Defense played tough but Cowboys couldn’t add takeaways

How many times can the Dallas Cowboys ask their defense to bail them out of a horrendous offensive performance?

Apparently not enough to keep them in the chase for a playoff spot as the Seattle Seahawks rode three turnovers to a stunning 21-12 victory Sunday at AT&T Stadium.

Dallas (8-7), with a game to go in Philadelphia, was eliminated from playoff contention.

The key factor: Turnovers.

Dallas had three while Seattle had zero. The short field proved disastrous for the Cowboys, despite an effective pass rush that kept Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson off guard.

“We needed to get some takeaways, and that’s the big difference today,” linebacker Sean Lee said. “They did a lot of things great to protect the ball, but we didn’t do the things we needed to do to get the interceptions or cause some fumbles.”

Wilson, meanwhile, stayed patient and waited to strike. He completed 14 passes for just 93 yards, but made every yard count in throwing for two touchdowns.

Dallas twice was backed up by turnovers — a Dez Bryant fumble and later a pass that bounced off Bryant’s hands for an interception.

What the Cowboys did do well was keep Wilson waiting. Taco Charlton, DeMarcus Lawrence and Benson Mayowa each had a sack.

“The defensive line did an unbelievable job of keeping him in the pocket and getting pressure on him,” Lee said.

Part of the success can be credited to an interior double-team on Datone Jones and Daniel Ross.

Both players were added to the roster in recent weeks to combat a number of injuries, most notably to David Irving (concussion) who was out Sunday.

Jones and Ross held up that push, which gave Lawrence and Charlton some one-on-one matchups on the edge. The duo along with Mayowa didn’t disappoint as the Cowboys recorded eight tackles for loss.

But Ross and Jones, along with Lewis Neal and Maliek Collins, helped stack up the middle for most of the game.

Of 11 Seattle drives, just one not started by a turnover crossed the 50-yard line.

“It’s very disappointing, very disappointing,” owner Jerry Jones said. “I thought it was an outstanding effort by our defense.”

The Cowboys led 9-7 at the break before a Dak Prescott interception was returned for a score to give the Seahawks a 14-9 lead early in the third quarter.

With Dallas driving late in the third, Prescott was intercepted again when the ball bounced off Bryant’s hands and into the arms of Seattle’s K.J. Wright.

That’s when Wilson went to work, engineering a 13-play, 79-yard drive, marred by two pass interference penalties on defensive back Chidobe Awuzie.

Wilson ended up tossing a 6-yard scoring pass to Doug Baldwin that extended Seattle’s lead to two possessions.

“That doesn’t matter now, though,” Mayowa said. “We lost, playoff hopes are over and we got to come out and play like we’re trying to get in next week.”

This story was originally published December 24, 2017 at 8:31 PM with the headline "Defense played tough but Cowboys couldn’t add takeaways."