Around the NFL Writer
Punters’ legs got the night off Thursday night in Dallas.
The Cowboys and Seahawks combined to punt zero times in the 41-35 Dallas win. It marked the fifth regular-season game in NFL history with no punts, per NFL Research. The most recent zero-punt game was Philadelphia-Kansas City in 2021.
Thursday’s punt-free affair was the first in NFL history in which both teams scored 35-plus points.
The win boosted Dallas to 6-0 at home in 2023 and gave Jerry Jones’ club 14 straight home wins, the longest active streak in the NFL. The Cowboys’ 41.0 points per game at home are the most in franchise history and currently sit third-most by any team in NFL history (1950 L.A. Rams, 46.5; 2011 New Orleans Saints, 41.1).
The Cowboys generated four touchdown drives, four field goals, a turnover on downs, and a kneel-down on the night. Seattle earned five TDs, an interception, a missed field goal, and three consecutive turnover-on-down drives to close the contest.
While the offenses move the ball up and down the field, combining for 817 yards and 58 first downs, the Dallas defense came up huge down the stretch, keeping the Seahawks from adding to and re-taking the lead late.
On the final snap, Micah Parsons came free off the edge to force an incomplete pass from Geno Smith to end the threat at midfield. After the contest, Smith said it wasn’t a blown assignment that led to the game-ending pressure. With the Cowboys showing heavy blitz, Seattle was a man short on the line and hoped to beat the pressure by slipping running back DeeJay Dallas around Parsons for a first down on fourth-and-2.
“You know, it is a zone,” Smith said. “The right tackle had a squeeze right there versus zero. So, he did the right thing. Micah coming free, we knew that would possibility happen. We tried to get the ball around him. I just wasn’t able to.”
The play was a good design by Cowboys defensive coordinator Dan Quinn to get his best player free to win the game. In a back-and-forth high-wire act, that defensive play made the difference in the end.
The Cowboys moved to 9-3 ahead of a massive Sunday night home game against the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 14. Seattle fell to 6-6, clinging to the No. 7 seed in the NFC with a rematch against the San Francisco 49ers next week.
Browns QB Dorian Thompson-Robinson has been ruled out for Week 13 due to a concussion, ushering in Joe Flacco into the starting role for Cleveland against the host Los Angeles Rams.
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Buccaneers WR Mike Evans needs 150 receiving yards to reach the 1,000-yard mark for the 10th consecutive season — every year of his career since entering the NFL as a first-round pick in 2014.
The Seattle Seahawks came up shy in Thursday night’s 41-35 shootout loss in Dallas, but the offense broke out of its slumber, scoring touchdowns on five of the first seven drives before a late-game swoon sealed their fate. DK Metcalf led the losing effort with 134 yards and three TDs on six catches.
Faced with two different eight-point deficits, Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott threw for 299 yards and three touchdowns to help will Dallas to a 41-35 shootout victory over the Seahawks. In doing so, he put his name front and center for MVP.
Dak Prescott and the Dallas Cowboys went back and forth with Geno Smith and the Seattle Seahawks, rallying for a 41-35 comeback win to remain perfect at home this season.
The official inactives for Thursday Night Football: Seattle Seahawks at Dallas Cowboys
When asked Thursday if he thinks he possibly could return to the field by the New York Jets’ Christmas Eve game against the Washington Commanders, Aaron Rodgers offered a vague but hopeful answer, saying, ‘Anything’s possible.’
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Week 15’s Philadelphia Eagles-Seattle Seahawks game will now be played on Monday, Dec. 18, taking the prime-time place of the previously scheduled Kansas City Chiefs-New England Patriots tilt.
Zach Ertz’s time in Arizona is over, at his request. The veteran tight end asked for and has been granted his release from the Cardinals, NFL Network Insider Tom Pelissero reported on Thursday.
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