Seahawks-Cowboys final score: Seahawks grind down Cowboys 24-13 for first win of the season

Doesn’t it feel good to win? The Seattle Seahawks (1-2) finally played at home for the first time of the 2018 NFL season, and they shut down Dak Prescott and the Dallas Cowboys (1-2) on their way to a win. Russell Wilson threw two touchdown passes, the running game hardly set the world on fire, but it was used and used heavily, and Chris Carson got his reward with a game-sealing touchdown in the final quarter, plus a 100-yard rushing day to boot. The defense dominated the Cowboys passing offense and forced three turnovers, with the great Earl Thomas picking off Prescott twice.

1st Half

The Seahawks won the coin toss and elected to defer, so the Cowboys began on offense, and went three-and-out. Bobby Wagner made a great stop on Ezekiel Elliott on 3rd and 1. Seattle would’ve gone three-and-out as well, but Tyrone Crawford’s sacks on Russell Wilson was ruled roughing the passer because he drove Wilson down with his full body weight. Chris Carson was able to get going and pick up a first-down on his fourth carry. A holding penalty on J.R. Sweezy nuked a promising drive, making it 32 straight games without an opening drive TD. Seven runs. Three passes. Establish that run.

After a Tavon Austin run for 18 yards, Dak Prescott fired one to Michael Gallup, who had the ball knocked out of his hands. Earl Thomas caught it and ran it inside of Dallas’ 30, but it was ruled incomplete. Replays showed Thomas was able to snag it before it hit the ground, so while they didn’t get return yards, they did get the ball back at around midfield.

The Seahawks went three-and-out after a dropped pass by Brandon Marshall. Dallas responded with their own three-and-out, as Bradley McDougald made a great pass breakup on a pass intended for Jeff Swaim. Unfortunately, the Cowboys got a first-down anyway because of a running into the punter penalty. This only bought Dallas three more plays before another punt. Seattle and Dallas traded more three-and-outs, with Brandon Marshall dropping another pass for the Seahawks offense. As for the Cowboys, their drive pretty much died when Barkevious Mingo sacked Dak on 1st and 10.

In a pleasant change of pace, one of these teams decided that forward movement was vital for offenses to score points. Wilson hit Tyler Lockett and Nick Vannett for third-down conversions to move Seattle into field goal range. A third-down blitz by Dallas backfired, as Chris Carson was wide open underneath for 20 yards. Dallas was caught off-guard by Seattle’s sudden uptempo pace and Jaron Brown was wide open on the next play for a touchdown! 7-0 Seahawks.

The Cowboys responded with an Ezekiel Elliott 19-yard run on 1st and 10. A few plays later, Dak Prescott beat the blitz and found Cole Beasley open to the Seahawks 39, the first time all game that the Cowboys had crossed midfield. Seattle’s defense got bailed out on an apparent touchdown by Ezekiel Elliott, who stepped out of bounds prior to catching Prescott’s pass and rumbling down the sidelines. Brett Maher banged one through from 50 yards to put the Cowboys on the board. 7-3 Seahawks.

Hoping to close out the half on a high note, Wilson punished the Cowboys secondary by going long to Tyler Lockett for a 52-yard strike. A thing of beauty and Lockett’s third TD of the season. 14-3 Seahawks.

Jarran Reed picked up a sack that essentially doomed Dallas to punt again, and the Seahawks had a timeout left, :49 remaining, and good field position at their own 42 to potentially add to the lead. This went poorly up until the Cowboys’ Randy Gregory shoved Joey Hunt in the face right in front of the referee, gifting the Seahawks a field goal opportunity, which Sebastian Janikowski converted from 47 out. 17-3 Seahawks at halftime.

2nd Half

Seattle could’ve really put their stamp on the game with an opening drive TD after intermission, but Brandon Marshall had other ideas and couldn’t haul in a 3rd down pass yet again. Admittedly, there was good coverage on the play. Seattle’s defense again forced a Cowboys three-and-out, capped off by Frank Clark getting pressure on Prescott, and Mychal Kendricks was in there to clean up and get credited with the sack.

A big run by Ezekiel Elliott and a third-down catch by Allen Hurns set the Cowboys up inside of Seattle’s 35, looking to get back into the game. Another quick hit to Jeff Swaim put the Cowboys on the cusp of the red-zone. They would go no further, and Frank Clark got another sack to force a field goal, which Brett Maher converted. 17-6 Seahawks.

Rashaad Penny almost had instant disaster on a fumbled handoff, which lost four yards but luckily didn’t end in a turnover. On the next snap, Wilson threw a laser to Brandon Marshall, who hung on for once, and gained 27 yards and did some push-ups afterward.

With Sean Lee out, the run game opened up again and Chris Carson was able to pick up decent gains and help get the offense to the Cowboys 18. Nick Vannett set the Seahawks up with 1st and goal at the 8 on an easy misdirection play. Chris Carson punched one in from five yards out for an actual, real-life rushing touchdown by a Seahawks running back. 24-6 Seahawks.

Desperately needing points, Ezekiel Elliott busted through the Seahawks defense for 32 yards... then Bradley McDougald punched the ball free and Justin Coleman recovered.

Seattle again went three-and-out, and the Cowboys were able to march down the field (primarily because of another big Elliott run) and get to 1st and goal with under eight minutes remaining. A flip to Tavon Austin on 2nd and goal finally put the Cowboys into the end zone. 24-13 Seahawks.

Another three-and-out with 5:30 left gave the Cowboys the ball back at their 20 with 5:30 to go and three timeouts to work with. A 4th down conversion to Cole Beasley + 15 yards for roughing the passer by Quinton Jefferson essentially made it a 31-yard play. Hopes of a comeback were all but dashed thanks to an Earl Thomas tip-drill interception. Credit to Bobby Wagner for the initial deflection.

Instead of going three-and-out again, Chris Carson decided to take matters into his own hands with a conversion on 3rd and 11, with Russell Wilson helping out with downfield blocking. Carson eclipsed the 100-yard mark two plays later.

The Cowboys got the ball back with about a minute remaining and no timeouts, needing 12 points in rapid time. Shockingly, they did not manage this and turned it over on downs. Jarran Reed got one more sack for good measure. 24-13 Seahawks Final.

Seahawks Injury report

RB C.J. Prosise was a late scratch due to a groin injury.

C Justin Britt was an emergency player, so he was active but did not play.

Next week’s opponent

The Seahawks are back on the road next week (Saturday, September 30th) against the Arizona Cardinals (0-3) at 1:05 PM PT on FOX.

When is Enemy Reaction coming out?

Monday.