The Seattle Seahawks have seen too many late leads evaporate this season, so on Sunday in a close contest with the Dallas Cowboys, Earl Thomas III and Co. made sure that didn’t happen again.

Quarterback Russell Wilson led a late go-ahead field goal drive, and ET III and the Seattle defense suffocated the Cowboys on their final desperation comeback to escape Jerry World with a 13-12 win.

ET kept Area 29 clean all afternoon at AT&T Stadium in his home state. Dallas (2-5) logged just 220 total yards and didn’t have a single pass over 15 yards, while Thomas finished with five tackles. One of the biggest stories for the Legion of Boom was corner Richard Sherman holding Dallas’s star receiver Dez Bryant to just two receptions for 12 yards on six targets. The marvelous performance prompted Earl to say of the Stanford alum, “I’ve never seen a nerd ballin’ like that.”

“Baller. I just told him, ‘I’ve never seen a nerd who can play football like that,’” Earl said of his L.O.B. partner. “This guy is unbelievable, man. Him and Kam [Chancellor], we’ve been together for so long, and I really lean on them. They pick me up.”

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Seattle opened the game with a 12-play drive, marching down to the Dallas eight-yard line, but settled for a chip-shot field goal from Steven Hauschka. The Cowboys answered on their next drive as they tied the game with a Dan Bailey 33-yard field goal with under a minute remaining in the first quarter. Earl made two tackles on this drive, corralling a pair of Darren McFadden runs. The running back was Dallas’s only real weapon: he finished with 64 yards rushing and 49 yards receiving.

Both teams exchanged three-and-outs through the next four drives of the game until Seattle broke through midway through the second quarter. Wilson hit tight end Luke Willson for a 22-yard touchdown, the only of the game for either side, to take a 10-3 lead with 5:29 remaining in the second quarter.

The Cowboys answered back with a field goal on their next drive, which was fueled by two long runs by quarterback Matt Cassel. ET III cleaned up his first run after the QB gained 24 yards, which was the longest play of the day for the Dallas. Cassel finished with just 97 passing yards, but his 43 rushing yards were the second-highest total for his career.

“His 40-yard dash is like a 5.9,” ET said of Cassel. “We wasn’t ready for that.”

01 November 2015: Views of the Dallas Cowboys during the Cowboys 13-12 loss to the Seattle Seahawks at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. Photo by Sam Smith/Dallas Cowboys

The scariest moment of the season for Seattle came just before halftime. Jon Ryan punted for the Hawks just before the half, and Seattle receiver Ricardo Lockette took a vicious hit from Dallas’s Jeff Heath. He laid down on the field for several minutes before being carted off.

It was later announced that he’ll undergo neck surgery to repair ligament damage in his neck and will miss the rest of the season. He flashed the “L” sign on his way off, Seattle’s sign for “Legion of Boom” and “Loving Our Brothers,” but Earl and his teammates were still greatly affected seeing their brother in arms sustain such a frightening injury.

“All I could say was, ‘My heart is with you.’ You see him kind of tear up, and it’s like the connection is there. You’re near him, it’s like, dang, this game is so violent, man. We’ve got to be grateful,” Earl said of Lockette’s injury. “I thought I could use it for inspiration, but when you come in there and realize everything we’ve been through…He’s a spark on special teams. When he goes down like that, you start to think to yourself, ‘He doesn’t deserve that.’ It kind of puts you not in a good place.”

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Dallas took its first drive of the second half down the field for a field goal to lower its deficit to just one point, 10-9.

Late in the third quarter, Greg Hardy tipped and intercepted a Wilson pass and took it to the Seattle 16-yard line. However, Seattle’s defense once again held strong. The Hawks allowed the Cowboys to go just seven yards in three plays before Bailey came on to knock through the go-ahead field goal.

While the Hawks lost their lead, they went down by just two points, trailing 12-10. ET III looked back on what was one of the biggest moments of the game: a stop that helped Seattle win despite losing the turnover battle.

“That was very big,” Thomas said of his team’s early-fourth-quarter stop. “We always prepare for sudden changes. Of course we want to win the turnover ratio, but when we’re getting wins and not getting turnovers, we’re just playing solid, disciplined football.”

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After a 10-play drive, Hauschka lined up for a 47-yard field goal, but it was blocked, forcing ET III and the L.O.B. to turn the lights out on yet another key Cowboys drive. Once again, Dallas went just seven yards in three plays before punting back to Wilson and Co.

This drive was Wilson at his best, spreading the ball around to Tyler Lockett, Jimmy Graham and Doug Baldwin, while putting together a couple of key scrambles of his own. Marshawn Lynch did his part as well, and the Seahawks went 79 yards in 17 plays over a span of 5:35. Hauschka’s field goal was good from 24 yards to put Seattle back in control with 1:06 to go.

The Seattle defense came through one final time. Bruce Irvin and Cliff Avril each had sacks, and the L.O.B. force one final incompletion on fourth down to snuff out Dallas’s last-ditch comeback attempt.

“I thought the defense was lights out tonight, making big plays for us,” Wilson said. “On offense, when we needed it, we converted and made plays, like the last drive.”

NEXT UP

After back-to-back critical road wins, the Seahawks (4-4) will return home for another vital matchup against the NFC West leading Arizona Cardinals (6-2).

If the Hawks win, they’ll be just one game out of first place in the division, but a loss will deliver a hurtful hit to their playoff hopes.

The Hawks are 7-3 against the Cards since Earl arrived in 2010. They’ve won four of the last five against their division rival, including both meetings last season. The Hawks prevailed 19-3 at home and 35-6 on the road a season ago.

No. 29 has amassed 50 total tackles and two interceptions in his 10 meetings with Arizona. Both of his picks helped fuel Seattle victories.

Kickoff is set for 5:30 p.m. PT on NBC Sunday Night Football.

RELATED LINKS

  • Five takeaways from the 13-12 win over the Cowboys (Seahawks.com, Nov. 1, 2015)
  • Seahawks rally to beat Cowboys (The Seattle Times, Nov. 2, 2015)
  • Sherman ‘played a fantastic game’ vs. Bryant and the Cowboys (Seahawks.com, Nov. 1, 2015)
  • Seahawks cope with violent hit on Lockette (The Seattle Times, Nov. 1, 2015)
  • Seahawks thankful & grateful Lockette comes out OK (Seahawks.com, Nov. 1 , 2015)
  • Sherman gets the better of matchup with Bryant (The Seattle Times, Nov. 1, 2015)
  • Earl Thomas on Sherman vs. Bryant: “Never saw a nerd ballin’ like that (The News Tribune, Nov. 1, 2015)