After wrapping up the Oxnard, California portion of training camp, the Dallas Cowboys traveled north to face the Seattle Seahawks in their second preseason game.
1st Quarter
Seattle received the opening kickoff, and managed a first down before a penalty stalled the drive.
Facing a 3rd & 3 from their own 43 yard line, TE Noah Fant was flagged for a false start.
The 3rd & 8 play proved to be too much for Geno Smith and the offense.
They failed to convert, and punted the ball away to the Cowboys.
Cooper Rush got the start for Dallas.
He was solid, but Rico Dowdle and Jalen Tolbert stole the show in the first drive, and for the rest of the time they spent in the game.
Dowdle touched the ball four times in the opening drive, gaining 22 yards in the process.
The big play on the drive was made by Tolbert, who took advantage of a purposely underthrown ball by Rush to make the catch 35 yards down the field.
Facing a 3rd and 4 inside the Seattle 35, Rush was sacked for a 10 yard loss, prompting a Bryan Anger punt.
Geno Smith came back out onto the field looking to get something going on offense.
A seven play 58 yard drive ended with a 57 yard field goal by Jason Myers.
The scoring drive was highlighted by two big plays, a 29 yard run by Zach Charbonnet and a 26 yard catch by Jake Bobo.
2nd Quarter
The Cowboys' best drive of the day started with a shade over four minutes left in the 1st quarter.
It took 80 yards over 17 plays, but Dallas punched the ball into the endzone on a pass into the flat to Dowdle.
The drive took 7:48 off the clock, and consisted of three 3rd down conversions and a big successful 4th down attempt.
Most of the Seattle starters were on the bench to start their third drive of the day, and the offense was now led by Drew Lock.
The Dallas defense, comprised of mostly backups, actually forced a 3 & out, but a costly penalty kept the drive alive.
After a big 3rd down tackle, Cowboys' S Juanyeh Thomas was flagged for taunting, giving Seattle a first down at the Dallas 49 yard line.
Two plays later, Lock connected with rookie Jaxon Smith-Njigba for 48 yards to the Cowboys one yard line.
DeeJay Dallas would punch it in on the next play for a 10-7 lead.
The Cowboys' offense, now led by Will Grier, would use an 18 yard run by Malik Davis and an 11 yard catch by Jalen Tolbert to advance to the Seattle 45 yard line.
That drive would stall however, bringing out Anger for another punt.
Seattle would answer with another long touchdown drive.
Big plays of 21, 32, and 11 yards plus a questionable roughing the passer penalty on Sam Williams put the Seahawks in position for another one yard touchdown run, and a 17-7 lead.
That lead would hold until halftime.
3rd Quarter
Dallas would come out firing in the second half, opening with a 71 yard touchdown drive.
Passing plays of 27, 10, 12, and 10 yards setup the Cowboys with a first down at the Seattle 14 yard line.
Enter Deuce Vaughn, who took a delayed handoff up the gut, and spun off of a tackle to gallop into the endzone for his second touchdown in as many weeks.
That closed the gap to 17-14 in favor of the Seahawks.
After exchanging punts and seeing the Seahawks turn over the ball on downs, Grier took Dallas on another promising drive that bled into the 4th quarter.
4th Quarter
Grier used the shiftiness of Vaughn plus a 22 yard dart to Dennis Houston and a 15 yard gain to Dontario Drummond to push Dallas to the Seahawks 20 yard line.
Rolling to the right, Grier tried to force a pass across his body to Simi Fehoko, but it was intercepted by Seattle at the goal line.
That would be the last time Dallas threatened to score.
Seattle would pad the lead with a field goal after an 11 play drive, and then score a safety after a blocked punt.
Dallas' last ditch effort to tie the game would be squashed after a 20 yard sack on 4th down, and Seattle would go on to win the game 22-14.
Injuries
Dallas, relatively healthy so far this offseason, would not leave Seattle unscathed.
Swing tackle hopeful Matt Waletzko would suffer a left shoulder subluxation that would bench him for the reset of the game.
It's the opposite shoulder that he had surgery on last year.
TE John Stephens Jr., who has been having a phenomenal training camp and preseason, left the game with a knee injury that will require an MRI.
The biggest injury of the night came on a routine tackle by impressive rookie LB DeMarvion Overshown.
He dragged down a runner inside the Cowboys' five yard line, and stayed on the ground in pain.
An MRI is pending, but Dallas fears he may have torn the ACL in his left knee, and it would obviously end his season.
Let's hold out hope that's not the case.
The Cowboys will now return to Texas to recuperate and prepare for their final preseason game of 2023.
