Jim Moore: Seahawks looked better, but losing while looking good is still losing

Can you be disappointed and encouraged at the same time? After losing a game that you easily could have won?

Depending on your point of view, the Seahawks blew it Thursday night when they lost to the Cowboys 41-35 by not producing on offense or getting key stops down the stretch.

Key stops? How about any stops? It was a wild, wacky and weird game all night long, featuring more than 250 yards in penalties and zero punts. That’s right, there wasn’t a single punt by either team, and I can’t ever remember that happening in any game I’ve ever watched, though apparently it’s the fourth time it occurred in NFL history.

So as much as a Seahawks’ fan can be thrilled that their offense, which entered the game on a 20-possession streak without a touchdown, came to life, they can be just as miffed that their defense was ill-equipped to cope with a high-powered Dallas offense.

From an optimistic perspective, the Seahawks showed they have the potential to hang with the NFL’s best teams - and Dallas certainly qualifies at 9-3. That’s a good sign for the postseason.

But pessimists would counter with question marks and exclamation points. Postseason?!?! Yeah, right!

The Seahawks fell to 6-6 and would still qualify for the playoffs if the season ended today. But there are still five more games to go, and they’ll be underdogs in the next two against the 49ers next Sunday and a Monday night clash with the Eagles on Dec. 18th.

As if anyone needed further proof that betting on NFL games is foolish, how could the Seahawks with their sputtering offense suddenly flourish against the league’s second-best pass defense? How could D.K. Metcalf, who had three touchdowns in his first 11 games, get three more in a single game?

And the Cowboys, after not ever trailing in their five previous home games and winning those games by an average of 29 points — how could they be in pursuit of the supposedly feckless Seahawks for most of the night?

There were several turning-point plays, such as a drop by the most sure-handed Seahawk of all, Tyler Lockett, that would have resulted in a 25-yard gain into Dallas territory. Seattle would have been in position to take a 38-30 lead with a field goal or ice the game altogether with a touchdown.

But most of the focus and second-guessing came on the Seahawks’ last play on a fourth-and-3 when Micah Parsons, one of the league’s top pass rushers, was allowed to bear down on Geno Smith unimpeded. That was oddly by design as the Seahawks wanted Dee Jay Dallas to slide out to the flat to receive a pass from Smith and race merrily past the yellow line to keep the drive alive.

But traffic in the backfield prevented Dallas from getting to his destination, and Geno’s desperate pass fell to the turf. In hindsight it seemed like a poor play call considering Parsons’ quickness, but if it had worked, offensive coordinator Shane Waldron would have been praised for taking advantage of a lot of green turf Parsons had vacated.

As it turned out, Waldron’s job will remain in the jeopardy even if it shouldn’t be, not after the Seahawks generated a team-record 33 first downs.

And how about Smith, throwing for 334 yards and the three scores to Metcalf? Games like that make you think he could still be the Seahawks’ starting quarterback in 2024, though when I threw that notion out on Twitter, most of the comments suggested I was out of my mind, which is always possible.

Last week it appeared that all was lost when the Seahawks were embarrassed by the 49ers on Thanksgiving night. But the Dallas game offered glimpses of hope along with glimpses of despair from a defense that allowed a team record 33 first downs.

After the game, Pete Carroll insisted there was a lot to build off from his team’s performance, but he would say the same thing if a wrecking ball demolished the Virginia Mason Athletic Center because his glass has never been half-empty.

You can see where he’s coming from with one side of the ball, but the other? Not so much.

As has been the case for most of the season, the Seahawks are still treading water, heading nowhere in particular.

Jim Moore has covered Washington’s sports scene from every angle for multiple news outlets. You can find him on Twitter @cougsgo, and on KJR-FM 93.3, where he co-hosts a sports talk show from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on weekdays.