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Week 13 started off in incredible fashion as the Dallas Cowboys kept their home win streak alive with a 41-35 victory over the Seattle Seahawks. This was the 14th win in a row for Dallas, who is just four wins away from tying its current franchise record of 18 home victories in a row.
This was the highest-scoring “Thursday Night Football” game of the year, and included a grand total of zero punts. It’s just the fifth game in NFL history to not feature a single punt. This matchup also included a whopping 19 penalties. The Cowboys and Seahawks combined for 257 total penalty yards, which are the most in a game this season.
Dak Prescott built on his MVP case with 299 passing yards and three touchdowns. He has now thrown 20 passing touchdowns over the last six games, which are the most in a six-game span in franchise history. CeeDee Lamb was again Prescott’s favorite target, catching 12 passes for 116 yards and one touchdown. Jake Ferguson and Brandin Cooks caught touchdowns as well, and Tony Pollard added 68 yards plus a touchdown on 20 carries.
As for the Seahawks, they had fantastic offensive output despite the loss. DK Metcalf caught six passes for a whopping 134 yards and three touchdowns, and rookie Jaxon Smith-Njigba added 62 yards on seven receptions. Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith had a chance to lead a game-winning drive with 1:43 remaining in the fourth quarter, but Seattle couldn’t move the sticks on fourth-and-2 at the 50-yard line. He finished 23 of 41 passes for 334 yards, three touchdowns and one interception.
Let’s take a look at what went down in Dallas on Thursday night.
The Cowboys hadn’t trailed at home all season until the Seahawks came to town. In fact, Dallas was down 21-20 at halftime. While the defense struggled at times to stop the Seahawks, who, like the Cowboys, did not punt once all game, Prescott and Co. answered every time they were called upon.
Dallas scored on eight of its nine possessions, not counting kneeldowns, with the lone “miss” being a Lamb drop on a fourth-and-2 late in the third quarter. The Cowboys racked up 411 yards of total offense, went 8 of 14 on third downs, did not turn the ball over and won the time of possession battle. Prescott was magnificent with three passing touchdowns, and if he wasn’t already in the MVP conversation with his play over the past few weeks, he certainly is now.
You could blame the Seahawks defense for failing to contain the Cowboys all night, as their lone stop came via a Lamb drop on fourth down, but Seattle did hold Dallas to 4 of 8 in the red zone. The fact of the matter is that the Seahawks offense — despite their overall impressive performance — turned the ball over on downs three drives in a row in the fourth quarter.
Instead of opting for a QB sneak or “tush push” on a fourth-and-1 from the Cowboys’ 46-yard line with seven minutes remaining in the game, the Seahawks handed the ball off to Zach Charbonnet, who was stopped for no gain. The Cowboys then went 54 yards on seven plays and stole the lead with a Ferguson touchdown. On their next drive, the Seahawks attempted to convert a fourth-and-4 from their own 49-yard line. Smith had a miscommunication with Smith-Njigba, and his pass attempt fell incomplete. The Cowboys then kicked a 32-yard field goal to extend their lead.
The next drive was Seattle’s final possession, and the Seahawks left superstar pass rusher Micah Parsons unblocked off the edge on a fourth-and-2. That ended the game.
The Cowboys led for the majority of the first half, but didn’t lead in the second half until there were under five minutes remaining. That lead change came courtesy of Ferguson, who got the best of Jamal Adams in one-on-one coverage for this 12-yard touchdown:
After the Cowboys defense forced the Seahawks to turn the ball over on downs on the previous drive, you could feel the momentum shifting.
On the Seahawks’ third play from scrimmage, Smith fired a perfect pass to Metcalf in the middle of the field, and he sped away from DaRon Bland for a 73-yard touchdown:
According to Next Gen Stats, Metcalf reached a top speed of 22.23 mph on this touchdown reception. It’s the fastest speed recorded by a ball carrier since Week 2 in 2020.
Metcalf actually had the most first-quarter receiving yards (107) vs. the Cowboys since Randy Moss on Thanksgiving in 1998 (his famous three-catch, 163-yard, 3-TD game). The only player with more first-quarter receiving yards against Dallas since 1991 was Jerry Rice in 1995 (129).
