Day 73 of the Cowboys’ 100-day countdown lands on the game that forced the league to take the 2014 team seriously. Dallas went into Week 6 at 4-1, but there was still plenty of doubt hanging around Jason Garrett’s group. A win in Seattle changed that fast.
On Sunday, October 12, 2014, at 4:25 p.m. ET, the Cowboys walked out of CenturyLink Field with a 30-23 victory over the Seahawks, the defending Super Bowl champions.
For Tony Romo, it became one of the signature regular-season wins of his era. For Dallas, it was the kind of road performance that turned a good start into something more convincing.
Seattle came out with the kind of start that usually rattled visiting teams. Steven Hauschka opened the scoring with a field goal, then Chris Jones blocked a punt and Mike Morgan returned it for a touchdown to push the Seahawks ahead 10-0. In that building, against the Legion of Boom, that kind of cushion could have buried a lot of teams.
Dallas didn’t blink. Romo led a long drive that ended with a two-yard touchdown pass to Gavin Escobar, Dan Bailey added a field goal, and Jason Witten caught a late first-half touchdown to send the Cowboys into halftime up 17-10.
The third quarter got chaotic in a hurry. Russell Wilson tied the game with a nine-yard touchdown run after a Dallas special-teams mistake, then Seattle grabbed a 20-17 lead after a Romo fumbled snap gave the Seahawks a short field. Bailey answered with a 56-yard field goal, but Hauschka connected from 48 yards early in the fourth to put Seattle back in front 23-20.
Then came the play everybody remembers.
With less than five minutes left and Dallas facing third-and-20, Romo slipped away from pressure and hit Terrance Williams on the far sideline. Williams managed to get both toes down for a 23-yard catch that kept the drive alive. Three plays later, DeMarco Murray punched in a 15-yard touchdown with 3:16 remaining, and Dallas had a 27-23 lead.
The defense finished the job from there. Rolando McClain intercepted Wilson, Bailey tacked on a 31-yard field goal with 1:09 left, and the Cowboys closed out a 30-23 win.
The result mattered because of what it said about the 2014 Cowboys. They weren’t just a run-heavy team riding an early hot streak anymore.
They had gone into one of the league’s toughest environments, taken the early hits, and still outplayed the defending champs statistically while winning with Romo, Murray, the offensive line, and a defense that was better than expected. That’s why this one stands out on the countdown.
Seattle had lost only one home game since Russell Wilson became its starting quarterback in 2012 before Dallas beat them there. The Cowboys also became the first non-NFC West team to win in Seattle since 2011.
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