Lynch rumbles, Seahawks stymie Romo, Cowboys 27-7
SEATTLE (AP) - With Marshawn Lynch churning up yards and Seattle's stout defense making life miserable for Tony Romo, all rookie Russell Wilson had to do in his first home start was be a manager.
That's exactly how the Seahawks drew it up.
"Our motto is to play longer and harder than they can, and that's what happened," Seattle wide receiver Golden Tate said.
Lynch ran for 122 yards and a 3-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter, Seattle's special teams came up with two huge first-quarter plays that led to 10 points, and the Seahawks beat the Cowboys 27-7 Sunday.
Seattle was staked to a 10-0 lead in less than 5 minutes. Michael Robinson forced Felix Jones to fumble the opening kickoff, leading to a short field goal, and Malcolm Smith blocked Chris Jones' punt and Jeron Johnson returned it for a touchdown to give Seattle (1-1) the early advantage.
Turned out those 10 points were all the Seahawks needed.
"We played well. We prepared well. We knew exactly what they were going to be doing out there and we were ready for it," cornerback Brandon Browner said.
Wilson threw for 151 yards in his first NFL victory, directing a 90-yard scoring drive in the third quarter capped by a 22-yard touchdown strike to Anthony McCoy to give Seattle a 20-7 lead. Wilson was 15 of 20 passing, including 6 of 8 in the second half, and a passer rating of 112.7. Steven Hauschka kicked field goals of 21 and 25 yards for the Seahawks, who rebounded from a disappointing season-opening loss at Arizona in which Seattle failed to score in the closing seconds.
"The week was a challenging week because last week was so emotional, and it was so close and we had high expectations but we don't get out with a win last week, and to come back with our guys and challenge them to focus and put their attention on the next team, they handled that really well, a bunch of young guys," Seattle coach Pete Carroll said. "I was really, really pleased with that."
Lynch had just 22 yards at halftime, but Seattle dominated possession in the second half, running 38 plays compared to just 19 for the Cowboys. His dynamic 36-yard run in the third quarter included Lynch carrying tacklers in the open field and helped setup Wilson's strike to McCoy.
The Seahawks finished with 182 yards rushing. Dating to last season, Seattle has topped 100 yards rushing in 10 of 11 games.
"It was very much needed and I'm glad we got it," Lynch said.
From the opening kickoff, Romo was playing from behind. Jones' fumble was recovered by Earl Thomas at the Dallas 29. The Seahawks drove to the 3, but Wilson's third-down pass for Sidney Rice was nearly intercepted by Bruce Carter and Seattle settled for the first of two short field goals from Hauschka.
Dallas (1-1) went three-and-out on its first possession with the drive stalling after Jason Witten dropped a third-down pass. The Cowboys' punt barely left Jones' foot as Smith reached out with his right hand to block the kick, which one-hopped perfectly into Johnson's hands and he strolled in for the Seahawks' second blocked punt return for a touchdown in their last six games dating to last season.
Romo finished 23 of 40 for 251 yards and one touchdown to Miles Austin, but was able to direct only one scoring drive despite having extra time to prepare for the Seahawks. Dallas was trying to open the season with consecutive wins for the first time since 2008, and now heads home to face Tampa Bay wondering if they're more like the team that knocked off the New York Giants in the season opener or the one that flopped in Seattle.
"We just didn't do the little things, to extend the drives, that you need to do and sometimes you can make up for it if you have big plays and we just didn't have those for whatever reason today," Romo said. "We need to do a better job of doing the things that we need to do to just move the ball."
Romo was also unable to get rid of the demons from his last visit to Seattle , the 2006 NFC wild-card game in which he bobbled the snap of a potential winning field goal in the final minutes then was tripped up on his way to the end zone short of the winning score.
Dallas had just 34 yards in the second half until a stat-padding drive in the final seconds in which the Cowboys gained 51 yards. DeMarco Murray, who ran for 139 yards last year against Seattle, was held to just 44 yards on 12 carries.
"I know this, in everything about playing football they were better than we were today," Cowboys' owner Jerry Jones said. "Every aspect of it. So we can call it whatever you want to call it, but they were better than we were today, all the way."
NOTES: McCoy finished with a career-high five receptions and his first NFL touchdown. ... Tate laid a huge block on Dallas LB Sean Lee in the fourth quarter that was not flagged but could draw a fine. Asked if it was a cheap shot, Lee said, "It's part of the deal. It's part of the game. It's not for me to judge." ... Seattle snapped a three-game losing streak to the Cowboys. ... Dallas had a blocked punt returned for a touchdown for the first time since Sept. 11, 2011, against the New York Jets.
