Cowboys vs. Seahawks: 3 things Dallas could do that would be impressive from a Seattle standpoint

The Dallas Cowboys are going to visit the Seattle Seahawks in a preseason game. To say there are memories there would be putting it lightly.

When it comes to this week we will all need to be well-caffeinated (kickoff is at 9pm CT) and open-minded. The objective is always to see the Cowboys play their best football possible, but it must be remembered and reinforced that this is still only the preseason and that the results do not matter.

There are obviously things that do matter though, and a list of accomplishments that we would like to see. This is true because we know the Cowboys better than anyone else so we know what would indicate success or failure.

In that same way though, what would constitute failure from the Seattle side of this conversation? More specifically, what could the Cowboys do to force failure from the Seattle side of the ball?

3 things the Cowboys could do that would be impressive from a Seattle standpoint

Allow me to first say that I have done this at times before and will be doing it every week this season.

The “this” in question is a polling from someone who knows the Seahawks better than anyone else. In this case I reached out to my good friend Mookie Alexander who runs things over at Field Gulls, SB Nation’s Seahawks site.

What I asked Mookie for was a bit more specific than the usual back and forth with our friends throughout the SB Nation universe. I asked Mookie for three things that the Cowboys could do on Saturday night that he would find to be impressive. These things can be anything... something that Dallas does, something that Dallas shuts down, you name it.

Here is what Mookie had to say.

1.) Shutting down Jaxon Smith-Njigba.

The rookie WR out of Ohio State has been as exciting as advertised in training camp, and has been generating highlight after highlight in practices. In his preseason debut he caught 3 passes for 25 yards, and saved an interception on an errant throw by Drew Lock. JSN will likely keep playing throughout preseason and showcasing his hands and smooth route-running. Dallas’ secondary is deep even if you took away Trevon Diggs and Stephon Gilmore, but it’d still be impressive if JSN is limited to spectator status on Saturday.

2.) Deuce Vaughn gets loose against the Seahawks run defense.

Okay, the Seahawks run defense was terrible last year but in the one-game sample size versus the Minnesota Vikings, the reserves held up pretty damn well and limited Minnesota to 83 yards on 26 attempts. Stopping the run is a high priority for this year’s team and so far they’ve looked good even without Dre’Mont Jones, Uchenna Nwosu, Jarran Reed, and other starters suiting up. Early signs suggest Seattle has made some schematic tweaks to better handle the run game. I don’t know if Vaughn will get 1st half carries this time around but I honestly hope he does because he’s fun to watch, and probably a sterner test for the Seahawks than Ty Chandler and DeWayne McBride were.

3.) Mazi Smith against the Seahawks offensive line.

Again, Seattle didn’t play starting tackles Charles Cross or Abe Lucas, and right guard Phil Haynes was moved to left guard with no Damien Lewis. However, Evan Brown is a veteran center competing for snaps with rookie Olu Oluwatimi (C), and rookie right guard Anthony Bradford is angling for his own starting jobs over Haynes at right guard. When Drew Lock was in the game, Seattle allowed just one strip sack and a 30% pressure rate, and Lock played three quarters with about 25 dropbacks. Smith was one of the players Seahawks fans had on their radar to draft with their No. 20 overall pick (used on JSN) because interior DL was a great need for the team. I can’t believe I’m saying this but the Seahawks offensive line at full strength is actually worth respecting, and I’ll be very interested to see how Smith performs and whether he can disrupt the offense both against the run and the pass.

Full disclosure Mookie asked me for three players to watch on the Cowboys side of things and Mazi Smith, who he addressed in his last point, was one of them (the other two were Luke Schoonmaker and Damone Clark).

We are still early on in the era of only having three preseason games which means that it is tough to tell which one each team views as the proper “dress rehearsal” the way they did the third game in the past. Consensus seems to suggest that this week in question is the one that holds the most legitimacy so seeing Smith against an offensive line with a more respectable reputation will definitely be fun to watch.

Huge thank you to Mookie Alexander for the time. Make sure to follow him and check out Field Gulls for the best Seattle Seahawks content there is.