Headed off at the pass
SEATTLE – Seattle showed a national television audience and 68,093 at Qwest Field every side of its multiple personalities.
And just when it looked like the Seahawks might have finally discovered a winning mind-set, they coughed up a 10-point lead in the final 2 minutes and suffered a crushing 43-39 loss to the Dallas Cowboys in a wild Monday Night Football thriller.
The Cowboys scored twice in the last 1:45, sandwiched around Jason Witten’s recovery of an on-side kick, to stun the Seahawks. Rookie running back Julius Jones scored the game winner with a 17-yard run through the heart of Seattle’s defense, a play that worked on several occasions for the Cowboys.
Still, it wasn’t over. With no timeouts, Seattle started at its 25 with 28 seconds left and quarterback Matt Hasselbeck fired a 28-yard completion to Jerry Rice, who added to his Monday Night legacy with another huge night. After spiking the ball to stop the clock with seven seconds remaining, Hasselbeck lofted the ball to the right side of the end zone where a Dallas defender tried to knock it down. Instead, it ricocheted off a teammate and took another chain-reaction bounce off Seattle’s Bobby Engram before falling harmlessly to the ground.
It marked the second time this season Seattle has blown a big lead late in the fourth quarter at Qwest Field. St. Louis overcame a 17-point fourth-quarter deficit to beat Seattle 33-27 in overtime in October, a loss that started the Seahawks’ slide from 3-0 to 6-6.
“I had this feeling once before,” said a somber Hasselbeck, who threw for 414 yards and three touchdowns. “But there’s nothing we can do about it now; nothing we can do.”
Seattle now shares the NFC West lead with St. Louis, but the Rams own the tiebreaker with a series sweep. The Seahawks visit Minnesota and the New York Jets, respectively, the next two weeks. Dallas improved to 5-7 and remains in the chase for a playoff spot in the meek NFC.
Dallas’ final flurry ended a game of remarkable scoring runs. Seattle led 14-3 early before the Cowboys rattled of 26 straight points. Seattle followed with a run of 25 unanswered points that turned a 29-14 deficit into a seemingly safe lead of 39-29 with 2:46 remaining.
Seattle’s final score came when Shaun Alexander raced around left end for a 32-yard touchdown on fourth-and-1.
Veteran quarterback Vinny Testaverde quickly led Dallas downfield with three straight completions. He then connected on a 34-yarder to Keyshawn Johnson, who made an acrobatic catch in the back of the end zone with 1:45 left.
Billy Cundiff’s ensuing on-side kick bounded high into Witten’s arms at the Cowboys’ 43.
“It’s about as clean an on-side kick as I’ve ever seen,” Seattle coach Mike Holmgren said. “Normally there is a big pile-up, but there wasn’t much happening there.”
Dallas still had two timeouts left and that was a factor in its play-calling. Jones, who finished with 198 yards on 30 carries, had runs of 9, 2 and 16 yards, the latter putting the ball at Seattle’s 17.
After an incomplete pass, Jones took off up the middle on a draw play, shrugged off a couple of arm tackles and cruised in for the touchdown, giving Dallas a 43-39 lead.
“I am impressed with the way he runs the ball, and he never quits,” Witten said of Jones, who was sidelined for more than half of the season with a broken collarbone. “He takes two or three hits every time so I count him as a pretty impressive guy.”
Seattle was sharp early, with Hasselbeck and Rice leading the way. Rice caught his 36th touchdown pass on Monday Night Football to put Seattle on top 7-0. He finished with 8 catches for 145 yards. Darrell Jackson added 9 receptions for 113 yards.
The receivers, stung by drops all season, caught everything thrown their direction. Alexander, who rushed for 83 yards and two scores, had two drops.
But more costly was Alexander’s fumble early in the third quarter that Dallas quickly converted for a touchdown and a 26-14 lead.
Hasselbeck was 14 of 16 for 204 yards with two touchdowns in the first half. Unfortunately, he was 0 of 1 on crucial quarterback/center exchanges. It appeared Hasselbeck pulled out early on a snap from center Robbie Tobeck and the ensuing fumble cost Seattle a chance on 4th-and-1 at the Dallas 39 late in the second quarter.
The mistake became magnified when the Cowboys quickly marched 59 yards on 10 plays to take a 19-14 halftime lead.
“We are our own worst enemy and we were tonight,” Holmgren said. “We do some very good things, and then we do some things that demonstrate a lack of maturity, and it has cost us dearly this season.”