What we learned in the Dallas Cowboys 41-35 comeback win over the Seattle Seahawks

Did quarterback Dak Prescott and the Dallas Cowboys finally prove something in Thursday night’s thrilling 41-35 come/-from/-behind victory against the Seattle Seahawks?

The Cowboys entered the game with no wins against teams with a record of .500 or better.

They had won 13 straight at home, including five at home in 2023 by a combined score of 205-60.

And certainly, Prescott had been playing as well as any quarterback in the league in leading the Cowboys to six wins in their previous last seven games.

But the Seahawks represented the first of five straight games against teams with winning records and a step up in competition.

The Seahawks proved to be a worthy challenge, especially for the Cowboys defense. They put the Cowboys behind 7-3 in the first quarter, the first time Dallas had trailed at home all season, went 21-20 at halftime and 35-27 early in the fourth quarter.

Prescott /and the offense, however,/ would not be denied.

Prescott, named NFC Offensive Player of the Month and a leading contender for NFL MVP, ended November hot, completing 29 of 41 passes for 299 yards and three touchdowns while leading the Cowboys to 11 points in the fourth quarter to complete the comeback.

A 12-yard touchdown pass to tight end Jake Ferguson and then a two-point conversion to Brandin Cooks put the Cowboys up 38-35 with 4:37 left.

Brandon Aubrey added his fourth field goal to finish off the scoring.

A Cowboys defense that been gashed by quarterback Geno Smith for more than three quarters ended the game with three stops in fourth down in the fourth quarter.

“We know the stretch that we have coming ahead of us, and this was a big one to get,” Prescott said. “The first one with a winning record, but more importantly, in the fashion that we did in a tough game back and forth. Down at halftime and down in the fourth quarter. The guys and the team were really just making plays when plays were needed and playing ultimate complimentary football. Defense got fourth down stops when the game was on the line was huge.

Yeah, it was complimentary football at its finest to get a big win that’s been different than most of these at home. We can take as Coach always says“a big chunk of confidence. We can take that into next week, moving forward. The team showed resiliency, belief in oneanother, and belief in all three units knowing that we can get it done and just staying in it.”

The Seahawks, who have now lost three straight games, dropped to 6-6 on the year, meaning the Cowboys still haven’t beaten a team with a winning record.

What matters most is that they improved 9-3, including 14 straight wins at home, and now have 10 days off before battle against the Philadelphia Eagles (11-1) on Dec. 10 at AT&T Stadium with a chance to close the gap in the NFC East.

The Cowboys also showed character by responding from a deficit and closing strong in the fourth quarter against a desperate Seahawks team fighting to stay in playoff contention.

“Well, I told the team after the game, we need games like this,” coach Mike McCarthy said. “This is what December football looks like. And, you know, we all understand what’s in front of us. Because you have to win the close games. To get to where you want to go, you have to win these kinds of games. And this was a great example how you just keep hanging in there and keep playing. Once the fourth quarter came, our guys got it done at the most important time.”

“Your team has to learn, has to be in tight games. How are you going to be good at winning close games if you’re not in them? So we’ve had our share of big wins. So, this will serve us well moving forward.”

What we learned in the Dallas Cowboys win:

Prescott continues magical play

Prescott, a candidate for NFL MVP continued to stay hot against the Seahawks.

In the first half, he completed 18 of 24 passes for 206 yards with two touchdowns of 15 and 7 yards to CeeDee Lamb and Brandin Cooks. He had a quarterback rating of 128.1

But the Cowboys, who had scored touchdowns on 18 of their last 26 trips inside the red zone before Thursday, had to settle for field goals twice after getting a first down inside the 10-yard line.

And that proved to the difference in a 21-20 halftime deficit.

Trailing 28-20 in the third quarter, Prescott didn’t blink, leading the Cowboys on a 75-yard scoring drive that was concluded by a 6-yard run from Tony Pollard to make it 28-27.

And following an interception by Bland, the Cowboys blinked on an opportunity to take the lead. A Prescott pass to CeeDee Lamb on fourth-and-3 from the 30 was dropped.

A Seattle score made it 35-27 in early in fourth quarter.

A 38-yard field goal by Aubrey made it 35-30 with 11:23 left.

And then Prescott and the offense worked their magic.

He tossed a 12-yard touchdown pass to tight end Jake Ferguson and then hit Cooks for the two-point conversion and a 38-25 lead with 4:37 left.

It was Prescott’s 21st career game-winning drive, second in franchise history and the fifth-most by any quarterback since he was drafted in 2016.

Prescott finished with 29 completions in 41 attempts for 299 yards and three touchdowns. He now has 20 touchdown passes and just two interceptions in his last six games.

Lamb had a career-high 12 catches for 116 yards, while Ferguson had six catches for 77 yards.

It marked Lamb’s sixth 100-yard receiving game this season, a single-season career-high and tied for the second-most in the NFL in 2023. The last Cowboys receiver with six 100-yard games in a season was Terrell Owens in 2007

It also marked Lamb’s fifth game in 2023 with 10 receptions and 100 receiving yards, most in the NFL and the most 10-catch, 100-yard games in a season in franchise history.

But Prescott was the star of the show.

“Dak’s playing great ball, McCarthy said. “It’s fun when, you know, when you’re in this rhythm, he has such great command. And it’s, you know, it’s just the connection with his teammates, you know, on the field, on the line of scrimmage. We’re getting in and out of things seamlessly. We’re playing with a really good pace. And that’s how we want to play, we want to attack and you can only do it with the with the championship caliber quarterback and Dak is that guy.”

