Murray’s TD lifts Cowboys to win over Seahawks

SEATTLE – Marshawn Lynch, idled for much of the game then removed from it late, glared on his way off the field after the Seahawks lost to the Dallas Cowboys 30-23 on Sunday. Then he bit down on the back edging of his helmet as it was a pacifier, as if to quiet inner rage. Jermaine Kearse sighed. He held his bowed head in the palm of his hand at his locker, one of the two mitts that were reaching in vain for Russell Wilson’s final, futile pass. The throw on that fourth down moments earlier that went like most of Seattle’s afternoon. Off skidding. And so incomplete. Next to Kearse, fellow wide receiver Doug Baldwin didn’t sigh. He steamed. “We’ve got to be real with ourselves,” he said. “When we get in the meeting room we’ve got to actually pay attention to things that aren’t going right, pay attention to things that we’re not doing right. And correct them. And not just blow smoke up our tails that everything’s going to be all right just because we won the last game. Doesn’t happen that way.” This time, even Wilson couldn’t save the Seahawks. Dallas’ offense thoroughly controlling Seattle’s battered defense ensured that. The NFL’s leading rusher, Demarco Murray, held to 64 yards through 3½ quarters, romped when it mattered most. His go-ahead touchdown run with 3:16 left – then two uncharacteristically off-target throws by Wilson on third and fourth downs plus an interception to end his uncharacteristically off day – ensured the Seahawks lost for just the second time in 21 home games to the riled-up Cowboys at stunned CenturyLink Field. The game wouldn’t have been that close without two special-teams plays. Baldwin blocked a punt that linebacker Mike Morgan scooped up for a touchdown to put the Seahawks (3-2) up 10-0 early. And Dallas (5-1) muffed a punt return deep in their own end to set up Wilson’s 9-yard TD run that tied the game at 17 in the third quarter. “I mean, it’s all over the board,” Baldwin said. “We’ve got to get better.” Dallas and Murray, who finished with 115 yards on 29 carries to tie Jim Brown’s 56-year-old NFL record with his sixth consecutive 100-yard rushing game to begin a season, kept the Seahawks’ offense on the sideline for much of the game. The Cowboys had a 23-9 edge in first downs, a 401-206 bulge in total yardage and converted 10 of their first 16 third downs into first downs. That points to why Lynch had just two carries among Seattle’s mere 17 plays of the first half. At one point during the second half Baldwin was in Wilson’s face on the sideline growling and pointing fingers at him. It looked, well, like a team that is not used to losing in fact losing, for the sixth time in 31 games. “What do you think, man? We’re frustrated,” Baldwin spat out. “The offensive can’t move the ball. We’ve got too much talent over here to not be moving the ball. “I’m not mad at Russell, at all. It’s a collaborative thing. We’ve all got to do our part.” So heroic in the previous game at Washington and throughout the early season, Wilson was just harried on Sunday. He was 14-for-28 passing for 126 yards, no touchdowns and one interception. He carried twice for 12 yards – 110 fewer than he romped for to set a Seahawks quarterback record six days earlier. “I could have played a lot better,” Wilson said. His completion percentage entering Sunday was 70.3. That was almost 7 percent higher than his rate over his first two seasons before this one. The Seahawks used advantageous field position on an exchange of punts early in the fourth quarter to get Steven Hauschka’s third field goal of the game, from 48 yards. That put Seattle ahead 23-20 with 8:21 left. But on third-and-20 following a Dallas holding penalty, quarterback Tony Romo and wide receiver Terrance Williams made the play of the game. Romo twice escaped Seahawks rush end Bruce Irvin, the second time as the prone Irvin swiped at Romo’s ankle. Then Romo fired a strike that Williams caught while getting the toe edges of both feet inside the right-sideline boundary. That gave Dallas a first down at the Seattle 47 with 4:45 left. Murray, who had just 64 yards on his first 22 carries, then broke free up the middle for 25 yards. After a timeout Murray ran 15 yards to put the Cowboys ahead 27-23 with 3:16 left. Cowboys 30, Seahawks 23  Dallas 7 10 3 10 — 30 Seattle 10 0 10 3 — 23  Sea—FG Hauschka 33 Sea—Morgan 25 blocked punt return (Hauschka kick) Dal—Escobar 2 pass from Romo (Bailey kick) Dal—FG Bailey 42 Dal—Witten 3 pass from Romo (Bailey kick) Sea—Wilson 9 run (Hauschka kick) Sea—FG Hauschka 33 Dal—FG Bailey 56 Sea—FG Hauschka 48 Dal—Murray 15 run (Bailey kick) Dal—FG Bailey 31   Dal Sea First downs 23 9 Total Net Yards 401 206 Rushes-yards 37-162 18-80 Passing 239 126 Punt Returns 2-0 0-0 Kickoff Returns 3-70 5-142 Interceptions Ret. 1-0 0-0 Comp-Att-Int 21-32-0 14-28-1 Sacked-Yards Lost 1-11 2-0 Punts 3-21.7 4-41.8 Fumbles-Lost 2-2 1-0 Penalties-Yards 6-46 9-58 Time of Possession 37:39 22:21   INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS RUSHING—Dallas, Murray 29-115, Randle 5-52, Romo 2-(minus 1), Dunbar 1-(minus 4). Seattle, Lynch 10-61, Wilson 2-12, Turbin 2-10, Harvin 3-(minus 1), Walters 1-(minus 2). PASSING—Dallas, Romo 21-32-0-250. Seattle, Wilson 14-28-1-126. RECEIVING—Dallas, Murray 6-31, Bryant 4-63, Dunbar 4-48, Williams 2-70, Witten 2-24, Beasley 1-11, Escobar 1-2, Clutts 1-1. Seattle, Kearse 3-62, Harvin 3-0, Baldwin 2-32, Willson 2-11, Lockette 1-8, Helfet 1-7, Walters 1-5, Lynch 1-1.