The Dallas Cowboys’ preseason opener in Seattle was messy in all the usual August ways, but the defense kept turning chaos into stops.
Dallas got very little help from special teams for stretches at Lumen Field, yet still walked away with a 17-7 win after holding the Seahawks without a point over the final three quarters. Seattle managed only 76 yards across its last seven possessions, and the Cowboys kept answering even when the field position got ugly.
One of the clearest examples came after a muffed punt put the Seahawks at the Dallas 5-yard line. Three plays later, the Cowboys had forced a turnover on downs.
Head coach Brian Schottenheimer liked what he saw from his defense in those moments.
“The defense’s job is to keep people out of the end zone,” Schottenheimer said during his postgame press conference. “That’s what we’re tasked to do.
I’m fine when a game is 7-3, 10-7. I don’t care.”
Seattle’s only touchdown came on the opening drive, a 13-play, 80-yard march. After that, the Cowboys slammed the door.
Dallas finished with five sacks, held Seattle to 49 net passing yards and stopped three of four red-zone trips. James Houston, Isaiah Land, Justin Rogers, Tyrus Wheat and Al-Quadin Muhammad were among the defenders credited with at least a share of a sack.
“I thought they were terrific,” Schottenheimer said. “A little sloppy early on, and we gave them some penalties early on, but I thought they really buttoned down. The pass rush was really good.”
The night also gave Christian Parker his first chance to call Dallas’ defense from the sideline after replacing Matt Eberflus as defensive coordinator during the offseason. Schottenheimer said he listened in on Parker’s calls and liked how he handled Seattle’s early score and the sudden-change situations that followed.
“He’s calm, cool, convicted,” Schottenheimer said. “We need the adversity.
It’s going to happen in this season. So it was really cool for our guys to respond.
I thought he did a great job.”
The Cowboys still left plenty on the table. They were flagged 13 times for 103 yards, while Seattle averaged starting field position at its own 42-yard line and Dallas began at its own 19. The Seahawks also piled up a 52-yard punt return and recovered two Dallas muffed punts.
In a regular-season game, that kind of sloppiness could have flipped the result. On this night, Dallas’ defense kept the damage from spreading.
“A little bit of training camp football,” Schottenheimer said. “A little sloppy, but that’s kind of what you deal with.”
The Seahawks were missing their regular-season group, so this wasn’t a final judgment on anything. Still, Parker’s defense showed it could create pressure, survive bad field position and settle itself after a shaky start.
For a preseason game, that was enough to stand out.
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