Cowboys Outlast Seahawks in Late Thriller
A late touchdown scare almost smelled doom for the Cowboys.
Video per NFL.com
It was an emotional night for the Dallas Cowboys. The game started with a tragic first quarter injury to WR Allen Hurns (ankle) that seemed to take the energy out of the stadium. With all eyes on the QB Dak Prescott, he and coach Jason Garett had to rally the troops for what would be a career defining moment for Prescott and the Cowboys. After only winning two playoff games in the past 20 years, many thought the Cowboys would fail again to the hands of QB Russell Wilson – yes, we’re talking about you Stephen A. Smith.
The final score of the game was 24-22, Dallas. The new edition ‘Triplets’ put their stamp on the game with Prescott, RB Ezekiel Elliott and WR Amari Cooper all having big games. Prescott finished with 226 Yds and 2 TD, one by a QB sneak, Zeke had 169 total yards and 1 TD with a big 44 YD run to end the first half, and Coop did his thing with 7 REC and 106 YDS. On the other side you had Wilson throwing for 233 YDS and a TD. Tyler Lockett was their leading receiver with 4 catches and 120 YDS, with his longest being a 53 YD bomb.
Defense dominated the day for both sides for most of the game. After a pair of FGs from both teams, Dallas was the first to strike with a TD to end the first half. Prescott completed a pass to rookie WR Mike Gallup inside the 10 after two big plays from Zeke and Coop. What started a cautionary tale for the Seahawks was a hamstring injury to veteran kicker Sebastian Janikowski after a miss FG in the final moments of the second quarter. The Seahawks would have to rely on their punter Michael Dickson and his ‘drop kick’ kicking method, which would change play calling for coach Pete Carroll.
Rookie LB Leighton Vander Esch led the way in tackles for the Cowboys with 10 followed by his partner in crime Jaylon Smith with 7. Bradley McDougald led with 10 tackles for the Seahawks followed by K.J. Wright who had a spectacular game, a red zone INT that brought life to the Seahawks in the 4thquarter. But there was just too much Cowboys as they completely bottled up the No. 1 rushing attack in the Seahawks. Whether it was DE Demarcus Lawrence or Randy Gregory, somebody was hitting them in the backfield, changing up the Seahawks strategy that was already impacted from the loss of their kicker.
The play of the game however came from the player that had the most pressure on him, Dak. With only a 3-point lead in the 4th, Dallas looked like the game was slipping away from them after a costly penalty that put them in a 3rd and 14, it looked like the accident waiting to happen was about to actually happen. But Prescott showed grit and determination with probably his best play of his young career with a powerful run, slipping and weaving past defenders till he dived for the pivotal first down that set up a TD for the Cowboys.
Seahawks had one more chance after they was able to quickly, and I mean quickly, score a TD that put them within 3 after the two-minute warning. Remember when I said the kicking would become an issue? Well it was down to the punter Dickson to complete an onside kick to give the clutch Wilson another crack at it, but what was supposed to be an onside kick turned into a pop up for about 20 yards into the for sure hands of Measley Beasley that ended the game.
Dallas picked up their first playoff win since 2014, and the first for the new Triplets.
