Cowboys GIVE the game away in Seattle. .
One good trick deserves another and don't you think the Seattle faithful feel vindicated this morning. Watching the Cowboys defense, and Seattles defense, control this football game until the very end. The Cowboys let a 7 point lead slip away late as the Seahawks tied the game with just 45 seconds remaining and then picked off a Bledsoe pass in time for a last second field goal to steal a victory just as the Cowboys had done to them last season!
Both offenses were stymied all game long. The Seahawks came into this game averaging 400 yards and 28 points per game but were shut down all day by one of the leagues best defenses. Not to be outdown, the Seahawks defense was just as effective and forced a last second turnover that lead to the game winning field goal.
The Cowboys defense has to feel a bit snake bit. 3 times this season they have let late leads evaporate, loosing 2 of those games that appeared to be in hand. Despite those late game collapses, Dallas defense is one of the tops in the league, yieding only 2 touchdowns in the past 3 plus games, it just so happens that both of those touchdowns came very late in the last two games. Unfortunately, when your nursing just a 7 point lead late in a game, you can't afford to give up any scores, even if it is the ONLY score you have allowed all day long.
The Cowboys offense seems a bit conservative or maybe their just average but even an average offense can muster more points than the Cowboys have put up in the past 2 games. This defense can win a lot of games for the Cowboys but if the offense doesn't score more the 10 or 13 points, they will likely loose as many as they win.
The Cowboys will go back to Dallas, licking their wounds and hope to rebound from this very dissapointing loss.
Injuries; Anthony Henry - shoulder.
Player of the Game; Lots of players on defense could get this vote, as every week but this week I thought the player that gave the Cowboys his best effort was Marion Barber. Marion had his best day as a pro and is quickly making his argument for backup to Julius Jones.
Other players who deserve props; Roy Williams had a great game and was controlling the defense which was dominant virtually the whole game. Terrance Newman forced a fumble and picked off an early pass when Seattle was deep in the Red Zone.
Grades:
Offense - F; Plain and simply cost the Cowboys the game! Ran the ball well, but couldn't pass, had too many penalties and couldn't protect Bledsoe enough. All these close games are a product of a very average offense or a too conservative offense, pick one!
Defense - A; I don't know what else to say about this unit. One of the best in the league and yea some folks will argue that they have let leads slip away late in the game but when you give up only 10 points, you should win going away!
Special teams - C-; You can't miss a field goal from inside the 20, you just can't! Punting was exceptional and the only thing keeping this grade above a D.
Did you notice? even though DeMarcus Ware was not able to get a sack for the 5th straight game, the Cowboys were able to get a lot of pressure on Hasslebeck. Hasslebeck was able to elude a lot of sacks by throwing the ball away, sometime errantly and was even flagged for grounding twice.
Pettiti seemed to struggle just a bit but keep in mind he is still a rookie and will only get better.
The Cowboys ran the ball well but didn't seem to know how to use that fact to open up some passing lanes.
Both of Bledsoe's interceptions cost the Cowboys points, both coming at the end of the half and the game! Timing is everything!
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1st |
2nd |
3rd |
4th |
Final |
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0 |
0 |
3 |
10 |
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0 |
3 |
0 |
10 |
13 |
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Scoring Summary |
1st Quarter |
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TD |
Keyshawn Johnson, 5 Yd pass from Drew Bledsoe (Jose Cortez kick is good), 1:03. Drive: 10 plays, 74 yards in 4:29. |
2nd Quarter |
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FG |
Josh Brown 55 Yd, 0:33. Drive: 8 plays, 23 yards in 1:10. |
3rd Quarter |
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none |
4th Quarter |
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FG |
Jose Cortez 21 Yd, 2:06. Drive: 4 plays, 9 yards in 0:58. |
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TD |
Ryan Hannam, 1 Yd pass from Matt Hasselbeck (Josh Brown kick is good), 0:40. Drive: 6 plays, 81 yards in 1:26. |
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FG |
Josh Brown 50 Yd, 0:00. Drive: 1 play, 0 yards in 0:05. |
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Passing |
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CP/AT |
YDS |
TD |
INT |
D. Bledsoe |
13/24 |
136 |
1 |
2 |
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Rushing |
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ATT |
YDS |
TD |
LG |
M. Barber |
22 |
95 |
0 |
14 |
T. Thompson |
6 |
34 |
0 |
14 |
A. Thomas |
6 |
19 |
0 |
5 |
P. Price |
1 |
9 |
0 |
9 |
L. Polite |
1 |
6 |
0 |
6 |
D. Bledsoe |
3 |
1 |
0 |
2 |
Receiving |
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REC |
YDS |
TD |
LG |
T. Glenn |
4 |
35 |
0 |
16 |
K. Johnson |
4 |
28 |
1 |
11 |
J. Witten |
2 |
47 |
0 |
34 |
P. Price |
1 |
19 |
0 |
19 |
T. Thompson |
1 |
6 |
0 |
6 |
M. Barber |
1 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
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Fumbles |
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FUM |
LOST |
REC |
YDS |
M. Barber |
2 |
0 |
1 |
-5 |
D. Bledsoe |
2 |
0 |
0 |
-5 |
L. Polite |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
A. Thomas |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
J. Reeves |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
Kicking |
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FG |
LG |
XP |
PTS |
J. Cortez |
1/2 |
21 |
1/1 |
4 |
Punting |
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NO |
AVG |
I20 |
LG |
M. McBriar |
9 |
40.3 |
5 |
54 |
Kickoff Returns |
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NO |
AVG |
TD |
LG |
T. Thompson |
3 |
31.3 |
0 |
39 |
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Punt Returns |
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NO |
AVG |
TD |
LG |
P. Price |
5 |
3.4 |
0 |
10 |
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Defense |
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T-A |
SCK |
INT |
FF |
S. Fujita |
5-1 |
0.0 |
0 |
0 |
T. Newman |
5-0 |
0.0 |
1 |
1 |
B. James |
5-0 |
1.0 |
0 |
0 |
G. Ellis |
4-1 |
0.0 |
0 |
0 |
D. Ware |
3-2 |
0.0 |
0 |
0 |
A. Henry |
4-0 |
0.0 |
0 |
0 |
R. Williams |
4-0 |
0.0 |
1 |
0 |
M. Spears |
1-3 |
0.0 |
0 |
0 |
A. Singleton |
2-1 |
0.0 |
0 |
0 |
S. Shanle |
3-0 |
0.0 |
0 |
0 |
K. Davis |
2-0 |
0.0 |
0 |
0 |
W. Pile |
2-0 |
0.0 |
0 |
0 |
C. Canty |
1-1 |
0.0 |
0 |
0 |
J. Ratliff |
1-0 |
0.0 |
0 |
0 |
L. Glover |
1-0 |
0.0 |
0 |
0 |
J. Ferguson |
1-0 |
0.0 |
0 |
0 |
B. Pierce |
1-0 |
0.0 |
0 |
0 |
R. Fowler |
1-0 |
0.0 |
0 |
0 |
J. Witten |
2-0 |
0.0 |
0 |
0 |
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Next game; Sunday October 30th at home against the Arizona Cardinals. A game the Cowboys should be favored in but if their offense doesn't start producing every game will be a nail biter.
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