While the Seattle Seahawks gave many of their starters some playing time Saturday night, including quarterback Geno Smith and receiver Tyler Lockett, the Dallas Cowboys again sat most of their starters, including Dak Prescott, CeeDee Lamb and Micah Parsons.
Ultimately, the Seahawks came away with the 22-14 victory Saturday night at Lumen Field.
Offensive spotlight: Cowboys rookie running back Deuce Vaughn started the game off hot. On his first carry of the contest, he scored on an impressive 14-yard run where he made multiple defenders miss with a beautiful jump cut into a spin move, putting his electric elusiveness on display from the get-go. Unfortunately for Vaughn, it was tough sledding after that, as Dallas' offensive line struggled to create opening running lanes for the rookie running back.
Deuce Vaughn 👀 pic.twitter.com/mSk6dNsynR
— Jon Machota (@jonmachota) August 20, 2023
Defensive spotlight: Seahawks edge defender Boye Mafe may life extremely difficult on Dallas' “starters” Saturday night, as he was constantly generating pressures in addition to getting his hands in passing lanes. Mafe finished with three pressures and a batted pass across just 14 pass-rushing snaps. Additionally, Mafe also made his presence felt against the run, posting two run stops on the evening.
Rookie spotlight: Cowboys rookie nose tackle Mazi Smith failed to improve upon his up-and-down debut last week, as he had too many snaps where he was manipulated out of his gap. Smith's tardiness off the snap and poor footwork are continually putting him behind the eight-ball and unfortunately, his raw strength and athleticism won't be enough to bail him out. Smith was Dallas' lowest-graded defender in the first half, per PFF's initial review. Additionally, Cowboys rookie linebacker DeMarvion Overshown, who's impressed throughout the preseason and training camp, went down with an apparent ACL injury that could potentially end his season.
Seahawks rookie receiver Jaxon-Smith Njigba put together a notable performance despite on playing nine passing snaps, totaling three receptions for 58 yards and a first down in the first half.
Offensive line spotlight: Cowboys offensive tackle Matt Waletzko had a forgettable performance, as he allowed three pressures across just 10 snaps in pass protection in addition to hurting his shoulder. Seahawks second-year tackle Charles Cross only allowed one pressure across 10 pass-blocking snaps, but it was a sack as Cowboys edge defender Sam Williams beat him inside in the first half.
Box Score
Passing
| Dallas Cowboys | |||||
| Player | Fantasy | Comp/Att | Yds | YPA | TD |
| Cooper Rush | 7.84 | 9 / 14 | 96 | 6.9 | 1 |
| Will Grier | 5.14 | 13 / 18 | 136 | 7.6 | 0 |
| Seattle Seahawks | |||||
| Player | Fantasy | Comp/Att | Yds | YPA | TD |
| Holton Ahlers | 6.64 | 7 / 13 | 61 | 4.7 | 0 |
| Drew Lock | 4.76 | 5 / 6 | 119 | 19.8 | 0 |
| Geno Smith | 2.04 | 5 / 6 | 46 | 7.7 | 0 |
Rushing
| Dallas Cowboys | |||||
| Player | Fantasy | Car | Yds | YPC | TD |
| Rico Dowdle | 12.7 | 8 | 38 | 4.8 | 0 |
| Deuce Vaughn | 8.3 | 5 | 14 | 2.8 | 1 |
| Will Grier | 5.14 | 2 | 7 | 3.5 | 0 |
| Malik Davis | 3.2 | 8 | 32 | 4 | 0 |
| Hunter Luepke | 0.3 | 3 | 3 | 1 | 0 |
| Seattle Seahawks | |||||
| Player | Fantasy | Car | Yds | YPC | TD |
| SaRodorick Thompson Jr. | 11.5 | 11 | 50 | 4.5 | 1 |
| DeeJay Dallas | 6.9 | 5 | 9 | 1.8 | 1 |
| Holton Ahlers | 6.64 | 7 | 42 | 6 | 0 |
| Tyjon Lindsey | 6.3 | 1 | -3 | -3 | 0 |
| Zach Charbonnet | 4.2 | 3 | 31 | 10.3 | 0 |
| Geno Smith | 2.04 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 0 |
| Wayne Taulapapa | 1 | 3 | 10 | 3.3 | 0 |
Receiving
| Dallas Cowboys | |||||
| Player | Fantasy | Tgt | Rec | Yds | YPR |
| Rico Dowdle | 12.7 | 3 | 2 | 9 | 4.5 |
| Jalen Tolbert | 10.6 | 6 | 4 | 66 | 16.5 |
| Deuce Vaughn | 8.3 | 1 | 1 | -1 | -1 |
| Dontario Drummond | 6.2 | 2 | 2 | 42 | 21 |
| Luke Schoonmaker | 4.2 | 2 | 2 | 22 | 11 |
| KaVontae Turpin | 3.7 | 2 | 2 | 17 | 8.5 |
| Dennis Houston | 3.2 | 1 | 1 | 22 | 22 |
| Jalen Moreno-Cropper | 2.9 | 1 | 1 | 19 | 19 |
| Sean McKeon | 2 | 1 | 1 | 10 | 10 |
| Jalen Brooks | 1.8 | 2 | 1 | 8 | 8 |
| Peyton Hendershot | 1.7 | 2 | 1 | 7 | 7 |
| John Stephens Jr. | 1.6 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 6 |
| Tyron Johnson | 1.5 | 2 | 1 | 5 | 5 |
| Princeton Fant | 1.2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 |
| Simi Fehoko | 0.8 | 4 | 1 | -2 | -2 |
| Seattle Seahawks | |||||
| Player | Fantasy | Tgt | Rec | Yds | YPR |
| SaRodorick Thompson Jr. | 11.5 | 1 | 1 | -5 | -5 |
| Jaxon Smith-Njigba | 8.8 | 3 | 3 | 58 | 19.3 |
| Jake Bobo | 6.3 | 3 | 2 | 43 | 21.5 |
| Tyjon Lindsey | 6.3 | 4 | 3 | 36 | 12 |
| Cody Thompson | 4.2 | 1 | 1 | 32 | 32 |
| Zach Charbonnet | 4.2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 1 |
| Griffin Hebert | 3.5 | 2 | 2 | 15 | 7.5 |
| Noah Fant | 3.1 | 1 | 1 | 21 | 21 |
| Tyler Mabry | 2.1 | 1 | 1 | 11 | 11 |
| Will Dissly | 1.8 | 1 | 1 | 8 | 8 |
| Tyler Lockett | 1.6 | 1 | 1 | 6 | 6 |
| Dareke Young | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Justin Marshall | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| John Hall | 0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
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