself back to .500 as the Seahawks are 4-4 headed into their bye week. It’s been a tumultuous first half to the season for Seattle, but wins the past two weeks — including a return to form by the defense — serves to wipe the slate clean and set the Seahawks up for a chance to make a run in the second half.
Also notable:
– There was a scary moment late in the first half when Seahawks receiver Ricardo Lockette was knocked unconscious on a hit while covering a punt. Lockette was down for a long time and had to be stretched off the field. But he was able to acknowledge the crowd as he was wheeled off, and he reportedly had full movement of his limbs as he was initially diagnosed with a concussion. Lockette was scheduled to remain in a Dallas hospital overnight as a precautionary measure.
– Seattle is still struggling once reaching the red zone. The Seahawks came into the game ranked last in the NFL in red zone efficiency, and they were 0-for-2 in turning red zone opportunities into touchdowns Sunday.
– Seattle kicker Steven Hauschka finally had his perfect start to the season with field goals snapped when he had a 47-yarder blocked in the fourth quarter. He had been 17-for-17 before that.
– Amazingly, Seattle won again despite losing the turnover battle (1-0). The Seahawks are 3-1 in games in which they lost the turnover battle and 0-3 in games in which they won the turnover battle. Weird.
TURNING POINT
The Seahawks holding Dallas to a field goal following Hardy’s interception was absolutely vital, especially considering the struggles Seattle’s offense has had getting the ball into the end zone.
BOX SCORE
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