The Seahawks have another road matchup next week, as they travel to Cali to take on the San Francisco 49ers, who defeated Seattle by 18 points on Thanksgiving. As for the Cowboys, they will stay home and host Jalen Hurts and the Philadelphia Eagles.
The road ahead is going to be fascinating for each of these teams. For the Cowboys, they’ll finish out the stretch run with the following: vs. Eagles, at Bills, at Dolphins, vs. Lions, and at Commanders. As for the Seahawks, their gauntlet continues and they’ll now have zero room for error if they want to reach the playoffs. They’ll play in San Francisco next week and then face the Eagles at home, travel to Tennessee to play the Titans, host the Steelers, and finish out the regular season in Arizona.
While it wasn’t pretty, this was Dallas’ first win against a team above .500 this season.
It was an easy night for the punters. This was just the fifth regular season game in NFL history with zero punts (six if you include playoffs).
Speaking of Lamb, that was his eighth career game with 10 receptions and 100 receiving yards, which passes Michael Irvin for the most in Cowboys history.
These guys had a decent night. Metcalf and Lamb combined for 18 catches, 250 yards, and four touchdowns. Two of the NFL’s very best at the position.
Micah Parsons with the game-ending pressure, forcing Geno Smith to throw the football in the dirt on fourth down. The Cowboys are going to win 41-35.
The offense goes out on the field on fourth down, but it was to simply try and have Seattle jump. They are now settling for a field goal to go up by six.
The two-minute warning hit and Dallas has taken full control. They force a turnover on downs and then CeeDee Lamb rips off a 24-yard gain.
Dak Prescott has passed Tony Romo (2007) for the most passing touchdowns (20) in a six-game span in Cowboys history.
And Brandin Cooks hauls in the two-point conversion, so it’s a three-point Cowboys lead.
Boy, it felt like things were about to unravel for Dallas after getting called for the delay of game penalty. Nope. Dak Prescott throws his third passing touchdown of the night and the Cowboys take the lead.
The Prime Video broadcast just showed Charbonnet being checked out in the blue medical tent.
Cowboys Pro Bowl defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence with the most clutch defensive play of the night so far. Snuffed the Zach Charbonnet run in the backfield for loss on fourth-and-one. Cowboys have the ball back on their own 46 with 7:04 left. 35-30 Seahawks in front.
We now have massive fourth-down decisions by both head coaches. Pete Carroll keeps Seattle’s offense on the field and can’t convert. Dallas will gain possession at midfield and trail by five.
The Seahawks have now converted nine of their 11 third-down situations tonight.
Dangerous throw by Prescott there, imo. There were a lot of blue jerseys around Lamb over the middle of the field. Wasn’t picked off, but also fell incomplete. He seemed to force that one a bit too much and had Dallas settling for a field goal.
Metcalf is the second Seahawk with three receiving touchdowns in a game against the Cowboys (Tyler Lockett in 2020).
A hat trick for DK Metcalf! The Seahawks wideout has six catches for 134 yards and THREE touchdowns!
Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy rolled the dice on fourth-and-two by keeping the offense out there when Brandon Aubrey had a kick in range. Instead, Dallas called a rollout to the right for CeeDee Lamb. He was open, but he dropped the pass for a turnover on downs. Seattle maintains a one-point lead, 28-27.
Mike McCarthy has made a couple of gambles tonight. That fourth-down decision to keep his offense on the field doesn’t pay off as Prescott’s throw goes in and out of the hand of Lamb. Seahawks retain the lead.
Bland bounces back with his league-leading eighth interception of the season. Huge play to put the Cowboys in opponent territory to try and take the lead. Bland looked like he was the receiver on the play, breaking toward the football before Tyler Lockett.
It’s not a pick-six, but DaRon Bland gets an interception. Huge momentum swing for Dallas.
Cowboys running back Tony Pollard makes amends for dropping a would-be touchdown by running in a six-yard score on a toss play. Seahawks 28, Cowboys 27 with 3:41 left in the third quarter. Penalties called in this game, 17.
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