Game Preview: SEA AT DAL
The MATCHUP
SEATTLE SEAHAWKS (6-5) at DALLAS COWBOYS (8-3)
Game time: Thursday, 7:15 p.m. CST
TV/radio: Amazon Prime Video / Compass Media, Westwood One Radio, 105.3 The Fan, KMVK 107.5 La Grande (Spanish)
Broadcast teams: National TV – Al Michaels, Kirk Herbstreit, Kaylee Hartung (sidelines); National Radio (Compass) – Kevin Ray, Danny White; National Radio (Westwood One) – Kevin Kugler, Tony Boselli; Local Radio (English) – Brad Sham, Babe Laufenberg, Kristi Scales (sidelines); Local Radio (Spanish) – Victor Villalba, Luis Perez, Carlos Nava (sidelines)
Head Referee: Clete Blakeman
Officiating Crew: Scott Campbell, Dana McKenzie, Julian Mapp, Terry Brown, Lo van Pham, Jonah Moore, Chad Adams, Ken Hall
Last 5 Meetings:
09/27/2020 – Seahawks 38, Cowboys 31
01/05/2019 – Cowboys 24, Seahawks 22
09/23/2018 – Seahawks 24, Cowboys 13
12/24/2017 – Seahawks 21, Cowboys 12
11/01/2015 – Seahawks 13, Cowboys 12
All Time Head-to-Head: Cowboys lead 11-10-0
WHAT’s at STAKE
With one game left in a stretch that featured the Giants, Panthers and Commanders, the Cowboys must finish off this portion of the schedule with a win on Thursday night over a 6-5 Seattle team. A win over the Seahawks puts the Cowboys in the best position possible for a playoff berth going into a four-game stretch against three of the NFL’s top teams – Philadelphia, Miami and Detroit, this season and that will determine their fate. But they can’t look past a Seahawks team that plays a physical brand of defense and has just enough firepower on offense to beat anybody. It’s a must win for Dallas.
WHEN the COWBOYS HAVE the BALL
Since coming back from the off week, the Cowboys offense has been the best that has been seen around here in a long time. While they played four teams with losing records, the offense has been able to do whatever it wanted, even in their loss to Philadelphia. In those five games the Cowboys offense is averaging 435 yards and 38.6 points per game, that includes a 640 yard and 49-point performance against the Giants. Quarterback Dak Prescott has been razor sharp, throwing for 1,602 yards, 17 touchdowns and just two interceptions. He’s playing well enough, averaging 320.4 yards and 3.4 passing touchdowns a game over his last five starts, to enter the MVP conversation if he can continue this level of play. He will be met on Thursday night by the 23rd ranked defense, but Seattle still has some playmakers in old friend defensive tackle Leonard Williams, who played five years for the Giants, as well as linebackers Jordyn Brooks and Bobby Wagner and defensive back Devon Witherspoon and safeties Jamal Adams and Quandre Diggs. Regardless, don’t expect the Cowboys to change what they do on offense. It will be more of what has gotten them to this point – big throws, and a lot of them, to CeeDee Lamb, enough from a running game that has gotten hot over the last five games and continued excellence from Prescott.
WHEN the SEAHAWKS HAVE the BALL
An offense that features wide receivers DK Metcalf and Tyler Lockett will always be a problem for defenses. This season is no different, as the duo continues to lead a Seahawks offense that lacks the consistency at the quarterback position to be a consistent winner in the NFL. Geno Smith, who is averaging 234.9 yards and just over one touchdown per game this season, is the quarterback in charge of distributing the ball to wide receivers Metcalf (43 receptions/678 yards/3 touchdowns), Lockett (54/575/4) and 2023 first-round pick Jaxon Smith-Njgba (39/406 yards/2) and tight end Noah Fant (19/261/0). Smith is completing 65.4-percent of his passes while running for his life. The offensive line, ranked 23rd in pass blocking by Pro Football Focus, has allowed 27 sacks, which should play perfectly for a Cowboys defense that thrives on rushing the quarterback. If Smith can’t get rid of the football early, those sack numbers are sure to rise against a Cowboys unit that ranks only behind the 49ers in rushing the quarterback and in pass coverage. The Seahawks o-line is much better in the run game, ranking 11th by PFF, but with Kenneth Walker III out with injury it will be Zach Charbonnet, who had just 47 yards in his first start last week.
