Dallas Cowboys: 4 studs (and 1 dud turned stud) in Week 13 win over Seattle

Despite allowing an aggravating touchdown late in the first half and even with Mike McCarthy gifting the Seattle Seahawks plenty of time in the final minutes, the Dallas Cowboys pulled off a 41-35 win on Thursday Night Football. It was the first time this year they defeated a team that came in with a winning record and was also their closest home game of the season.

Dallas deserves a lot of praise for this one since they took everything Seattle had to throw at them and walked away winners. That's why this week's studs and duds is full of studs and will also praise one player who made the best of a terrible night.

Cowboys Stud: Jake Ferguson, Tight End

Jake Ferguson had some big shoes to fill this season with Dalton Schultz leaving for Houston in free agency. The second-year player was up to the task and has had some solid outings in 2022, but Week 13 was arguably his best yet.

Ferguson saw eight passes come his way and was able to bring in six of them. That included a long 17-yard catch and run on third-and-16. He's also going to be seen on highlight reels this week after hurdling Quandre Diggs to gain a couple of extra yards. As good as all of that was, his best play was when he caught a 12-yard touchdown pass in the fourth quarter to give his team the lead.

This touchdown had to feel good for Ferguson for more than one reason. Not only will it go down as the go-ahead score but he also got to rub it in the face of Jamal Adams. The two were going at one another earlier in the game as things got chippy between them. Ferguson was also getting heat from Frank Clark, Sr. who took exception to him hurdling Diggs.

In the end, Ferguson got the last laugh. Now the Seahawks defenders know he's not going to be bullied by them. And that he's more than capable of sending them out of AT&T Stadium with a loss.

Cowboys Stud: DeMarcus Lawrence, EDGE

The Cowboys' defense had been bullied throughout the game and needed a stop in the worst way midway through the fourth quarter. Trailing 35-30, they were finally able to come up with a huge stop that allowed their offense to take the lead back.

Seattle was moving the chains again with a couple of third-down conversions by the nose of the football. Then on third-and-10 from their own 45, they gained nine yards and had a decision to make. They wound up going for it on fourth and Zach Charbonnet had his number called.

The rookie running back failed to convert, thanks to DeMarcus Lawrence. The veteran defensive end is often overshadowed by Micah Parsons, who records sacks at an incredible rate, but Tank is still one of the best run defenders at the position in all of the NFL. He reminded everyone of that when he stopped Charbonnet dead in his tracks.

That gave the Cowboys the ball near midfield and seven plays later, Jake Ferguson hauled in a 12-yard touchdown to take the lead. Dak Prescott then fired a completion to Brandin Cooks on the two-point conversion, making it a 38-35 lead for the Cowboys with just over four minutes to go.

Seattle was stopped again on the next drive, turning the ball over on downs twice in a row. This time, Geno Smith threw an incompletion on fourth-and-four on a hurried pass. Dante Fowler was closest to him but Smith couldn't even consider trying to move to his right because Lawrence was there as well.

A shout out needs to go to Parsons, who made a couple of huge stops that won't show up on the stat sheet. Early in the game, he hit Smith and forced him to throw a pass away on third down, leading to a missed field goal. He also got pressure on him on the final fourth down of the game to seal the win.

Cowboys Dud turned Stud: DaRon Bland, Cornerback

The NFL named DaRon Bland the November Defensive Player of the Month after he set an NFL record with his fifth interception return for a touchdown last week against the Washington Commanders. At the time, it seemed insane that anyone was even willing to throw the football in his direction but apparently, the Seahawks weren't worried about that.

They came out and targeted Bland, even beating him on their first third-down conversion of the day. While Bland had good coverage and just missed breaking it up, D.K. Metcalf still beat him for the reception and took it 73 yards to the house (although Donovan Wilson deserves much of the blame for this since he abandoned his deep coverage simply because Geno Smith looked to the right for a split second).

The issues for Bland didn't stop there. He was beaten deep by Metcalf on another long drive and then was embarrassed several times on the final drive before the half. He was guilty of giving Tyler Lockett far too much space to catch a short pass and go out of bounds with 16 seconds left in the half. Then, he was beaten by Jaxon Smith-Njigba in the end zone, for what appeared to be a touchdown.

After review, it was ruled Smith-Njigba didn't catch the pass but Bland was still flagged for pass interference, giving the Seahawks the ball on the one-yard line. That drive was capped off with a one-yard score for Metcalf, who again beat Bland in the end zone. In all, he gave up five receptions for 137 yards and a touchdown in the first 30 minutes.

Bland didn't let that stop him, however. In the second half, he made a huge play when he picked off a pass intended for Lockett in the third quarter. Dallas was unable to score when CeeDee Lamb dropped a pass on fourth-and-two but Bland still gave the defense some confidence with this stop.

He nearly even came up with a second pick late in the fourth quarter. Smith lobbed a ball up on fourth down in desperation and Bland was the closest to pulling it in. Still, he wound up adding his eighth pick of the year and now has one in four straight games. Yes, this was his worst game of the year but it's encouraging to know that even when he's at his worst, he can still help his team create turnovers.

Cowboys Stud: CeeDee Lamb, Wide Receiver

What a game this was from CeeDee Lamb in Week 13. While he was guilty of dropping a pass on fourth-and-two in the second half, he more than made up for that by making one clutch play after another on Sunday.

He scored the Cowboys' first touchdown of the game, bringing in a Dak Prescott pass from 15 yards out to give his team a 10-7 lead. He also put the offense in the red zone when he made a 15-yard reception on third-and-three during their go-ahead drive in the fourth quarter.

In all, Lamb finished the night with 12 receptions for 116 yards and a touchdown. For good measure, he added another 30 yards on the ground with a 24-yard run as his long. He continues to be their go-to guy and has scored a touchdown in four straight games after taking a while to get going in that department.

He's also now recorded at least 100 yards in six contests and had double-digit receptions five times. For the year, he's at 90 receptions for 1,182 yards with six touchdowns. He could go the final five games and not catch a pass and still have numbers that would be superior to several No. 1 wideouts throughout the league.

Cowboys Stud: Dak Prescott, Quarterback

Should we go ahead and get the MVP trophy ready now?

Dak Prescott continues to be the most harshly criticized player in all of sports. It's so bad that there was literally someone calling him out for breaking the news that he was going to be a father. What's worse is, Dak knew people would react that way, which is why he waited to say anything.

Even at halftime of their Thursday Night Football contest, Richard Sherman was going out of his way to praise the opponent for how they were defending Prescott. This made no sense at all since he had over 200 yards and two touchdowns while the offense had yet to punt the ball. Still, Sherman was saying how we all can see the Cowboys can't play against good teams.

Well, that should be put to bed after this. Not only did Prescott play well in the first half but he continued to fight hard and led his team to a comeback win. When all was said and done, he had 299 yards passing, 23 rushing yards, and three passing touchdowns (he nearly had a rushing touchdown as well but it was called back due to a hold). What's even better is the defense Sherman was anointing for being roasted had no interceptions.

Prescott is playing on a different level right now and he's more motivated to win than ever before. Not only did he show this in his determination in the fourth quarter but he even got up at one point and got into the face of Riq Woolen showing more fire than we've seen in the past from No. 4.

Surely, the sticks will be moved again and everyone will say Prescott needs to prove himself against the Eagles before they believe. Then if they beat them, they won't believe until they beat the 49ers. And so on and so on. But those who watch him without an agenda can see he's outperforming everyone right now and the Cowboys have a chance to win every week because of him.