ARLINGTON, Texas – Three pass interference penalties. Thirty-eight four wrong-way yards. Each on a Dallas Cowboys’ scoring drive.
Not exactly the kind of impact anyone was expecting in
Of course, no one was anticipating the Cowboys, as well as the officials, would pick on Trufant as much as they did.
“As a team, and as an individual, we strive for greatness,” said Trufant, who did not start but played extensively in the nickel defense. “And it just didn’t happen for us today.
“I guess all you can do is look at yourself in the mirror, get back to the drawing board and try to get better.”
Trufant said the officials gave him no explanations after any of his pass interference calls, and coach Jim Mora wanted to wait until he had reviewed the video before making a comment.
“There is no explanation,” Trufant said. “The referee made the call and you’ve got to live with it, and that’s how it is.”
You also have to live with the ramifications.
“There were no excuses, except that I’ve got to play better,” Trufant said. “I’m expected to play better.”
On the second call, it appeared Cowboys wide receiver Miles Austin ran over Trufant while trying to track down a pass from Tony Romo. On the third, it did not appear that Romo’s pass to Roy Williams in the end zone was catchable, regardless of how much Trufant impeded Williams.
But that’s how this day went for the Seahawks, as they lost their third road game of the season to fall to 2-5.
Trufant played more than the original plan called for, and his legs started to bother him in the fourth quarter.
“His legs got a little heavy,” Mora said. “We had a general plan for how we wanted to play him. But a lot of it was going to be predicated on how he was feeling. He had spurts where he felt good and then toward the end of the game his legs started feeling tired.
“But this will help him, playing in this game. He’ll be much better next week.”
