DALLAS — The Dallas Cowboys were able to even their record at 1-1 after pulling off a scintillating 40-39 come from behind victory over the Atlanta Falcons in their home opener. Dallas will next be looking to secure their first winning streak of the young 2020 season on Sunday as they travel to Seattle to take on the 2-0 Seattle Seahawks.
With that in mind, here are 100 facts and stats as Dallas aims for a 2-1 start:
SERIES FACTS (12)
-This is the 27th time in club history the Cowboys have started 1-1. 12 of 26 of those previous 1-1 teams made the playoffs.
-Since 1990, 169 out of 311 teams that started 2-1 made the playoffs compared to 78/314 teams that started 1-2.
-This is the 12th time in franchise history that the Seahawks have started 2-0. 7 of 11 of those previous teams made the playoffs.
-Since 1990, 110 out of 148 teams that started 3-0 made the playoffs.
-The Cowboys are 4-5 against the Seattle Seahawks on the road. Here is the breakdown by stadium:
Kingdome: 2-0
Husky Stadium: 0-1
CenturyLink Field: 2-4
-The Cowboys are 0-2 against the Seahawks in September with both of those games occurring on the road.
-Dallas is 24-22 in the Pacific Time Zone.
-Seattle is 65-33 at home against teams from the Central Time Zone.
-Since 1970, the Cowboys are 168-125 in late afternoon games with a 59-67 record on the road.
-The Seahawks are 216-213 in late afternoon games with a 165-120 record at home.
-Prior to 2018, the Seahawks were 1 of 6 teams to have defeated the Cowboys in the postseason without any reprisals. After the 2018 NFC wild-card, they are 1 of 10 teams whose last playoff encounter with Dallas resulted in a loss.
-Sunday will be the fourth time in the series that the same starting quarterbacks from each side (Dak Prescott versus Russell Wilson) will face each other in consecutive encounters, the most in the series. The previous record was three with Tony Romo facing Matt Hasselbeck three times (2006, 2008, 2009).
DAK PRESCOTT FACTS (13)
-Including the playoffs, Prescott has the fifth-most fourth-quarter comebacks since 2016 with 10.
-Including the playoffs, Prescott has the most game-winning drives since 2016 with 16.
-With those 16 game-winning drives, Prescott is tied with Danny White for the fourth-most in Cowboys history.
-Including the playoffs, Prescott’s 10 fourth-quarter comebacks are the fifth-most in Cowboys history.
-Prescott is 1-2 against the Seahawks, including the playoffs. Here is how he compares to other Cowboys quarterbacks:
Danny White: 2-0
Troy Aikman: 2-0
Rogers Staubach: 1-0
Vinny Testaverde: 1-0
Tony Romo: 4-2
Dak Prescott: 1-2
Steve Pelluer: 0-1
Quincy Carter: 0-1
Chad Hutchinson: 0-1
Drew Bledsoe: 0-1
Matt Cassel: 0-1
-Prescott has benefited from the second-most yards after the catch in the NFL with 319. Only Philip Rivers has him bested by a yard.
-Through two games, Prescott has had three of his passes dropped. Through two games last season, Prescott had four passes dropped.
-65 of Prescott’s throws have been on target, the fourth-most in the NFL.
-Prescott is tied with Ryan Fitzpatrick for the sixth-most pressures in the NFL with 20.
-Prescott has seen 18 blitzes this season, the 20th-most in the NFL.
-Prescott is tied with Carson Wentz for the fifth-most run-pass option plays with 13. 12 of them have resulted in passes.
-Prescott has run play-action 24 times, the fifth-most in the league. His 319 passing yards off play-action are the second-most in the NFL.
-Prescott has more red zone rushing touchdowns than Ezekiel Elliott (three to two).
RUSSELL WILSON FACTS (12)
-Wilson is 4-2 against the Cowboys. Here is how he compares to other Seahawks quarterbacks:
Russell Wilson: 4-2
Matt Hasselbeck: 3-3
Dave Krieg: 1-1
Trent Dilfer: 1-0
Dan McGwire: 0-1
Warren Moon: 0-1
Tavaris Jackson: 0-1
Jim Zorn: 0-2
-Wilson has the ninth-most completed air yards in the league with 327.
-Wilson has benefited from 283 yards after the catch, the seventh-most in the NFL.
-Wilson leads the NFL with 88.5% on target throws.
-Wilson is tied with Mitch Trubisky, Jared Goff, and Kirk Cousins for the fourth-most time in the pocket with 2.6 seconds.
-Wilson has been pressured 24 times through two weeks, second-most in the NFL.
-Wilson’s five sacks are tied with Kyler Murray, Trubisky, Cousins, and Matt Stafford for the 10th-most in the NFL.
-Wilson has only had four run-pass option plays through two games, tied for 16th in the league. Three of them have been run plays.
