Very disappointing game by Seattle. Cowboys are playing well, especially the running game, and they contained Wilson from doing too much damage.
Seattle played poor on Offense and Defense and still were in a position to win. If Romo doesn't escape two near sacks on the same play and then hit Williams on the best sideline toe touch I have seen converting a 3&20 Seattle likely wins that game. (Dallas was behind at that point with less than 5 on the clock iirc).
Obviously Dallas deserves their due: they had a great gameplan for a road game in Seattle and stuck to what got them where they are: they ran the ball even when it wasn't working. Frankly, I think people are too swayed by the end-of-game stat line. Murray was held in check most of the game. Even his average per carry (which was boosted by his long run) wasn't "crushing" to Seattle as it was well under 5 ypc. But Dallas kept with Murray and he eventually tore off a long run and gashed Seattle on that last drive. Kudos to Dallas for sticking with the gameplan, EVEN when they were down. It paid dividends in the end but it also paid dividends early: time of possession was 20 to 10 in the first half. Best way to beat Seattle? Keep their offense off the field and wear down the defense. Which Dallas did with 3 very long drives (all 9+ plays over 70 yards each).
Dallas came to play and they made plays when they had to and, most importantly, when the game momentum shifted to Seattle Dallas did NOT lose their cool and stay composed, didn't give up big plays or mistakes, and rallied. iirc Dallas went down 0-10 but Dallas was able to tie it up and went ahead 17-10. Seattle fought back and was up 20-17 in the 3rd and went up again 23-20 with 8 minutes left in the 4th. Dallas was really impressive in being able to weather each of those storms.
Which makes you look at Seattle. 2 carries for Lynch in the 1st half? And his first was for 5 yards. It was obvious early on that the Seattle line was going to SUCK again. Wilson was hit on 5 of his first 7 drop backs. Want to know why Seattle's defense was on the field all day and getting worn out? Look no further than Bevell's horrible play selection. Dallas is one of the worst defenses in total yard and avg. per carry in the league and Seattle is top 5 in both categories. Seattle had a lead a number of times and cannot protect Wilson. The obvious strategy should have been to feed the Beast. It is a lame excuse to not run when you are down a 10-14 points in the first 3 quarters but when you have a lead you should be running more than 2 times to your feature back. Lynch had 10 carries for 61 yards. Like Murray his yards per carry were inflated by a long run, but even that included Lynch was averaging over 3 yards per carry.
When you have an O-line like Seattle's--a negative pass pro team but an above average or plus run blocking team--and a back like Lynch you need to run the ball. Or (a) your QB gets killed (b) you loses time of possession and (c) your defense is on the field too long. I don't know how many times on 4 man rush plays where Seattle had a TE and RB in where 2 rushers immediately beat Seattle lineman off the line. The O-Line is Seattle's weak link as it prevents a mature passing game and is resulting in the Defense being on the field too long. (Seattle is obviously missing Zach Miller a lot more than expected i.e. their TE who pass and run blocks very well.)
Seattle has a number of other issues but the above are 1, 2, and 3. Sure, the DL needs more sacks, but the issue isn't pressure but finishing. Yes, Seattle receivers aren't getting separation but then again Seattle rarely has time to let routes develop and when they do in games like this Wilson doesn't trust his line (which he shouldn't). Until this happens we won't see Harvin on drag routes and such (which then boggles my mind why they don't run more legal pick routes.) The lack of depth is hitting Seattle hard. They now have their # 2, # 3, and # 4 Cornerbacks out (Maxwell, Lane, and Simon). Kam Chancellor is obviously a step slow with ankle and hip issues but they have no one behind him they can trust. IMO Earl Thomas is having a sub-standard year--a lot of missed tackles and when opportunities for big plays have been there he hasn't capitalized. But that goes for the entire team. Seattle has very few picks due to a lot of drops and LB play. And while they have forced quite a few fumbles they have recovered only a few. Which has them on defense abandoning good form tackling and going for way too many strips. Outside of Wagner and Irvin (who is just coming back from injury and playing mostly DE) I think Wright and Smith have not played consistently well at the LB position.
