Seahawks can’t contain Elliott, fall to Cowboys in defensive battle
The Seahawks hung tough with the Cowboys, but eventually fell to Ezekiel Elliott’s runs and some big plays by Dak Prescott.
The Seahawks gave it their best effort and made a furious comeback, but the Cowboys managed to keep Chris Carson bottled up all night. Both Ezekiel Elliott and Amari Cooper made big plays throughout. Eventually, Elliott’s 169 yards on 31 touches were too much for Seattle.
Dallas started well as they drove the ball down to Seattle’s 25 yard line in their first six plays. The Hawks shut them down from there, forcing the Cowboys to settle for a 39 yard field goal. The Seahawks couldn’t pick up a single first down in the first quarter. The Cowboys came up big on defense, stuffing a Chris Carson screen for an eight yard loss, and dropping Russell Wilson on key third downs.
The Seahawks finally did something other than run on first down in the second quarter. Tight end Ed Dickson picked up 26 yards on play action. Russell Wilson then hit Tyler Lockett for 40 yards on the very next play. Lockett would go on to have a spectacular night and prove he is worth every penny of his extension. The drive stalled, but Seabass nailed the 27 yard field goal to knot the game at 3 – 3.
Seattle Seahawks
Late in the second quarter, Frank Clark came up with back to back big plays. First he dropped Ezekiel Elliot for no gain, then followed that with a big sack of Dak Prescott. Speaking of extensions, please get Mr. Clark signed, ASAP. Cowboys kicker Brett Maher pushed his 58 yard field goal attempt to the right.
Tyler Lockett made an insane catch to bail out his quarterback just two plays later. Okay, it wasn’t insane, it was just one of Lockett’s routinely great catches, for 25 yards. At the two minute warning, Wilson had just four completions, but three of them were for 25 yards or more.
The Cowboys got away with pass interference on a deep ball to Doug Baldwin. It wasn’t much, but the replay clearly showed Dallas corner Chidobie Awuzie hold Baldwin’s arm. Old – and I do mean old – realiable Sebastian Janikowski hit from 42 yards to put the Seahawks up, 6 – 3.
Somehow Seattle decided not to set the edge and allowed Ezekiel Elliott to run free for 44 yards. It appeared to be a blown assignment by Akeem King. Unfortunately it put Dallas just outside the red zone, and they cashed in soon after with an 11 yard strike from Dak Prescott to Michael Gallup. Dallas went ahead, 10 – 6. Prescott still isn’t better than Russell Wilson, but he did have a nice game.
Tyler Lockett worked his magic on the ensuing kickoff, ripping off a 52 yard return. With just 16 seconds left, the Seahawks didn’t have much clock to work with. They did manage to get Janikowski in reasonable range. Sadly, not only did Seabass pull the kick wide right, he appeared to also pull his hamstring on the kick. Not good news in a close ball game.
For the half, Seattle only gained 22 yards on 10 carries. They also set a playoff record with 34 three and outs in the half. Okay, it was four, but it certainly seemed like more. Thankfully things improved in the second half.