Cowboys: Week 8 – Five Things

Oct 12, 2014; Seattle, WA, USA; Seattle Seahawks running back

(24) rushes against the Dallas Cowboys during the fourth quarter of a 26-20 Dallas victory at CenturyLink Field. Mandatory Credit: Joe Nicholson-USA TODAY Sports

The Seahawks have one weapon that everyone fears, stop him to stop the Seahawks.

It is no secret to anyone who has watched the NFL in the last few seasons that Seahawks running back Marshawn Lynch is not only a beast, but one of the biggest running threats in the league. This season Lynch has been slow to gather steam and an injury has made that progress even slower.

The Seahawks line is not opening the holes they once had and the passing game is fairly anemic. This combination means the Seahawks offense is going to rely on their big weapon. Stopping Lynch is harder than just saying it. He runs with power and has enough speed to make teams pay if they don’t tackle him.

The knock on Lynch is that sometimes he tries to make too much happen. He only averages about three fumbles a season, so if you are going to try to stop Lynch, the first thing to do isn’t trying to strip the ball, it is tackling him quickly and as a team. Rarely is one guy going to bring him down.

While the Seahawks do have tight end Jimmy Graham as a receiving threat, he is only averaging about 50 yards a game (oddly that’s the best on the team). Stopping Lynch means that the Seahawks will have to throw more and so far this season it isn’t something they have proven they can do with regularity.

When your top receiving threat is wide receiver Jermaine Kearse who has a whopping 300 yards in 7 games, the Cowboys secondary has to be feeling pretty good about the matchup this week. There is no reason the secondary can’t control the average receivers on the Seahawks, allowing the front seven to stop the run and get to Wilson.

Unlike in seasons past, the Seahawks are greatly flawed, and the Dallas defense looks stronger than it has in a long time.

Next: Run DMC