That's exactly how the Seahawks drew it up.
"Our motto is to play longer and harder than they can, and that's what happened," Seattle wide receiver Golden Tate said.
Lynch ran for 122 yards and a 3-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter, Seattle's special teams came up with two huge first-quarter plays that led to 10 points, and the Seahawks beat the Cowboys 27-7 Sunday.
Seattle was staked to a 10-0 lead in less than 5 minutes. Michael Robinson forced Felix Jones to fumble the opening kickoff, leading to a short field goal, and Malcolm Smith blocked Chris Jones' punt and Jeron Johnson returned it for a touchdown to give Seattle (1-1) the early advantage.
Turned out those 10 points were all the Seahawks needed.
"We played well. We prepared well. We knew exactly what they were going to be doing out there and we were ready for it," cornerback Brandon Browner said.
Wilson threw for 151 yards in his first NFL victory, directing a 90-yard scoring drive in the third quarter capped by a 22-yard touchdown strike to Anthony McCoy to give Seattle a 20-7 lead. Wilson was 15 of 20 passing, including 6 of 8 in the second half, and a passer rating of 112.7. Steven Hauschka kicked field goals of 21 and 25 yards for the Seahawks, who rebounded from a disappointing season-opening loss at Arizona in which Seattle failed to score in the closing seconds.
"The week was a challenging week because last week was so emotional, and it was so close and we had high expectations but we don't get out with a win last week, and to come back with our guys and challenge them to focus and put their attention on the next team, they handled that really well, a bunch of young guys," Seattle coach Pete Carroll said. "I was really, really pleased with that."
Lynch had just 22 yards at halftime, but Seattle dominated possession in the second half, running 38 plays compared to just 19 for the Cowboys. His dynamic 36-yard run in the third quarter included Lynch carrying tacklers in the open field and helped setup Wilson's strike to McCoy.
The Seahawks finished with 182 yards rushing. Dating to last season, Seattle has topped 100 yards rushing in 10 of 11 games.
"It was very much needed and I'm glad we got it," Lynch said.
From the opening kickoff, Romo was playing from behind. Jones' fumble was recovered by Earl Thomas at the Dallas 29. The Seahawks drove to the 3, but Wilson's third-down pass for Sidney Rice was nearly intercepted by Bruce Carter and Seattle settled for the first of two short field goals from Hauschka.
Dallas (1-1) went three-and-out on its first possession with the drive stalling after Jason Witten dropped a third-down pass. The Cowboys' punt barely left Jones' foot as Smith reached out with his right hand to block the kick, which one-hopped perfectly into Johnson's hands and he strolled in for the Seahawks' second blocked punt return for a touchdown in their last six games dating to last season.
Romo finished 23 of 40 for 251 yards and one touchdown to Miles Austin, but was able to direct only one scoring drive despite having extra time to prepare for the Seahawks. Dallas was trying to open the season with consecutive wins for the first time since 2008, and now heads home to face Tampa Bay wondering if they're more like the team that knocked off the New York Giants in the season opener or the one that flopped in Seattle.
"We just didn't do the little things, to extend the drives, that you need to do and sometimes you can make up for it if you have big plays and we just didn't have those for whatever reason today," Romo said. "We need to do a better job of doing the things that we need to do to just move the ball."
Romo was also unable to get rid of the demons from his last visit to Seattle , the 2006 NFC wild-card game in which he bobbled the snap of a potential winning field goal in the final minutes then was tripped up on his way to the end zone short of the winning score.
Dallas had just 34 yards in the second half until a stat-padding drive in the final seconds in which the Cowboys gained 51 yards. DeMarco Murray, who ran for 139 yards last year against Seattle, was held to just 44 yards on 12 carries.
"I know this, in everything about playing football they were better than we were today," Cowboys' owner Jerry Jones said. "Every aspect of it. So we can call it whatever you want to call it, but they were better than we were today, all the way."
NOTES: McCoy finished with a career-high five receptions and his first NFL touchdown. ... Tate laid a huge block on Dallas LB Sean Lee in the fourth quarter that was not flagged but could draw a fine. Asked if it was a cheap shot, Lee said, "It's part of the deal. It's part of the game. It's not for me to judge." ... Seattle snapped a three-game losing streak to the Cowboys. ... Dallas had a blocked punt returned for a touchdown for the first time since Sept. 11, 2011, against the New York Jets.
Lynch & Wilson, way to go!!!! Defense was great!! O-line was better (but still room for improvement). Let's hope the 'Hawks can keep thisup every week...........GO, HAWKS!!!!!!!!!!!
Great job out there today boys! Keep it up! 12th "wo"man all the way!