And it was Prescott who spurred on the defense once the Cowboys took the lead in the fourth quarter with some tough talk on the sideline that made edge rusher Micah Parsons blush.

It was Parsons who got the pressure on Smith to force an incompletion on the Seattle’s final offensive play.

“I’m like, ‘Damn, that [expletive] made me blush a little bit’,” Parsons said. “That’s my quarterback right there.’ That’s always exciting, that energy he brings, that fire. He’s at a different pace. This is the type of quarterback that’s going to win us the Super Bowl.”

Nightmare game for Bland, Cowboys top-ranked pass defense

The game of football can humble you real fast. Just ask Bland, who has been the toast of the NFL the past week for setting a NFL record with five interception returns for touchdown and being mentioned as a Defensive Player of the Year candidate.

Seattle clearly didn’t care about Bland’s record and status as the NFL leader with seven interceptions.

Smith began targeting Bland for big plays in the first quarter with a 73-yard touchdown reception to D.K. Metcalf.

Metcalf had two touchdowns for 108 yards on three catches against Bland in the first half. Bland also had a crucial pass interference penalty with seconds left in the first half to set up a 1-yard touchdown pass to Metcalf and 21-20 halftime lead.

Bland was not alone in the poor play on defense the Cowboys had a number of offsides penalties and a pass interference flag on cornerback Stephen Gilmore that led to a score.

The Cowboys got no help from the pass rush with no sacks against Smith until late in the game, who continued to pick the Cowboys apart in the third quarter.

His 5-yard TD run to cap a 75-yard drive to open the third quarter put the Seahawks up 28-20, representing the largest Cowboys deficit at home in 2023.

After the Cowboys narrowed the score to 28-27, Bland bounced back with an interception in the quarter, his league-leading eighth of the season. But the Cowboys were unable to capitalize on offense.

And Smith took the offense right down the field and put the Seahawks up 35-27 with a 3-yard score to Metcalf, his third of the game.

But the Cowboys defense showed up with 7:04 left in the game.

Defensive end DeMarcus Lawrence stopped running Zach Charbonnet for no gain on fourth down at the Cowboys’ 46, giving the back to the offense down 35-30.

It was the first of three fourth-down stops by the defense in the fourth quarter to end game.

After the offense scored to put the Cowboys up 38-35, the defense answered with another fourth-down stop on an incomplete pass. Bland nearly had his second interception of the game on that play.

And unblocked edge rusher Parsons stopped the Seahawks last hope with a quarerback hurry on fourth down to preserve the 41-35 victory.

“Fourth down stops are as good as a takeaway, so that was huge,” McCarthy said. “We needed both of those. Obviously, we were behind at that point. And, you know, DeMarcus Lawrence has that knack to cross face and make plays and you know, he’s been doing this whole career.”

Penalties are back as a problem for Cowboys, defense

There has seemingly never been a team called for more offsides penalties than the Dallas Cowboys.

The Cowboys entered the Seattle game tied for second in the NFL with 81 penalties.

The Cowboys quickly added to that total by aiding the Seattle scoring drives with a plethora of offsides penalties and two and pass interference flags in the end zone against Bland and Gilmore that led to touchdowns.

The Cowboys penalty woes were part of a flag fest by both teams.

The two teams combined for 19 penalties for 257 yards. The Cowboys were flagged nine times for 127 yards.

“It’s definitely not a bright spot of the performance,” McCarthy said. “But yeah, it’s you know, I think, like anything, you know, you just got to keep working at it and you know, the emotion, the emotional discipline in the detail of it is something we need to be better at it. Just got to keep coaching it and demanding it and it’s from all of us. It’s a continuous message that you’re really always going through, even when you’re when you’re not going through the numbers that we have right now. Nobody likes it. So, we’ll just continue to work on it.”

10 days off before Philly

After playing three games in 12 days, the Cowboys are looking forward to the 10 days off before they start the final five-game trimester of the season beginning with a showdown against the Eagles on Dec. 10 at AT&T Stadium.

It will be much-needed break and rest for Cowboys and will represent their last shot at trying up ground and catch the Eagles in the NFC East.

“Yeah, they’re tired,” McCarthy said. You could see it during the week. I mean, it took them a while to get back. So, they’ll be off for the weekend. We’ll get back together Monday. We’ll do some things Monday morning and then we’ll go into a normal seven-day week.”

It will also be a continuation of playing team’s with records of .500 or better. Following the Eagle they face the Buffalo Bills (6-6), the Miami Dolphins ( 8-3), the Detroit Lions (8-3) before ending the season against the Washington Commanders (4-8).

“Mentally it’s fun, but physically it is tough to get your body back healthy from a game. It’s challenging but that’s what makes it fun,” Prescott said. “Understanding that it is a lot of games in those 12 days, but you want to make sure you win them all and thankfully we did. So now it is about getting our bodies back and healthy again this week. We can’t be satisfied or complacent with anything that we have done up to this point.”

“We have a hell of a stretch ahead of us and we are going to take it one game at a time and that means Philadelphia here at home. We will enjoy ourselves this weekend and be safe about it. When we come in Monday, we understand that we are back on Philadelphia and that’s where the real football begins.”

The Cowboys have won four straight games since losing to the Eagles to open the month on Nov. 5 to put themselves in position to make a run for the NFC title and the playoffs in December and January.

With 9 wins, the Cowboys are now guaranteed their third straight winning season for the first time since the 1990s.

After a much-needed rest, they will be right where they want to be heading into the upcoming battle against the Eagles.

“We’re where we need to be right now,” McCarthy said. “I’m really just focused on our guys catching their breath here. Let’s try to get back into a normal, semi normal flow. But yeah, we’ll be ready for Philadelphia.”