Cowboys overcome Seahawks, extend home win streak to 14
ARLINGTON, Texas — Dak Prescott threw three touchdown passes and the Dallas Cowboys extended their home winning streak to 14 games, rallying for a 41-35 victory over the Seattle Seahawks on Thursday night.
Prescott’s 12-yard pass to Jake Ferguson put Dallas in front with 4 1/2 minutes remaining as the Cowboys (9-3) set up a rematch with NFC East rival Philadelphia by escaping what would have been their first loss since falling to the Eagles 28-23 to start November.
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Geno Smith threw three touchdown passes to D.K. Metcalf, including a 73-yarder, as the Seahawks (6-6) got their offense going again. But Seattle couldn’t avoid a third consecutive loss to drop to .500 for the first time since splitting its first two games of the season.
Dallas’ Brandon Aubrey kicked four field goals to extend the 28-year-old rookie’s NFL record to 26 consecutive makes to start a career.
Neither team punted, the fifth time in NFL history that’s happened. But the Dallas defense, ranked third in the NFL coming in, got fourth-down on the Seahawks’ final three possessions as the Cowboys kept alive their best home winning streak since an 18-game run at old Texas Stadium from 1979-81.
The Cowboys trailed 35-30 when Zach Charbonnet was stopped on fourth-and-1 from the Dallas 46. Seven plays later, Ferguson scored, and Prescott hit Brandin Cooks for the 2-point conversion. Cooks also had a TD catch in the second quarter.
CeeDee Lamb had the other touchdown catch while finishing with 12 catches for 116 yards, and his 24-yard run on a jet sweep helped set up Aubrey’s final field goal to put Dallas ahead by six. That came after Smith threw incomplete on fourth down near midfield with 3:11 to go.
The Seahawks reached midfield with 1:11 left, but Micah Parsons’ pressure on fourth down forced Smith to throw the ball into the ground, sealing the Dallas victory.
DaRon Bland added to his NFL-leading interception total with a nifty pick, though that didn’t really make up for the big plays against the Dallas Cowboys cornerback before they rallied to avoid their first home loss this season.
Bland didn’t return this one for a touchdown — he already has the NFL record with five picks returned for scores — but his eighth interception of the season late in the third quarter ended a streak of three consecutive TD drives for the Seattle Seahawks.
The Cowboys failed to convert that into a go-ahead score, but Dak Prescott’s 12-yard TD to Jake Ferguson and ensuing 2-point conversion with 4:37 left propelled them to a 41-35 victory Thursday night.
Seattle (6-6) entered the game without an offensive touchdown on its previous 20 possessions.
That streak ended in a hurry against Dallas (9-3) and Bland. DK Metcalf beat the corner for a 73-yard catch-and-run touchdown on the Seahawks’ opening drive for a 7-3 lead.
Metcalf later had a 34-yard completion against Bland to the Cowboys 23, though Jason Myers missed a 42-yard field goal attempt right after a delay of game penalty backed the Seahawks up 5 yards.
The Seahawks led 21-20 at halftime on Metcalf’s 1-yard TD catch in the final seconds. They were there after a 29-yard pass interference call against Bland in the end zone, on a play that was initially ruled a touchdown before a replay review determined no catch and the ball was placed on the 1 for the penalty.
On the touchdown drive before that, Jaxon Smith-Njigba spun away from Bland for an 11-yard gain on third-and-5 near midfield.
That was 118 yards on just those three big plays and a 29-yard penalty against Bland by halftime.
Metcalf’s first touchdown marked the first time this season that the Cowboys trailed at home. They had won each of their previous five games at AT&T Stadium by an average margin of 29 points — the closest being 20 points.
Bland got his interception with 2:56 left in the third quarter, outleaping Tyler Lockett at the Seahawks 38. The Cowboys failed on a fourth-down conversion before Seattle drove for its last score.
Dallas extended its home winning streak to 14 games, with NFC East-leading Philadelphia (10-1) visiting next on Dec. 10.
The Eagles on Sunday host San Francisco (8-3), which beat Dallas 42-10 on Oct. 8 and leads the Seahawks in the NFC West.
