In the end, early MVP favorite Russell Wilson picks apart Cowboys’ depleted secondary
The Dallas Cowboys defense flashed at times on Sunday with timely sacks and stands. In the end, though, MVP front-runner Russell Wilson exploited the Cowboys’ depleted secondary when it mattered most in Seattle’s 38-31 victory.
Wilson showed why he’s garnering early-season praise by throwing five touchdown passes in the victory, including three TDs to Tyler Lockett in the first half. It helped that his receivers such as Lockett had little trouble getting open much of the day against a Cowboys secondary playing without cornerbacks Chidobe Awuzie (hamstring) and Anthony Brown (ribs).
As Cowboys coach Mike McCarthy said afterward, “People aren’t supposed to run wide open. That’s what Mondays are for. We’ll take a hard look at it.”
Wilson, who has set an NFL record with 14 TD passes in the first three games, actually should have thrown six on Sunday but credit the Cowboys’ defense for making a play early on.
Cowboys rookie cornerback Trevon Diggs redeemed himself on a first-quarter play in which DK Metcalf beat him for what should have been a 63-yard touchdown. Instead of a Seattle score, Diggs knocked the ball loose and out of the end zone from a lackadaisical Metcalf just short of the goal line for a Dallas touchback.
Asked about that play, Diggs said: “Always finish until the referee has his hands up and you hear that whistle blow. It was a hustle play. He beat me. But not giving up, that was probably my main focus.”
Dallas defenders continued to flash at times during the game.
Pass rusher Aldon Smith continued his breakout season with three sacks. The three sacks gave Smith 51.5 sacks in his career as he became one of just seven players all-time to reach 50 sacks in their 62nd game-or-earlier (Reggie White, Derrick Thomas, Von Miller, Justin Houston, J.J. Watt and Dwight Freeney).
“I try to bring my A game every time I go out and play,” Smith said. “I work well with the other guys and we work well with each other. Rushing is a team effort, especially with this quarterback. If it wasn’t for the other guys playing their roles and doing things, it would have been much tougher for me to make some plays out there.”
With Seattle leading 30-15 early in the third quarter, Smith sacked Wilson on a third-and-8 to force a punt.
The Cowboys scored a touchdown the next drive to pull within 30-22.
Dallas defensive tackle Antwaun Woods came through with a pivotal third-down sack on the next defensive series to force another Seattle punt. Again, that led to a Cowboys’ TD drive that cut the deficit to 30-28.
The Cowboys’ defense forced the Seahawks to punt a third consecutive drive in the second half, which set up a go-ahead field goal by the Cowboys for a 31-30 lead with 3:59 left in the game.
But, when it mattered most, Wilson got it done for Seattle. He led an eight-play, 75-yard TD drive. Wilson hit Metcalf, who redeemed himself from the careless fumble early with a 29-yard touchdown on a third-and-3 play that served as the game-deciding score with 1:47 left.
The Cowboys tried to double Metcalf, but he ran by safety Darian Thompson.
“We just left too many opportunities out there,” safety Xavier Woods said. “We didn’t start fast in the first half. We came out slow and they put up too many points, and it was just too big of a deficit to come back. In the second half we played a lot better but that last drive we could’ve got some stops to kill it.”
Both Metcalf (four catches for 110 yards) and Lockett (nine catches for 103 yards) topped the 100-yard mark.
Wilson finished his day 27 of 40 passing for 315 yards with five TDs and no interceptions. He was sacked four times.
“There’s a lot of quarterbacks in the league that move around a lot. If you let them get outside the pocket, they become a force,” Cowboys defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence said. “So, hats off to Russ and them, they won the game. But we’ll see them again.”
This story was originally published September 27, 2020 at 9:09 PM.
