Another week, another wild finish, and most importantly for the Seahawks, another victory.
After Russell Wilson hit DK Metcalf for the go-ahead score, Seattle's defense needed to do something it had struggled with for most of the game—stop Dallas' offense—but with the game on the line, the Seahawks got a final-drive stop for the second week in a row, preserving a 38-31 victory that saw the Seahawks improve their record to 3-0 for the first time since 2013.
Last week, the Seahawks used a big run stop to hang on for the win, while this week it was a couple of unlikely heroes stepping up to preserve the win, most notably rookie Alton Robinson, who recorded his first sack on Dallas' penultimate play, and defensive back Ryan Neal, who had the game-clinching interception one play later. Neal, who was activated off the practice squad only a day earlier, was in at safety late in the game for an injured Jamal Adams.
1. Russell Wilson is off to a record start.
Another week, another amazing day for Wilson, who completed 27 of 40 passes for 315 yards, five touchdowns, no interceptions, and a 130.7 passer rating. And to give you an idea of how good Wilson has been through three games, that 130.7 passer rating actually was worse than his league-leading rating of 140.0 through two games.
Most notably, Wilson's five touchdowns gave him 14 for the season, the most ever by a quarterback in his first three games, passing Patrick Mahomes' three-game start with 13 touchdowns in his MVP-winning 2018 season. Wilson also became the first quarterback to throw four or more touchdowns in the first three games of a season in NFL history.
2. Tyler Lockett is so, so dangerous.
While Wilson is rightly getting a lot of attention for his fast start, the play of his pass catchers has also been a big part of the offense's early-season success. Tyler Lockett and DK Metcalf played big roles in the first two games, and that was the case again on Sunday.
Lockett led the way with 9 catches for 100 yards, and most notably he had a career-high three touchdowns. This was Lockett's seventh game, postseason included, with at least eight receptions, and all of those have come since the start of last season.
3. It was an eventful day for DK Metcalf.
The stat sheet shows yet another amazing game for DK Metcalf, who finished with four catches for 110 yards and a touchdown, but it wasn't all good for the second-year standout.
In the first half of a game full of odd plays, Metcalf got open deep, Wilson threw a perfect deep ball, and it looked like the duo would have another touchdown. But in a rare lapse of judgement for Metcalf, he began celebrating what looked like a sure touchdown a bit early and had the ball punched out from behind, turning a 63-yard touchdown into a 62-yard catch with a fumble out of the back of the end zone.
But Metcalf and Wilson made sure that moment didn't define Metcalf's day, because with the Seahawks trailing late, Wilson found Metcalf for a 29-yard touchdown that proved to be the game-winner.
4. Ugo Amadi is making the most of his opportunity.
Second-year safety Ugo Amadi had a strong performance last week after taking over the nickel spot, recording eight tackles, one for a loss. With Marquise Blair going on injured reserve, that job is now Amadi's, and he took full advantage of his opportunity on Sunday, making several big plays, particularly on third down.
Amadi had two pass breakups on third down, one forcing the Cowboys to punt while another ended a drive in Seahawks territory, resulting in a Dallas field goal. He also had a nice open-field tackle of Amari Cooper on a third-down catch, leading to another punt. Then, in the fourth quarter, Amadi made the tackle just short of the goal line on Dallas' 2-point conversion attempt, preserving a 2-point lead. With seven more tackles, Amadi now has 15 in his past two games.
5. Defense made some big plays, but also gave up too many.
It's hard to describe the type of game Seattle's defense had on Sunday. On one hand, that unit came up with a number of game-changing plays, from the Jarran Reed forced fumble and Benson Mayowa recovery that set up a third-quarter touchdown, to Shaquill Griffin's pick that set up a touchdown late in the second quarter, to Alton Robinson's late sack, to Ryan Neal's interception in the end zone to clinch the win. Seattle's defense also kept Ezekiel Elliott in check, limiting the back to 34 yards on 14 carries after he rushed for 185 yards in his first two games.
On the other hand, the Seahawks gave up a lot of passing yards and way too many big plays for the third straight week. Dak Prescott threw for 472 yards and three touchdowns, and what will bother Seahawks coach Pete Carroll most is that all three of those touchdowns were 40 yards or longer.
There were some positives Seattle can build on for sure, especially the play of some young players stepping into new or bigger roles, but the Seahawks will no doubt make it a priority to eliminate some of those explosive pass plays.
6. Michael Dickson is off to a great start in 2020.
After earning first-team All-Pro and Pro-Bowl honors as a rookie, Michael Dickson was still very good in 2019, but didn't quite live up to the standard he set the year before. So far this year, however, Dickson is back to looking like a magician who can make a football do just about anything he wants it to.
A week after earning NFC Special Teams Player of the Week honors, Dickson had another great game, averaging 54.7 yards per punt on seven punts, three of which pinned the Cowboys at the 11-yard line, the 6-yard line and the 6-yard line again.
On the topic of special teams, safety Ryan Neal also deserves a mention for making a couple of big tackles in coverage a day after being elevated from the practice squad.
7. Injuries were costly once again.
For the second game in a row, the Seahawks saw some of their top players leave the game with injuries. In last week's win over New England, the Seahawks lost Bruce Irvin and Marquise Blair for the season due to knee injuries, and this week the Seahawks saw safety Jamal Adams (groin), running back Chris Carson (knee) and right guard Damien Lewis (ankle) all left the game with injuries and did not return.
We'll get more updates from Pete Carroll on those injuries after the game.
