Brian Nemhauser·
Tale of the Tape
··3 min read

Tale of the Tape: Cowboys Should Win Easily Versus Seahawks

It is rare to have one team favored in every statistic tracked on offense and defense in the Tale of the Tape. So rare, I’m not sure when the last time was that it happened. The Cowboys enter this game with that sort of advantage against the reeling Seattle Seahawks. The point spread reflects that, as Seattle is a massive 9 point underdog, an even larger spread than the 49ers enjoyed before their 31-13 shellacking.

My goal in these previews is to find weak points where the Seahawks can exploit an advantage. Those do not really exist. There are places where Seattle is at less of a disadvantage, but even the strength of the Seahawks (cornerback play), has not proven to be strong enough to change outcomes against good opponents.

The Cowboys have more blow out wins than any team in the league, leading them to the largest point differential in football. They manage that, despite being blown out themselves by the 49ers. Their last three scores were 45-10, 33-10, 49-17. They lost by five to the Eagles on the road, and before that, won 43-20.

The Seahawks have scored less points in their last two games, combined (29), than the Cowboys have scored in 4 of their last 5 single games.

I could quibble with quality of victory, but the Seahawks are not a good team, so that really does not matter. They barely beat the Commanders and Panthers teams the Cowboys just blew out, and lost twice to the Rams team the Cowboys smoked a few weeks back.

The hope is Seattle gets Abe Lucas back and he plays well. Beyond that, Seahawks fans can hope for the team to play differently than they have for the last 4-6 weeks. They will need to be a different team to even be competitive in this one, let alone win.

The way this works: Each offense will be pitted against the opposing defense and compared on an array of key statistical attributes based on their respective rank in the NFL. The tables that follow show the rank of each unit for each of these categories. 

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Seahawks Offense vs Cowboys Defense

Cowoboys key advantages on defense

All of them? Dallas can rush the passer, cover, and take the ball away. Their defense has scored more points than the Seahawk offense lately. Micah Parsons and DaRon Bland are having All-Pro seasons.

Seahawks key advantages on offense

Jourdan Lewis is not a great slot corner. Look for the Seahawks to target Jaxon Smith-Njigba a lot, who has been the team’s best receiver the last month.

Cowboys Offense vs Seahawks Defense

Cowboys key advantages on offense

You guessed it. All of them. Dak Prescott has recovered from getting dismissed after the loss to the 49ers by playing some of the best ball of his career. He is operating the offense with tons of confidence and precision.

Seahawks key advantages on defense

The Cowboys target CeeDee Lamb a ton (104 times). He gets almost twice the targets of the next-closest player, tight end Jake Ferguson (58 targets). Seattle has the corner talent to limit Lamb, which could challenge the Cowboys passing game. Teams have recently tried to isolate Bobby Wagner and Jordyn Brooks in coverage. The Cowboys will have a harder time doing that with the offense they run and the focus they put on a single player. Still, they will try to isolate Tony Pollard on a linebacker where possible.

Special Teams

Hey! When the Seahawks punt and the Cowboys kickoff, Seattle will have an advantage!

Be sure to tune into Real Hawk Talk Wednesday night!

Thanks to Sarah and Chris Rood for sponsoring this series!

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Brian Nemhauser
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2 Comments

  1. How far we’ve fallen from the excitement of this past off-season. It felt, legitimately, like this was a team on the rise.
    Now, I’m more pessimistic about our path forward than I have been in several years.

    We’ve used the bounty from the Russ trade, and we aren’t, ostensibly, a better team than before.
    And now, down a 2nd round pick in next years draft, and a lot of holes/roles to fill or improve next year (including the biggest), it’s difficult to envision significant improvement in the short term.

    What went so wrong… where (in a matter of half a season) we’ve gone from young, ascending roster with championship aspirations… to flawed roster with almost no star potential and a coaching staff that is the envy of no one?

    I’m at the point where I feel the team needs a huge culture change, and scheme change.
    I appreciate everything that Pete has done for the franchise… but it’s just time to change the vision. Pete’s has become stale, not only for the players but for the fanbase, as well.

    The coordinators are bottom of the league, and there is no way to really argue that.

    I’m open to letting JS run the show for once, as it seems like when Pete lets him do his thing in the draft, good things happen more than not.
    That said, he is ultimately responsible for the lack of blue chip level talent on this roster, and the lack of QB development over the years… so I’d be excited to get some fresh ideas in at the GM level, as well.

    Basically, the “soft re-boots” we’ve attempted over the past several years just haven’t worked.
    Perhaps they have “worked” from management’s perspective, as we have remained a decent team that hasn’t completely tanked over that time.
    Unfortunately, that has left us in the middle of the pack, with no hope of building a roster that can really challenge for anything significant… even in a season where the NFC is pretty bad.

    1. As was mentioned in the morning after segment, I feel much of this falls on ownership. I dont think Jody Allen is holding Pete and John accountable the way Paul would have. This why Brian brought up Jeff Bezos, since as he said while we may not like the guy, it is very likely he would be a more involved owner. Of course this can be a 2 edged sword: you don’t necessarily want someone like Jerry Jones who is meddling in day to day operations either. Paul rode that line perfectly, staying active and engaged and holding the front off and coaches accountable, but also remaining hands off enough to allow the coaches vision to flourish as long as it was productive and not stagnant. Sadly it feels like we are in a long period of stagnation at this point

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