DQ Report, Wk 13 - The Save Situation

Dallas defense is bruised and bloodied, but stood tall when it mattered most

Thursday was easily the toughest night the Cowboys defense has experienced at home. They are used to dictating terms to their opponents and bullying their way to an easy night. The Seattle Seahawks were not having it. To their credit, they came to town as an underdog and decided to not respect the Cowboys defense to a point of fear and loathing.

Rather, they thought they would throw a few haymakers to see if they could buckle the home team a bit.

And, they did. Numerous times.

Below, please find the game-by-game statistics of this season so far. Yes, you will find a 421-yard mauling in San Francisco and an embarrassing 400-yard day of issues in Arizona. But, this one was a 334-yard passing day against Dallas and as you can see, there has been nothing close to that in 2023.

In fact, it is easily the worst passing day conceded since Gardner Minshew put up 355 against the Cowboys on Christmas Eve last year - also in a home Cowboys win. Before that, there were two dates in 2021 against Las Vegas and Derek Carr in a Thanksgiving Day debacle and that opening night shootout in Tampa Bay to start the season.

Given that we are talking four times in three seasons, I am not going to read too much into it. But, yes, this was a tough night for the secondary and it was mostly DaRon Bland and Jayron Kearse.

Bland, who was just featured last week in this space as we raved about his amazing story, was charged with 8 receptions allowed for 169 yards. But, I will credit him with this – much like the defense – he responded in time to help save the game and the win.

It just was a long, long night.

DK Metcalf is a difficult matchup for Bland. When the Cowboys switched to Gilmore things really quieted down. But, then they just switched to the rookie:

Here, as you will see in the film study, it was a spot where Jourdan Lewis fought his tail off late and might have saved the day.

And finally, Lockett was the right fit for Bland.

Remember, when the game began last Thursday, the Seahawks were not in the NFL’s Top 20 in either offensive points or offensive yards.

How???