NFL Week Two Picks & Predictions: Cowboys vs. Seahawks (Part Two)
Every week of the NFL regular season, we will ask all of The Landry Hat writers and contributors to submit their picks and predictions for the upcoming Dallas Cowboy game. This week, we asked our experts for their predictions for the NFL season opening game between our Cowboys and the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday. To see part one of this story, click here.
Nov 6, 2011; Arlington, TX, USA; Dallas Cowboys linebacker Anthony Spencer (93) tackles in the third quarter Seattle Seahawks running back Marshawn Lynch (24) at Cowboys Stadium. The Cowboys beat the Seahawks 23-13. Mandatory Credit: Matthew Emmons-US PRESSWIRE
Artie Cappello, Senior Writer: Tony Romo and the Cowboys are returning to the scene of the crime. Regardless of where you stand on the whole ‘Romo bobbled snap’ thing in the 2006 playoff loss in Seattle, it happened. Now, this is their first time back to Seattle and, at the very least, this should be a cathartic experience – for Romo, sure – but more so for Cowboys’ Nation. The Seahawks defensive front is not as good as the Giants so I expect big things from our ‘Boys this week. Dallas 34 – Seattle 16.
Chance Streetman, Staff Writer: Seattle’s rookie quarterback Russell Wilson will have better days ahead, but not this week. The rookie will struggle against the improved Dallas defense. Although, Seattle’s defense is one of the most underrated in the NFL, their weakness is in the secondary. Dallas should go with 3 to 4 wide receiver sets all day long to expose that weakness. Dallas wins big. 34-13.
Jeff Magnia, Staff Writer: The Dallas Cowboys will dominate this game, they have the Seattle Seahawks beat statistically in many offensive categories.Defensively, the Cowboys will continue to play hard and Rob Ryan, the Cowboys Defensive Coordinator, will take advantage of playing against a rookie quarterback Russell Wilson. Expect confusion for the young quarterback out of Wisconsin from the Dallas defense. Dallas should win this game, despite playing to a noisy crowd, 35-10.
Steven Phillips, Senior Writer: The Seattle Seahawks are not a team to be overlooked by any means. They have a very good running game to go along with an underrated defense. With that being said, this is a team that the Dallas Cowboys are able to handle, if not blow out, as long as the same team that showed up against the New York Giants shows up Sunday afternoon. In the end I see the Cowboys coming out on top 31-10.
Tonni Shook, Senior Writer: In week one, the Dallas Cowboys came out and showed the world they would not lose, despite everyone saying it would be so. The media, several analysts, my neighbors, and me, picked the New York Giants to win. The Cowboys went into New York with lots to prove and came out with a victory. Going into week two, some of our questions about the new season were answered. Tony Romo looked as good as I’ve seen him, the defense stepped it up big, and Dan Bailey is as close to perfect as you can get, but we all knew that already. Not going to get too cocky, but the Cowboys have some confidence and they are going into Seattle with momentum. Dallas Cowboys win big: 35 – Seattle Seahawks lose big: 10.
Alex Young, Staff Writer: Coming off of a great week one win over the Giants, it is hard to doubt the Cowboys in this matchup with a Seahawks team that lost to a very pedestrian Arizona Cardinals team in the first game. However, this game has the look and feel of the classic “trap” game. The Seahawks will be ready and the crowd will be as loud as ever, but Dallas showed me a different side of their team last week and I am not about to punish them in the predictions for it. Tony Romo will return to the site of “the bobble” for the first time and will undoubtedly have a chip on his shoulder to perform well. Cowboys have too many weapons for Seattle to combat and rookie quarterback Russell Wilson did not look sharp last week. Cowboys secondary will contain Sidney Rice and the front seven will stop Marshawn Lynch from going into “beast mode.” This game will be close and I don’t expect a blowout, but Cowboys prevail, 28-17.
Joe Owens, Senior Writer: Entering into Sunday’s match-up the Dallas Cowboys were 9-5 all-time versus the Seattle Seahawks. The game will display to of the youngest rebuilt defensive secondary units in the league. The Last regular season match-up between these two teams was on November 27th, 2008. The cowboys won 34-9 in Dallas. Tony Romo passed for 331 yards and 3 TD’s, the Cowboys defense sacked then Seahawks QB, Matt Hasselbeck seven times with DeMarcus Ware leading the way with three sacks. The Cowboys coached defensive unit will likely Blitz rookie QB Russell Wilson early and often, following suit with the pressure the Arizona Cardinals applied on Wilson last Sunday. On the offensive side of the ball the Cowboys have the Seattle Seahawks out matched and Tony Romo duplicates his league MVP like performance from last week. Rookie quarterback Russell Wilson – 0, Dallas Cowboys – 1 making it an all-time record of 10-5 versus the Seattle Seahawks. Cowboys 31 – Seahawks -13.
Reid Hanson, Staff Writer: Good teams beat bad teams. Dallas is good and Seattle is bad. Plain and simple. This game will continue to provide a boost to the Cowboys confidence and help propel them to a strong start of the season. Seattle’s O-line is really bad, even worse than the Cowboys O-line. Expect high sack numbers from the Cowboys front five. This will provide a great opportunity for the Dallas O-line to build some continuity and hopefully grow. They will face many difficult defenses throughout the season and need to use this as a learning and development situation rather than just as an easy win. Pay special attention to Doug Free who really needs his confidence back sooner rather than later.
The match-up to watch is the Cowboys secondary vs. the Seahawks receivers. The Dallas secondary played a very physical style of football against the Giants. The question is: can they continue to play that physical and still avoid illegal contact/pass interference calls? The replacement refs allowed it in that game but that’s certainly not the trend. In week one there were 25 pass interference calls league-wide. That’s more pass interference calls than week one of 2011 and 2010 combined! Seattle has big strong receivers and will tempt our secondary to play physical. It will be interesting to see what they can get away with. Expect a couple flags to be throw but also an interception or two along the way. Dallas 27, Seattle 13.
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