Seahawks doomed in Dallas

ARLINGTON, Texas – New venue, same old story for the Seahawks.

Perhaps the same could be said for Seattle’s 2009 season.

Eleven months after suffering one of their worst losses of the 2008 season 20 miles away at Texas Stadium, a new stadium didn’t alter the outcome in 2009.

Playing in the Cowboys’ new, $1.2-billion, state-of-the-art Cowboys Stadium, the Seahawks were again blown out in the Big D, this time by a score of 38-17.

And just as this game felt a lot like the one in Dallas last season, this season is starting to reek of 2008 as well. The Seahawks are now 2-5 following Sunday’s loss, and play three of their next four on the road.

In their past four games, the Seahawks have lost three games by 17, 24, and now 21 points. The other game in that stretch, oddly enough, was a 41-0 victory over Jacksonville. Overall the Seahawks have lost four of five since a shutout win in their season opener, and they are 0-5 when their opponent scores points.

After their latest loss, the Seahawks are a team searching for answers.

“Right now at a time like this, I know I feel physically drained, emotionally drained, a bit frustrated and probably searching for answers too,” quarterback Matt Hasselbeck said.

“We’ve got to pick it up, big time. All of us… We’re just not on track right now, we’ve got to do that.”

Adding to the frustration for the Seahawks was the fact that they actually got off to a decent start, which was hardly the case in their last loss.

After giving up a pair of first downs on the first two plays of the game, the Seattle defense forced a punt. And even with a long field (the drive started at the Seattle 6-yard line) the Seahawks managed to get three points to take an early lead.

The Cowboys answered with a pair of quick touchdowns, the second of which was set up by a Justin Forsett fumble, but rather than let the game get away from them, the Seahawks bounced right back with a score of their own. Following Dallas’ second touchdown, the Seahawks drive 80-yard and made it 14-10 on a Deion Branch 23-yard touchdown reception.

Dallas added a touchdown on its final possession of the half, then extended the lead in the third quarter with a pair of touchdowns, the second coming on an 82-yard punt return by Patrick Crayton that blew the game open at 35-10.

The Seahawks capitalized on a Tony Romo fumble to score a fourth-quarter touchdown, but the 4-yard touchdown pass from Hasselbeck to Justin Griffith was way too little too late.

Cowboys 38, Seahawks 17

Seattle	3	7	0	7	—	17
Dallas	7	14	14	3	—	38

Sea—FG Mare 43

Dal—Hurd 36 pass from Romo (Folk kick)

Dal—Barber 2 run (Folk kick)

Sea—Branch 23 pass from Hasselbeck (Mare kick

Dal—R.Williams 7 pass from Romo (Folk kick)

Dal—Austin 3 pass from Romo (Folk kick)

Dal—Crayton 82 punt return (Folk kick)

Dal—FG Folk 40

Sea—Griffith 4 pass from Hasselbeck (Mare kick), 8:40.

	Sea	Dal
First downs	18	26
Total Net Yards	308	362
Rushes-yards	22-79	29-113
Passing	229	249
Punt Returns	3-10	4-116
Kickoff Returns	3-68	3-45
Interceptions Ret.	0-0	0-0
Comp-Att-Int	22-39-0	21-36-0
Sacked-Yards Lost	3-20	2-7
Punts	6-40.3	4-47.3
Fumbles-Lost	2-2	3-1
Penalties-Yards	6-53	5-43
Time of Possession	25:15	34:45

INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING—Seattle, J.Jones 15-56, James 6-17, Forsett 1-6. Dallas, Barber 14-53, Jones 8-39, Choice 4-11, Austin 1-11, Romo 1-10, Crayton 1-(minus 11).

PASSING—Seattle, Hasselbeck 22-39-0-249. Dallas, Romo 21-36-0-256.

RECEIVING—Seattle, Burleson 6-89, Houshmandzadeh 4-24, Branch 3-36, Carlson 3-36, J.Jones 2-32, Griffith 2-12, Forsett 1-14, James 1-6. Dallas, Austin 5-61, Witten 4-36, Crayton 3-39, R.Williams 2-19, Bennett 2-18, Hurd 1-36, Jones 1-30, Ogletree 1-19, Phillips 1-0, Barber 1-(minus 2).