And there are other issues--like 3rd down and an ongoing trend that is 2 years old of settling for FGs instead of TDs--but a lot of these can be partially blamed on the OL. I cringe when Tom Cable praises his OL about what great games they have when they obviously are playing horrible. And it isn't just bad pass pro but also they are showing themselves undisciplined with a lot of false starts. Seattle is getting everyone's best shot (SB champs + a cocky team people want to shut up) so I expect more self critique as there is a lot of room to improve. All is not lost as Seattle had some rough spots last year too.
People forget they struggled in the middle third of the season last year--they didn't look like the SB team all year last year. They were very good but not unbeatable (3 losses and quite a few close games, even to some poor teams like Tampa, Tennessee, and the Rams). Which always makes me roll my eyes when people talk about their "pass rush" from last year and how "integral Clemons" was. The same Clemons who missed the first couple games and was ineffective the entire season until the Playoffs as he was coming off an ACL. The player they miss most is Browner; Browner could be a liability when teams had 2+ seconds to allow pass plays to develop as he isn't quick but he could maul receivers off the line and slow them down and he was great on run support.
Seattle has a lot of work on. It is a long season and they have shown flashes of greatness. I think two of the bigger issues are addressable in the short term: Addressing the run game (like, you know, use it) and cutting down on OL penalties. I think Seattle beats Dallas if they had fixed those aspects. But they didn't and teams in the NFL are too good to play sloppy and expect to win. Dallas earned that game through and through. They were the better team yesterday. I think Seattle has the potential to be better come playoffs but if they don't address the
coaching issues there is a good chance Wilson gets hurt and they could miss the playoffs.
Sherman. Saw a lot of fans all excited about Sherman being toasted by Dez Bryant. Really? Yes, Bryant got a couple good plays. But they were minimized, and were literally a couple, and he didn't score. At one point the prompter noted 9 passes to Bryant and only 3 completions. On the last TD pass Romo through he looked to Bryant 2x and Sherman had him blanketed--on the right side. With the current rules expecting any corner to prevent a WR to get no catches is unreasonable. But forcing a QB off his primary read, forcing uncatchable balls due to tight coverage, limiting explosive plays, and not allowing the guy you are covering score is the goal. Sherman did a great job of that. The elevator play where Bryant went above Sherman was a great call for the coverage as you had Sherman's back to the QB. And the slant route from the slot was partially to blame on the LB. The Linebacker's job is for inside support to "clog" up that lane but the LB gave Bryant a free pass leaving the ENTIRE middle of the field open. Of course Sherman was beat as the play is designed with inside support. Sherman recovered and prevented the score.
But all the Sherman haters will talk about is how Sherman was "beat." Not beat like Revis, Haden, and Peterson have been beat (abused at times) this year, but ignore those facts :\ Sherman isn't getting any props for following Bryant after the injury to Maxwell. Seattle's #5 corner cannot cover Bryant so what was best for the team was Sherman to cover Bryant. And he did. And Bryant became a minor factor as I just checked the stat line: 10 targets, 4 catches, 63 yards, 23 long, no TDs.
Of course Sherman got burned, abused, beat, exploited, exposed, etc. Because he is a system corner. He can only play zone. And he cannot follow around the other team's best receiver.
As a Seattle fan I hope Sherman gets abused for a total of 4 catches on 10 targets for no TDs all season!
They got in some altercations during the game, due to DeSean grabbing his hair or something. Just general bad manners. But, that shouldn't be surprising. Jackson is pretty much everything personified in why the Eagles are scumbags, even though Kelly cut him.
That was Garcon who grabbed Sherman's hair. Which is illegal unless Sherman has the ball in which case the hair is part of the uniform. Shocked he wasn't flagged for that or later in the WAS-SEA game when Garcon grabbed Sherman's face mask and went to the ground, pulling Sherman on top, and refusing to let go.