Ladies and gentlemen of #CowboysNation, how are we feeling?
I hope you are feeling grateful after Thanksgiving, both for the food and for the football.
As for me, I don’t want to see anything turkey related until next November, but football?
Serve me up multiple plates every week.
Especially if you’re serving me a plate full of the football that the 8-3 Dallas Cowboys are playing this season.
Dallas extended their AT&T Stadium winning streak to 13 games, dismantling the hapless Washington Commanders by the score of 45-10.
Next up is not leftovers, but instead the fourth and final test versus those pesky teams from the NFC West.
The Seattle Seahawks come into Dallas losers in three of their last four games and now sit with a 6-5 record.
Dallas is looking to pull to an even 2-2 record versus the NFC West after dropping road games in Arizona and San Francisco, then besting the Los Angeles Rams at home.
Seattle may be just one game above .500, but they shouldn’t be taken lightly.
The Seahawks possess a great deal of talent on both sides of the ball, but for some reason haven’t been able to string together wins.
Today I will focus on the keys to victory in defeating the Seahawks, and what threats they pose to the Cowboys on each side of the ball.
Let’s dive in.
Attack The Edges
This is in regards to the offense, and more specifically, the run game.
The Seattle defense ranks 26th in the NFL against the run.
That may be just what the doctor ordered for a Cowboys offense that has struggled to get the run game going as of late.
Running directly into the teeth of the defense where Leonard Williams and All-Pro LB Bobby Wagner reside isn’t exactly the best strategy.
Instead, Dallas should attack the edges to get Tony Pollard and Rico Dowdle into open space.
The Seattle defense, if anything, is very fast.
Getting Wagner on the run from sideline to sideline is the best way to counter punch what he can do to your offense.
However, that doesn’t work for the rest of the defense.
Outside cornerbacks, Tariq Woolen and Devon Witherspoon are physical players and willing tacklers.
LB Jordyn Brooks is a speed demon with a nose for the football who also has safeties Jamal Adams and Quandre Diggs there to clean up whatever he misses.
Should Dallas choose to run on the edges, blocks will have to be solid and technique will need to be sound.
Continue Increased Motion
Here is another one for the offense, and one that they should continue regardless of who the opponent is.
Since the loss at the 49ers that seems to have been the catalyst to the offensive success in recent weeks, there has been one major change.
Mike McCarthy has been using motion at a 76.3% rate, second in the NFL only to Mike McDaniel and the Dolphins.
The increased motion has WR CeeDee Lamb on pace for personal records in receptions and receiving yards.
Brandin Cooks has gotten more involved. Even Michael Gallup and Jalen Tolbert have benefitted.
Aside from the previous benefit, it would behoove the Cowboys to use as much pre-snap motion as possible versus Seattle’s physical defensive backs.
Seattle boasts what I believe to be the best secondary the Cowboys will face so far this season.
Young cornerbacks Tariq Woolen and Devon Witherspoon are physical at the line of scrimmage, using length to jam wide receivers off of their routes.
Motion will limit this by giving the Cowboys’ wide receivers a better chance at a free release off of the line of scrimmage.
Just lining up your playmakers and playing old-school strength-on-strength tactics isn’t smart football.
Pressure Geno Smith
We talked about the playmakers on the defensive side of the ball, but I can’t let you off the hook without mentioning the offensive threats.
QB Geno Smith had a career resurgence in his first year starting in Seattle, making his first Pro Bowl.
He hasn’t been nearly as effective this season, but he can still show flashes, and has an assortment of weapons to choose from.
RB Kenneth Walker III is listed as doubtful for the game, and rookie Zach Charbonnet hasn’t been able to match Walker’s production.
Pair a hampered rushing attack with a Cowboys team that puts up points in bunches at home, and you get a recipe for the Seahawks to throw 50 passes.
The Seahawks possess one of the most talented wide receiver corps in the NFL, led by DK Metcalf, Tyler Lockett, and Jaxon Smith-Njigba.
They are the only team in the NFL to have three wide receivers over 400 yards.
Smith has proven that when he is able to sit in the pocket and scan the field with time, he can be deadly.
The last thing the Cowboys need is for him to feel comfortable enough to deliver strikes to his weapons.
Pass rushers will have to get home, and versus a team that has allowed Smith to be sacked 27 times, they can be successful.
Prediction
I believe the Cowboys win this game by successfully executing all three of my keys to victory mentioned above.
Dallas will just cover the absurd (-9.5) spread, winning by the score of 30-20.