There is no doubt there are more believers in the” Pete we believe” bandwagon now that the Seahawks (1-2) won their first game of the season in typical Seahawks fashion. Sundays 24 to 13 win over the Dallas Cowboys (1-2) was not without drama and intrigue.
Suspense whether Earl Thomas would play dissipated with a quickness when the All- Pro Safety trotted out with the starting defense. Thomas did not participate in the teams Friday’s practice due to a personal issue. With said drama out of the way, the Seattle defense went to work and pitched the first-quarter shout out of the Dallas offense thanks to hard-nosed defensive play and an interception by you guessed it, Earl Thomas.
Thomas picked off a Dak Prescott pass intended for Wide receiver Michael Gallup halfway through the quarter. Another surprise to most was the play of the offensive line due to the injuries going into the game. Joey Hunt started for the injured Justin Britt who dressed and played on the field goal unit while J.R. Sweezy slipped into the left guard position for Ethan Pocic. D.J. Fluker slipped into the right guard position.
In the first two games, Carroll talked about the team’s commitment to the run and observers regarded the ” we are going to run the ball” chant as just talk. Going into Sunday’s game the Seahawks had a combined 138 rushing yards on 38 attempts. On Sunday talk into action as the Seahawks ran the ball 18 times for 57 yards. Against the Broncos the Seahawks had 64 yards rushing the entire game.
The ability to run the ball balanced out Seattle’s offense. An effective run game aides the passing game. For the Seattle, the team’s ability to run the ball resulted in a 17 point second quarter that gave the Seahawks a lead they never relinquished.
Quarterback Russell Wilson threw two touchdowns passes a 16 yarder to Jaron Brown and a highlight reel 52 yarder to Tyler Lockett. Sebastian Janikowski’s 47-yard field goal just before halftime gave the Seahawks a 17 -3 lead.
The Seahawks offense stalled on its first two possession’s of the third quarter and the ineptitude allowed Dallas to cut into the Seahawks lead with a 35-yard field by Brett Maher that narrowed the Seahawks lead to 17 to 6 with 3:43 left in the third quarter.
The Seahawks offense found it’s rhythm one more time resulting in 10 play 72-yard drive that was capped by a five-yard touchdown run by Chris Carson. The impressive drive ate up 5:49 of clock time. Seahawks strong safety Bradley McDougald knocked the ball loose from Dallas running back Ezekiel Elliott’s hands and cornerback Justin Coleman recovered the loose ball.
The Seattle offense went into its stumble mode and was unable to take advantage of the turnover. With the clock ticking away the Cowboys went into a no-huddle hurry up offense with quarterback Dak Scott operation from a shotgun formation. The result was a 5 play 57-yard drive ended with a three-yard touchdown pass from Prescott to Tavon Austin.
The Seahawks offense was still in stumble mode and punted the ball back to a rejuvenated Cowboys offense. The Cowboys went back to their no-huddle, hurry up offense but unlike the previous drive, the Seahawks defense was ready for them. Earl Thomas in particular. Thomas recorded his secodn interception of the game when he intercepted Prescott’s intended pass for Blake Jarwin.
With the game on the line, the Seahawks offense decided it was time to snap out of the stumble mode and ran the game clock down to 1:14 punted the ball back to the Cowboys. The Seahawks defense stymied the Cowboys offense and forced a punt after just three plays. The Seahawks offense received the ball with 37 seconds left in the game and all it took was a Wilson kneel down for the win.