-Wilson’s two sacks on third down are tied for the sixth-most in the league.
-Wilson has not rushed the ball on third down this season.
-Wilson has the eighth-highest first down passer rating at 119.6.
-Wilson has targeted Tyler Lockett the most with 16 targets. D.K. Metcalf is second with 14.
EZEKIEL ELLIOTT FACTS (10)
-Among running backs with at least 30 carries, Elliott is leading the NFL with two fumbles.
-Elliott’s 4.2 yards per carry is the seventh-highest among running backs with at least 30 carries.
-Among running backs with at least 30 carries, Elliott’s 1.7 yards before contact are the seventh-lowest in the league.
-Elliott is tied with Josh Jacobs and Cam Newton for the most first downs on the ground with 13.
-Elliott’s 110 yards after contact are the fifth-most in the league.
-Elliott is tied with Melvin Gordon and Clyde Edwards-Helaire for the sixth-most broken tackles with five.
-Elliott is tied with Christian McCaffrey and Derrick Henry for the most red zone carries with 12. McCaffrey has four touchdowns while Elliott has two.
-Elliott has the second-most first down carries in the NFL with 29.
-Among running backs with 15 qualifying carries, Elliott has the 10th-highest yards per carry on first down at 4.38.
-Elliott’s 64 receiving yards are the seventh-most among running backs this season.
MIKE MCCARTHY FACTS (7)
-McCarthy is 6-5 against the Seahawks all-time with a 1-5 record in Seattle.
-McCarthy’s 6-5 record against the Seahawks is his third-best against any NFC West opponent:
Rams: .625 (5-3)
49ers: .555 (5-4)
Seahawks: .545 (6-5)
Cardinals: .429 (3-4)
-McCarthy is 30-16-1 in September with an 11-11 record on the road.
-McCarthy is 17-17 against Super Bowl-winning coaches with a 5-12 record on the road.
-McCarthy is 5-8 in the Pacific Time Zone with a 5-3 record in the late afternoon time slot.
-With McCarthy getting a win in Week 2, only Joe Judge and Matt Rhule remain as coaches hired in 2020 who have yet to win a game.
-McCarthy joined Bill Parcells as the only Cowboys coaches who got their first wins in Week 2. Jason Garrett could be included as his first win as a full-time coach in 2011 came in Week 2, but he was the interim head coach beginning Week 9 of 2010 and won in his first game.
PETE CARROLL FACTS (5)
-This is the fifth time in Carroll’s career he has started 2-0. Only his ’99 Patriots team failed to make the playoffs.
-Carroll is 18-7 against the NFC East in his coaching career, including the playoffs.
-Pete Carroll has a 5-3 record against the Cowboys. As head coach for Seattle, Carroll is 4-3. Here is how he compares to other Seattle coaches:
Mike Holmgren: 4-2
Pete Carroll: 4-3
Chuck Knox: 1-1
Tom Flores: 0-1
Jim Mora, Jr.: 0-1
Dennis Erickson: 0-1
Jack Patera: 0-2
-Carroll has yet to throw a challenge flag in 2020. He is 42 for 91 for his career with a 5 for 14 success rate in 2019.
-Carroll was aggressive with pass interference related challenges last season but had a 1 for 7 success rate.
BROADCAST FACTS (9)
-Sunday will be the 14th game in the series to be broadcast on FOX. Here is the breakdown by network:
FOX: 13
NBC: 4
CBS: 2
ABC: 1
-Dallas is 142-127 all-time on FOX, including the postseason.
-The Seahawks are 126-111 all-time on FOX, including the postseason.
-This is the sixth time in the series Joe Buck and Troy Aikman will call a game in the series, including playoffs. The Seahawks lead 3-2.
-The Cowboys are 42-46 when Buck does play-by-play for their games.
-Seattle is 18-14 when Buck calls their games.
-Dallas is 48-52 when Aikman does color commentary for their games.
-The Seahawks are 18-17 when Aikman calls their games.
-This is the eighth late afternoon game in the series to be broadcast on FOX.
CARL CHEFFERS FACTS (13)
-This week’s head referee is Carl Cheffers. The Cowboys are 5-5 when he referees their games. Here are the results:
2009 – Raiders, 24-7 – W
2010 – @Texans, 27-13 – W
2010 – Lions, 35-19 – W
2013 – Rams, 31-7 – W
2015 – Seahawks, 12-13 – L
2016 – @Giants, 7-10 – L
2017 – Giants, 19-3 – W
2018 – @Seahawks, 13-24 – L
2018 – @Colts, 0-23 – L
2019 – @Saints, 10-12 – L
-Dallas has had fewer penalties than the opposition 6 of 10 times with Cheffers.
-Cheffers tied for the eighth-lowest home team winning percentage in 2019.
-Cheffers tied for the second-lowest percentage of home teams having fewer penalties in 2019.
