Strength vs. Strength in Upcoming Matchup with Dallas Cowboys
By Colin Floyd
The Seattle Seahawks look to go 4-1 against a familiar NFC opponent, the Dallas Cowboys, a team that’s playing uncharacteristically good football.
More from Seattle Seahawks News
- 4 prospects Seahawks could reach for at No. 20 in 2023 NFL Draft
- Seattle Seahawks Mock Draft: Post-first wave of free agency
- Seahawks podcast: A review of the first week of free agency
- 4 experiments the Seattle Seahawks could cut short in 2023
- 3 pros and cons of Seattle Seahawks drafting Anthony Richardson
The all-time record between the two squads is 9-6 in favor of the Cowboys but Pete Carroll is 1-1 against the “Boys” since moving to Seattle.
With every new season, the entire sports world seems to pick the Cowboys to make a deep playoff push, and every season, the entire sports world is let down. Dallas has never lacked talent, but Coach Jason Garrett has certainly failed to motivate his players and has lead his team to back-to-back-to-back 8-8 seasons while under heavy pressure from the national media as well as Owner/GM Jerry Jones.
This season seems to be different for the Cowboys though, as they are second in rushing yards/game, fifth in total offensive yards/game and fourth in scoring offense.
Their strength is without a doubt DeMarco Murray who leads all running back in carries, carries/game, yards, yards/game and touchdowns.
Without Murray, Dallas could be well on their way to another 8-8 season, but thanks to his heavy workload, the Cowboys are eyeing a rare 5-1 start. Here’s what the cowboys and more importantly, Murray’s numbers look like:
Dallas Offense:
| Yds/gm | Points/gm | Pass yds/gm | Rush yds/gm |
| 398.3 | 27 | 238.2 | 160 |
DeMarco Murray:
| Carries | Carries/gm | Yds | Yds/gm | Avg | Touchdowns |
| 130 | 26 | 670 | 134 | 5.2 | 5 |
While Seattle brings their own workhorse back to the fight at CenturyLink, their current strength (to the surprise of many) is their run defense.
Thanks in big part to middle linebacker Bobby Wagner’s exceptional play to start the season, the Seattle defensive unit leads the league in rushing yards, rushing average, yards/game and has held all running backs to one touchdown through four weeks and the longest run they’ve given up was for 16 yards.
Wagner is literally in the middle of it all and currently sits at number two on Pro Football Focus’ MLB rankings, 0.1 points behind Carolina’s Luke Kuechly and ranks higher in both coverage and run support. Of all MLB’s Wagner ranks fourth in tackles, on pace for 172 combined tackles by the end of the season.
Seattle Defense:
| Yds/gm | Points/gm | Pass yds/gm | Rush yds/gm |
| 317.8 | 20.8 | 255.5 | 62.2 |
Bobby Wagner:
| PFF rating | Tackles | Sacks | Stops |
| 8.9 | 43 | 1 | 14 |
*PFF-Pro Football Focus
*Stop-solo tackles which constitute an offensive failure (PFF)