Ok, I was in the Army back in the 80s during Cowboys glory days. I am also a lifelong Seahawk fan. I have a picture of me standing between Jim Zorn and Jack Patera the May BEFORE the first Seahawk Training Camp. And I hate the Cowboys with a stone cold passion that is only rivaled by my hatred of the Yankees and the Seattle Mariners ownership group.
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SO HOW 'BOUT DEM COWBUMS?
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There are just too many great stats about this game to throw around. How about the fact that it took the Cowboys almost 10 minutes to venture into Seahawks territory? Love that one.
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The O-Line, a much maligned group with good reason, really really stood their ground today and I'm proud as hell of them. The receivers did their jobs, although there were a couple entirely catchable 'Homer-moments' [DOH!] in that unit.
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I don't need to add to the entirely justified praise being heaped on Lynch and Turbin.
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Wilson has had two very good games to get his feet wet as a starting QB, although Carroll's game plan doesn't call for brilliance in the passing roll. Wilson is making good [although not great] decisions in the pocket, but he was *really* lucky when the had two defenders wrapped around his legs and did that desperation flick to McCoy [I think]. I'm glad it worked out for a first down, but that kind of thinking has cost the Seahawks playoff berths before.
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And yeah, Tate's head to head hit on the Cowboys' Lee deserved a 15 yard flag. I really really hope the NFL pulls it's head out of it's primary point of contact and get's the ref lockout over with. Mistakes like that will cost somebody a career if the league doesn't get it's act together.
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 @svensson Good hit by Tate.
 @svensson You should watch the Tate hit again.  He lead with his arms, did not leave the ground until after the hit when the momentum of the size difference lifted him off, and he hit him square in the chest.  Clean hit.Â
@The206 And at least half the regular referees would have thrown a flag on it. It's easy to say when we've got unlimited rewind and slo-mo to analyze a given action on the field, but a lot of flags are for borderline stuff that the refs flag as a 'don't even try it' warning.
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Like everyone, I want a good clean game within the rules. But I'll also admit that I'm hypocrit enough to like seeing a Cowboy get trucked just because he's wearing the uniform. But Goodell is right about pushing the concussion thing, and in that context, the Tate hit deserved a flag, imho. No, it wasn't as egregious an error as getting another time out like last week, but....
Stand em up on that Oline guys. Crush all nonbelievers and hear the lamentations of their women.
Last week makes you wonder. Â A game like today gets you back to the idea that Carroll is truly building something special in Seattle. Â At the very least, he's gotten them to the point where they know they can win any game they play. Â That sets the stage for a very enjoyable season.
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But my big NFL concern remains Bob Costas. Â NBC really, really have to get him off the air. Â He's pathetic.
congratulations on your one game "winning streak"
Good game. Seahawks 1-1
It's a happy and joyous day in the land of the 12th Man......GO HAWKS!
 @LoudNoises Icing on the cake to USC's loss to Stanford last night.
I think this was clearly a defense day. They totally stuffed the cowboys especially in the second half.
Wilson finally got his groove on and Marshawn Lynch had his beast mode on. Unfortunately the country will hear not that the Seahawks won but that the Cowboys lost.
 @mstipton "Wilson finally got this groove on..."  Really?  It's not like it's been 10 games.  Are we that impatient that we need to add "finally" in there after just 1 game?
 @mstipton "Unfortunately the country will hear not that the Seahawks won but that the Cowboys lost." You're correct, somewhere someone anointed Dallas as "America's Team". I never voted for them and I relish days like these when the arrogant putzes are put in their place. We owned them today.
Missed flag or not, Golden Tate's killer hit was the highlight of the day for me. They should play that back in the locker room before each game to get the motivation going. THAT LEVEL OF PASSION is what I expect out of this team every week.
 @Doloresdecabeza It was legal.... A thing of beauty it was.Â
 @Doloresdecabeza I don't think it was a missed flag at all. Tate hit him center of the shoulder pads. His helmet did slide up and make contact with his face mask. He even waited to be sure and hit him square from the front to avoid the clipping call.
 @JeepRex Agreed, merely stating what all the pundits are flinging poo about on TV. Funny enough, I have a sound bite running through my head of an interview from Jim Moron in his last year as coach, stating that he wanted to see some "nasty" playing football. Hits like that help show that the team has a pair and is willing to show it. Loved it entirely.
Romo's really gotta hate playing here.
Well DARN! (Of course flukes DO happen)
 @EMDF9A a 27-7 domination on both sides is no fluke.  The only fluke was Dallas beating NY last week.Â
 @EMDF9A keep telling yourself that...Go Hawks