Washington Post:
The Dallas Cowboys didn’t just win Sunday in Seattle. They thoroughly outplayed the defending Super Bowl champions in a stadium in which it has been virtually impossible in recent years for an opponent to prevail. The result is that the balance of power in the NFC has been at-least-temporarily reshuffled, and the question must be asked: Are the Cowboys, somehow, the conference’s top team at this point?
The Cowboys, until now, have been a nice early-season success story, getting off to a positive start behind a talented offensive line, the running of tailback DeMarco Murray, contributions by quarterback Tony Romo and a defense that has been doing its part after preseason predictions that it would be the worst in NFL history.
But there were reasons before this to wonder just how much staying power the Cowboys would have, and whether they could keep this up and be an honest-to-goodness contender in the NFC East and in the conference as a whole. After Sunday’s convincing triumph, however, it becomes much more difficult to doubt the legitimacy of what the Cowboys, who upped their record to 5-1, are accomplishing.
“They’ve got a very good formula right now,” an executive with a rival NFC team said Sunday evening. “They run the ball right at you. Everything starts with that offensive line. It’s a terrific group. They won the game at the line of scrimmage today and you never expect that to happen to the Seahawks when they’re at home.”
The Cowboys beat the Seahawks, 30-23, and in reality the game wasn’t that close. The Seahawks scored a touchdown on a blocked punt and had another touchdown set up by a muffed punt lost by the Cowboys. A botched snap by the Cowboys on offense led to a Seattle field goal. If not for those miscues, the Cowboys might have made it look easy.
The Seahawks went 15-1 at home over the previous two regular seasons, with the only loss coming last season to the Arizona Cardinals, and started 2-0 there this season. But the Cowboys ran for 162 yards Sunday, 115 of them by Murray. Romo was sacked only once and threw two touchdown passes without an interception in a 21-for-32, 250-yard passing performance.
The Dallas defense sacked Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson twice, intercepted him once and limited him to a 47.6 passer rating. It was quite a reversal from Wilson’s dynamic play during the Seahawks’ win over the Washington Redskins at FedEx Field last Monday night. The Cowboys, who ranked last in the NFL in total defense last season, limited Seattle wide receiver Percy Harvin to three catches for zero yards and a total of a one-yard loss on three rushing attempts.
“You don’t look at that [Dallas] defense and say they have so much talent all over the field,” said the NFC executive, speaking on the condition of anonymity because he was not comfortable commenting publicly, he said, on another team’s personnel. “But they’re hustling. They’re running to the ball. They’re a try-hard group. Maybe they can keep it up. Maybe they can’t. But they’re getting the most out of what they have on defense right now. They’re well coached.”
The Seahawks opened the defense of their Super Bowl title in impressive fashion with a 20-point victory at home over the Green Bay Packers in the NFL’s season-opening game. They’ve been rather ordinary since then, going 2-2. They lost at San Diego, needed overtime to beat the Denver Broncos at home in a compelling Super Bowl rematch, and did what was needed but not much more against the Redskins last Monday night.
The defense continues to undergo some growing pains after a bit of offseason reworking; the Seahawks have two interceptions and seven sacks all season. The offense was unable to overcome a subpar performance Sunday by Wilson. Tailback Marshawn Lynch ran for 61 yards on only 10 carries. That prompted his agent, Doug Hendrickson, to take to social media to question the play-calling of offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell.
“Bevell know he has a running back?” Hedrickson wrote on Twitter.
The rest of the NFC now knows the Seahawks can be beaten at home. Their play on the road has been uneven. With fellow would-be NFC superpowers San Francisco and New Orleans having had their issues as well, there is room for others to stake their claims as conference heavyweights. The Cowboys are doing just that.
