Seahawks vs. Cowboys: Why Dallas Can't Afford to Take Seattle Lightly

If Dallas has any hope of making the playoffs, then now is the chance to make a move. The Dallas Cowboys face off against the Seattle Seahawks this Sunday at 1pm at Jerry's World.

The Seahawks are 2-5 on the season, rank next to last in total/rushing yards and are toward the bottom in passing yardage.

Seattle starting quarterback Tavaris Jackson has a quarterback rating of 78 and he has equal the number of interceptions and touchdowns at six a piece. The Seahawks are a middle of the road team at best.

Given Dallas' head coach Jason Garrett's penchant for wanting to pass the ball, the Cowboys should have an easier time against the Seahawks defensive secondary than they did against the Eagles.

Seattle's pass defense isn't that bad, 18th best in the league, but they don't really have the personnel to match-up against Dez Bryant, Jason Witten and Miles Austin.

The Seahawks are 11th against the run and have yet to give up a 100-yard rusher this season. San Francisco runner Frank Gore had a paltry 59 yards on the ground against Seattle and the Falcons Michael Turner was able to collect 70.

The yards against Seattle will probably come in the air if Dallas wants to win but that doesn't mean that Garrett should abandon the run.

But with so many numbers, stats, rankings and ratings skewing in favor of Dallas it's important for the Cowboys, and their fan faithful, to remember that on any given Sunday any NFL team can lose. The Seahawks aren't that good of a football team but they have won two games and have been competitive in the majority of their contests.

They beat the Giants in New York and handled the Cardinals in Seattle. But let's take a look at the Giants game to see where Dallas may face problems and how they can avoid the pitfalls of New York's loss.

The Giants gave up 145 yards on the ground, and almost 280 through the air, but that's not what did New York in. It was the turnovers. Eli Manning had three interceptions, one that was returned for a 94 yard touchdown, and the Giants never could get back on track.

There wasn't much balance to the Giants offense but because Eli put the ball in the air 39 times compared to 25 runs the chances of a turnover become so much greater.

New York also lost two fumbles, gave up a safety and had seven penalties for 52 yards. Not to take anything away from the Seahawks and their victory but the Giants did everything in their power to lose the ballgame in my opinion.

The Cowboys have been accused of having the same problem. Against the Patriots it seemed as if Cowboys coach Jason Garrett was afraid of putting the ball in Tony Romo's hands so he played to protect instead of playing to win.

When Dallas developed a 24 point lead against the Lions, Garrett "went for the throat", but Dallas got lackadaisical, sloppy, over-confident and ended up losing the game. The Eagles' game is an anomaly in my opinion and the Jets loss is due to a key turnover.

So while Dallas should beat the brakes off of the Seahawks, like they did the Rams due to the reasons listed above, the Cowboys cannot afford to take any part of this Seattle Seahawks team lightly. They have a formidable rushing game, an underrated defensive unit and a head coach who has a zest to win that rubs off on his players.

If Dallas has any hopes of making a run at the playoffs, and trying to keep pace with the Eagles and Giants, then it is imperative that they win this game. They must have a strong defensive showing in the process. The Cowboys defense has been largely inconsistent this season, check Detroit and Philly.

For Dallas to have any sustainability this year, it will depend on how well their defense plays.

The defensive secondary needs to play better, and due to injuries, Dallas will have to find ways to protect Bradie James and Keith Brooking in obvious passing downs. Both linebackers are liabilities in coverage, and if the Cowboys leave the middle of the field soft, T-Jack and Pete Carroll should swiss cheese them up.

I don't believe that Dallas is going to take any game moving forward lightly, but if there is any inclination that this team should look past the Seahawks, then maybe they should look again.

-JH

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