ARLINGTON, Texas — For his latest trick, Richard Sherman made a fellow All-Pro mostly disappear in front of 91,486 people in a mammoth stadium and million more watching on national television.
Seahawks’ safety Earl Thomas was so jacked by what Sherman did shadowing Dallas’ Dez Bryant on Sunday, he gave his teammate the highest compliment he could think of.
“I never seen a nerd ballin’ like that,” Thomas said of the Stanford graduate following Seattle’s 13-12 win over the Cowboys Sunday at AT&T Stadium.
Sherman had spent most of his first four seasons anchored to his left-cornerback spot. But this season he’s been inside at nickel back in September at Green Bay against Randall Cobb, on A.J. Green all over the field in Cincinnati last month after Green burned teammate Cary Williams early and often, and last week shutting down San Francisco’s Torrey Smith to zero catches and just one target.
He learned Saturday he would be shadowing Bryant, though it had been widely assumed since Wednesday when Bryant returned to practice. Bryant played his first game since breaking a bone in his foot in Dallas’ opener. He caught two passes for 12 yards on six targets by fill-in quarterback Matt Cassel. Sherman had four pass breakups, a tackle of Bryant for a 3-yard loss on a wide-receiver screen that was Bryant’s first catch in the third quarter and had an interception broken up by Bryant committing offensive interference against him deep down the sideline.
Sherman held Bryant to his lowest output in 24 games dating to Dec. 9, 2013, at Chicago.
“He was ballin’!” Thomas bellowed afterward.
He was inside jumping slant routes. He was riding Bryant out beyond the sideline boundary on go routes. He was had inside position over the top on deep balls. He was all over Bryant.
Sherman was a large reason why Dallas managed just 97 yards passing with a quarterback who wasn’t on its team at the season’s start, the former backup at USC for Pete Carroll.
“Fantastic,” Carroll said of Sherman’s day.
“(Dez) was all pumped up to come back and be a factor in the game, which he always is. I thought ‘Sherm’ was just there in so many instances.
“Stellar game.”
Sherman just shrugged while sitting inside his locker afterward. After all, it’s why the Seahawks are paying their two-time All-Pro and two-time Pro Bowl selection a team-high $10 million guaranteed this season.
“Just doing what my coaches ask me to do,” he said. “Thankfully I was able to do my job effectively.
“I don’t think there’s any key. I just played a hard game. He’s a phenomenal receiver, one of the best … I was able to get my hands on a few. He was able to get his hands on a few.
“I have great respect for the man.”
Bryant wasn’t exactly on as high as a road in the opposite locker room.
Then again, he didn’t have Tony Romo throwing to him; Dallas’ brightest star is out until at least Nov. 22 with a broken clavicle. Plus, Bryant appeared to be favoring his foot on some routes.
“Let me get something straight real quick: Hey man, nobody didn’t get locked down over here,” Bryant said. “Let’s get real. I understand our situation.
“So come on with it, man. Look at the tape, right? Come on!”
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