-The Seahawks are 8-6 when Cheffers referees their games:
2008 – Patriots, 21-24 – L
2009 – Cardinals, 3-27 – L
2010 – @49ers, 21-40 – L
2011 – @Rams, 24-7 – W
2012 – Cardinals, 58-0 – W
2013 – Titans, 20-13 – L
2015 – Bears, 26-0 – W
2015 – @Cowboys, 13-12 – W
2016 – @Jets, 27-17 – W
2016 – Eagles, 26-15 – W
2017 – Falcons, 31-34 – L
2018 – Cowboys, 24-13 – W
2019 – @Steelers, 26-28 – L
2019 – @Panthers, 30-24 – W
-Seattle has had fewer penalties than their opponents 5 of 14 times.
-In 2019, Cheffers tied for the seventh-fewest sacks per game.
-In 2019, Cheffers had the fourth-highest offensive holding calls per game.
-Dallas has not challenged Cheffers’ calls. However, opponents are 2 for 2. Replay Assistant is 1 for 2 on its challenges with one of those benefiting the Cowboys.
-The Seahawks and their opponents have had to challenge some of Cheffers’ calls. Seattle is 4 for 9 while their opponents are 0 for 3. Replay Assistant is 0 for 3 with only one of those calls benefiting the Seahawks.
-In 2019, Cheffers tied for the seventh-highest challenge overturn rate in the NFL.
-In 2019, Cheffers was one of three referees to overturn a league-high two calls related to pass interference during the regular season.
-It is worth noting that Carl Cheffers is responsible for one of the most comical referee gaffes in recent years during the Cowboys-Texans contest on 9/26/10.
MISCELLANEOUS FACTS (19)
-Seattle receiver DK Metcalf has the second-highest yards per reception in the league at 23.4.
-Metcalf is tied with Andy Isabella and Tyreek Hill for the eighth-longest reception at 54 yards.
-Since 2019, Metcalf has caught 16 passes of 20-plus yards and five of them have been touchdowns, tied for the fifth-most in the league in that span.
-Metcalf has the 15th-highest passer rating on passes when targeted at 141.4.
-Metcalf is tied with Adam Thielen for the sixth-most yards before a catch (how far a ball travels before a receiver catches it) with 138.
-In Week 3 of 2018 against the Cowboys, Chris Carson produced 32 carries for 102 yards and a touchdown.
-Seahawks safety Jamal Adams had eight total tackles, a tackle for loss, and a pass breakup as a member of the Jets in New York’s 24-22 win over the Cowboys in Week 6 of last season.
-Seahawks linebacker Bobby Wagner has two tackles for a loss and three quarterback hits against the Cowboys.
-The Seahawks defense is tied with the Jets, Patriots, and Washington for the sixth-most pressures in the NFL with 23.
-In the Week 3 game in 2018, the Cowboys’ top receiver was tight end, Geoff Swaim, with five catches for 47 yards. In the wild-card rematch, after Amari Cooper’s arrival, it was the Pro Bowl receiver with seven catches for 106 yards.
-Cooper is 1 of 6 receivers this season who have at least 150 receiving yards but hasn’t yet caught a touchdown pass. CeeDee Lamb is also among that group.
-Cooper’s 90.5 receiving yards per game are tied with Julio Jones for the 10th-most in the league.
-Cooper has the ninth-most yards before the catch in the NFL with 133.
-Michael Gallup has the fourth-highest yards per reception this year with 21.6.
-The average depth of target on a throw to Gallup is 17.9 yards, the fifth-deepest in the NFL.
-Lamb’s 86 yards after the catch are tied with Jonnu Smith for the eighth-most in the league.
-The Cowboys are 3-3 on Sept. 27. Here are the results:
1964 – @PIT, 17-23 – L
1970 – NYG, 28-10 – W
1981 – NYG, 18-10 – W
1998 – RAI, 12-13 – L
2004 – @WAS, 21-18 – W
2015 – ATL, 28-39 – L
-The Seahawks are 1-4 on Sept. 27. Here are the results:
1981 – KC, 14-20 – L
1992 – MIA, 17-19 – L
1998 – @PIT, 10-13 – L
2009 – CHI, 19-25 – L
2015 – CHI, 26-0 – W
-The Cowboys have six birthdays to celebrate on Sept. 27:
Fred Doelling, DB, 1960 – 9/27/1938
Syd Kitson, OG, 1984 – 9/27/1958
Robert Jones, LB, 1992-95 – 9/27/1969
Alonzo Spellman, DT, 1999-00 – 9/27/1971
Oliver Ross, OG, 1998 – 9/27/1974
Aaron Gibson, OT, 2001-02 – 9/27/1977
Do you think the Cowboys will be able to pin a loss on the Seahawks on Sunday? Share your thoughts with Mark on Twitter @therealmarklane.