GAME BOXSCORE
BOX SCORE
| Dallas Cowboys (1-2-0) |
| Total First Downs | 17 | Total First Downs | 18 | |
| By Rushing | 7 | By Rushing | 6 | |
| By Passing | 8 | By Passing | 10 | |
| By Penalty | 2 | By Penalty | 2 | |
| Third Down Efficiency | 3/13 – 23% | Third Down Efficiency | 7/16 – 43% | |
| Fourth Down Efficiency | 1/2 – 50% | Fourth Down Efficiency | 0/0 – 0% | |
| Total Net Yards | 303 | Total Net Yards | 295 | |
| Total Rushing/Passing Plays (includes Sacks) | 58 | Total Rushing/Passing Plays (includes Sacks) | 67 | |
| Average Gain per Offensive Play | 5.2 | Average Gain per Offensive Play | 4.4 | |
| Net Yards Rushing | 166 | Net Yards Rushing | 113 | |
| Total Rushing Plays | 19 | Total Rushing Plays | 39 | |
| Average Gain per Rushing Play | 8.7 | Average Gain per Rushing Play | 2.9 | |
| Tackled for a Loss (Number-Yards) | 1–1 | Tackled for a Loss (Number-Yards) | 3–4 | |
| Net Yards Passing | 137 | Net Yards Passing | 182 | |
| Times Sacked (Number-Yards) | 5 – 31 | Times Sacked (Number-Yards) | 2 – 10 | |
| Gross Yards Passing | 168 | Gross Yards Passing | 192 | |
| Pass Comp-Att-Int | 19 – 34 – 2 | Pass Comp-Att-Int | 16 – 26 – 0 | |
| Average Gain per Passing Play (includes Sacks) | 3.5 | Average Gain per Passing Play (includes Sacks) | 6.5 | |
| Kickoffs (Number-In End Zone-Touchbacks) | 4 – 2 – 1 | Kickoffs (Number-In End Zone-Touchbacks) | 4 – 3 – 1 | |
| Punts (Number-Average) | 5 – 48.0 | Punts (Number-Average) | 8 – 43.8 | |
| Blocked | 0 | Blocked | 0 | |
| Net Punting Average | 43.0 | Net Punting Average | 41.3 | |
| FGs Blocked – PATs Blocked | 0 – 0 | FGs Blocked – PATs Blocked | 0 – 0 | |
| Total Return Yardage (excludes Kickoffs) | 20 | Total Return Yardage (excludes Kickoffs) | 25 | |
| Punt Returns (Number-Yards) | 4 – 20 | Punt Returns (Number-Yards) | 3 – 25 | |
| Kickoff Returns (Number-Yards) | 3 – 81 | Kickoff Returns (Number-Yards) | 3 – 66 | |
| Interception Returns (Number-Yards) | 0 – 0 | Interception Returns (Number-Yards) | 2 – 0 | |
| Penalties (Number-Yards) | 7 – 55 | Penalties (Number-Yards) | 10 – 67 | |
| Fumbles (Number-Lost) | 1 – 1 | Fumbles (Number-Lost) | 1 – 0 | |
| Touchdowns | 1 | Touchdowns | 3 | |
| Rushing | 0 | Rushing | 1 | |
| Passing | 1 | Passing | 2 | |
| Interceptions | 0 | Interceptions | 0 | |
| Kickoff Returns | 0 | Kickoff Returns | 0 | |
| Fumble Returns | 0 | Fumble Returns | 0 | |
| Punt Returns | 0 | Punt Returns | 0 | |
| Extra Points (Made-Attempted) | 1 – 1 | Extra Points (Made-Attempted) | 3 – 3 | |
| Kicking (Made-Attempted) | 1 – 1 | Kicking (Made-Attempted) | 3 – 3 | |
| Two Point Conversions (Made-Attempted) | 0 – 0 | Two Point Conversions (Made-Attempted) | 0 – 0 | |
| Field Goals (Made-Attempted) | 2 – 2 | Field Goals (Made-Attempted) | 1 – 1 | |
| Red Zone Efficiency | 1/3 – 33% | Red Zone Efficiency | 2/2 – 100% | |
| Goal To Go Efficiency | 1/1 – 100% | Goal To Go Efficiency | 1/1 – 100% | |
| Safeties | 0 | Safeties | 0 | |
| Final Score | 13 | Final Score | 24 | |
| Time of Possession | 27:16 | Time of Possession | 32:44 |