KEY COWBOYS to WATCH:
LB Micah Parsons – The heart of the Cowboys defense, linebacker Micah Parsons is having another season worthy to be in the conversation for Defensive Player of the Year. Parsons is continually wrecking the offensive game plans of his opponents by moving all around the defensive front – from far outside the tackle to over the center and make life miserable for the offensive line. He has played 551 snaps this season, was in pass rush mode for 342 of those and recorded 71 quarterback pressures, 47 QB hurries, 11 QB hits and 13 sacks. His overall grade of 92.0 by Pro Football Focus for his defensive play is good enough for third in the league, behind only Nick Bosa (93.0) and Myles Garrett (92.7). Where Parsons falls short is in run defense, where he checks in with a 64.8 PFF grade which doesn’t even qualify in the top 200 of NFL player grades.
DT Mazi Smith – After a slow start to his NFL career, Cowboys first round pick Mazi Smith is finally starting to make plays. In the six games before the Cowboys week off, Smith was averaging just over 16 snaps per game, while only recording 4 tackles and one tackle for loss. He had three games – against the Jets, Patriots and Chargers, where he didn’t make the final stat sheet. But in the five games since the off week, he has played much better. In those five games, he has averaged almost 19 snaps in each contest, and has recorded six tackles, two quarterback hits, one tackle for loss and he finished second on the team in tackles with three in the win over the Giants. As Smith continues to get better, the Cowboys run defense continues to improve.
LG Tyler Smith – In just his second season, Cowboys right guard Tyler Smith is having an All-Pro season. In his 609 snaps this season, 217 run blocking and 392 pass blocking, he has an overall offensive grade of 78.0, which is third among NFL guards that have played at least 500 snaps. He ranks second in the NFL in run blocking with an 89.7 grade on PFF. His 65.5 grade by PFF in pass blocking is just 40th overall, but he has only given up one sack, one quarterback hit, eight quarterback hurries and 10 quarterback pressures. He has a 98.5 grade by PFF in pass blocking efficiency – a stat measuring pressure allowed on a per-snap basis with weighting toward sacks allowed, which is 13th in the NFL through 11 weeks. Smith, who leads the team in penalties, has been flagged 10 times, with eight of those penalties – offensive holding (5), false start (2) and unnecessary roughness (1), being accepted.
KEY SEAHAWKS to WATCH:
RB Zach Charbonnet – With an injury to starter Kenneth Walker III, running back Zach Charbonnet takes over as the starter for Seattle. Charbonnet, the Seahawks second round pick this year, rushed for 47 yards on 14 carries in his first start, and now has 308 yards on 67 carries and no touchdowns. He has also caught 23 passes for 103 yards, to average 41.1 yards per game this season. In 40 games at the college level, Charbonnet rushed for 3,346 yards and caught another 589 yards in passes with 75 touchdowns. He got a slow start at Michigan, where he played 18 games over two seasons, gained 921 total yards – 850 rushing on 168 carries, and produced 14 touchdowns. After the transfer to UCLA, Charbonnet put up 3,014 total yards – 2,496 rushing on 398 carries, with 61 touchdowns over 22 games.
SS Quandre Diggs – There are a lot of Diggs in the NFL, but Quandre is not related to brothers Stefon and Trevon, but he has become a star in the NFL like the other two. After being selected in the sixth round out of the University of Texas in 2015 by Detroit, Diggs played in 60 games over four seasons with the Lions, before moving on to Seattle in the middle of the 2019 season, starting all 66 games since arriving in Seattle. He has been selected to the Pro Bowl at the end of the last three season in Seattle, where he averaged over 76 tackles, 4.3 interceptions and eight passes knocked down each season. This year he has 61 tackles, fourth on the Seahawks behind linebackers Bobby Wagner (113) and Jordyn Brooks (95) and safety Julian Love (79), with one interception and three passes knocked down.
DE Leonard Williams – After being acquired by Seattle at the trade deadline, big Leonard Williams has fit right in on a hard-hitting defense. In his four games with the Seahawks, Williams has nine tackles, one sack, and 1.5 stops for a loss. In his final seven games with the Giants, he racked up 21 tackles – including a season high six in losses at San Francisco and Buffalo, 1.5 sacks, 2 stops for a loss and one pass knocked down. In nine games against Dallas – two with the Jets and the last seven with the Giants, Williams has 34 tackles, four sacks and one forced fumble – including a two-tackle game against Dallas in this year’s season opener. Williams had his best game against the Cowboys in Week 17 of the 2020 season, where he had seven tackles and three sacks in the Giants 23-19 win.
The BOTTOM LINE
The Cowboys need to prove the can beat teams with a winning record, and the 6-5 Seahawks qualify. That would put them in the best possible position heading into a tough four-game stretch before the season finale in Washington. If they can’t beat the Seahawks, then winning the NFC East will probably fall out of reach. The Cowboys are the better team in all three phases, and if they play like they have for the past five weeks it will take a monumental effort from the Seahawks to leave AT&T Stadium with a victory.
Prediction: Cowboys 27, Seahawks 17