Special delivery

Published on September 16, 2012 by Seahawks.Com News (Feed)     

The special teams staked the Seahawks to a 10-0 first-quarter lead and two long scoring drives in the second half resulted in a 27-7 victory over the Cowboys at CenturyLink Field on Sunday.

There definitely was something special about the Seahawks’ victory in their home opener.

And it went beyond their impressive 27-7 win over the Dallas Cowboys at CenturyLink Field. In fact, it started things off as the Seahawks even their record at 1-1 heading into the “Monday Night Football” matchup with the Green Bay Packers at CenturyLink next week.

The Seahawks’ special teams forced a fumble on the opening kickoff, which turned into a Steven Hauschka field goal. They then scored a touchdown when Malcolm Smith blocked a punt and Jeron Johnson took the ball on a made-to-order bounce to score from 3 yards out.

Quicker than anyone in the crowd of 68,008 could mutter “What’s the heck,” the Seahawks were up by 10 on the Cowboys team that beat the defending Super Bowl champion Giants – also on the road – in their opener.

But this one was over, rookie quarterback Russell Wilson had directed touchdown drives of 90 and 88 yards in the second half – with more than just a little help from Marshawn Lynch – and Hauschka had added a second field goal.

Lynch finished with 122 yards and a TD, while Wilson was 15 of 20 for 151 yards and a TD.

But this one was indeed a special home opener. From Michael Robinson (force) and Earl Thomas (recovery) combining to give the Seahawks the ball on the opening kickoff and Hauschka kicking a 21-yard field goal; to Smith’s block that led to Johnson’s TD return; to Byron Maxwell catching Jon Ryan’s Aussie-drop punt at the Dallas 5-yard line. What a way to open the home opener.

The Cowboys got on the board in the second quarter with a Tony Romo to Miles Austin TD pass that capped a ridiculously long drive. Romo was 4 of 4 for 52 yards to four different receivers on third downs during the Cowboys’ 15-play, 95-yard TD drive that consumed 7½ minutes.

On the TD pass, Austin got behind cornerback Brandon Browner to make the catch and then got into the end zone with a lunge to the pylon.

The Seahawks then put together their own eight-play, 90-yard scoring drive. Wilson and Lynch sparked the effort that was capped by Wilson’s 22-yard TD pass to tight end Anthony McCoy.

Lynch broke a 36-yarder on the TD drive and also had a 16-yarder on the first play of the half, and those hard-running gains softened up the Dallas defense for Wilson’s play-action passes. The TD pass went to a wide-open McCoy, and came from a three-TE set – all on the right side, with McCoy between Zach Miller (inside) and Evan Moore (outside).

That scoring drive featured no third-down situations for the Seahawks.

The capper on this day was a 12-play, 88-yard TD drive that consumed 7½ minutes to open the final quarter and ended with Lynch scoring on a 3-yard run. The drive featured a second-and-12 play where 202-pound wide receiver Golden Tate took out 245-pound linebacker Sean Lee with a vicious block to spring Wilson for a 14-yard run on second-and-12. Tate also had an 8-yard catch on third-and-4 just before Lynch scored.

via Special delivery.

Tags: Dallas Cowboys, Earl Thomas, Fumble, Green Bay Packers, Hauschka, Home Opener, Jeron, Malcolm Smith, Marshawn Lynch, Michael Robinson, Monday Night Football, Monday Night Football Matchup, Opening Kickoff, Rookie Quarterback, Russell Wilson, Seahawks, Special Delivery, tony romo, Touchdown Drives, Yard Field Goal