The Seattle Seahawks attempted three fourth-down conversions in the fourth quarter of Thursday’s 41-35 loss to the Dallas Cowboys. They failed to convert any of them, including the game-losing play in which Cowboys edge rusher Micah Parsons pressured Seahawks quarterback Geno Smith.
Whether Seattle simply got beat or their play calls sabotaged them can be debated, but there was a reason the Seahawks found themselves with their backs against the wall so often. Dallas slot corner Jourdan Lewis put his fingerprints on this one with two crucial third-down pass breakups.
With 3:20 remaining and the Cowboys up by three, Lewis crashed down on a hitch route targeting rookie receiver Jaxon Smith-Njigba and forced an incompletion. On the next drive, Seattle’s final third-down attempt of the game, Smith would again target Njigba, this time on a drag route. Lewis' diving swat ensured the ball hit turf.
“Just knew that I had to fight,” Lewis said after the game. “We talked about fighting all week and competing with those guys … So we just had to go out there and keep fighting every single down. We knew there would be one-on-ones and time to step up when we needed to.”
It wasn’t a banner day at the office, but the secondary ultimately did enough to win. Corner DaRon Bland added to his interception total with his eighth of the year and dropped another on a fourth-down pass breakup. When the time came to shut the door on the Seahawks, they slammed it shut.
“Keep fighting … We go out there and take pride in playing man-to-man and we go out there and fight every single possession,” Lewis said.
The unit’s resilience deserves some credit, too. Seattle receiver DK Metcalf embarrassed Bland for much of the first half, and Smith-Njigba joined veteran Tyler Lockett in having productive prime-time showings. If it wasn’t for a pass getting on the latter a little too fast and a long Njigba touchdown not surviving the ground, this is likely a different conversation—one about a Dallas team destined to the five seed.
Instead, the Cowboys are 9-3 and 1.5 games out of first place behind the Philadelphia Eagles, who’ll visit in Week 14 in their most important game of the regular season.
Beating a (previously) above-.500 Seahawks team was background noise to a statement game from MVP-candidate quarterback Dak Prescott. Dallas did what it had to do to keep itself alive in the NFC East and quiet the critics dead set on diminishing the team’s recent hot streak.
Lewis is relieved by the victory but knows better than to doubt the persistent peanut gallery waiting on the Cowboys’ next misstep. For now, he can enjoy playing a big part in a quasi-playoff win.
“They’re gonna find something else to talk about.”
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