One reliable preview. One key factor to decide the game. It's that simple.
Air & Ground matchup of Week 6
Dallas Cowboys at Seattle Seahawks (Sunday, 4:25 p.m. ET, FOX) -- It wasn't expected to go like this. The Dallas Cowboys were pegged in the preseason as an under-equipped squad incapable of making a run toward the playoffs. A team more likely to capture the No. 1 overall pick in the 2015 NFL Draft than contend for a championship. The Seattle Seahawks, meanwhile, are essentially right where pigskin prognosticators figured, sitting atop the NFC West and primed for a midseason win parade. This week, however, the overachieving Cowboys stand in the defending Super Bowl champions' way.
Despite the presence of the famed "Legion of Boom," the offenses could decide the victor. The Seahawks and Cowboys rank fifth and sixth, respectively, in the NFL in points scored per game. The Seahawks and Cowboys also rank first and second, respectively, in rushing yards per game. Cowboys running back DeMarco Murray is on the precipice of history. Murray is the third player in NFL history to rush for 100-plus yards in each of his first five games (the other two? Pro Football Hall of FamersJim Brown and O.J. Simpson). One more 100-yard effort will tie Murray with the incomparable Brown for most ever. In his career against Seattle in regular season games, Romo has a passer rating of 100.7, having thrown for 1,117 yards and nine touchdowns in four games.
Not to be totally outdone by the Cowboys' stellar runner, the Seahawks' Marshawn Lynch is off to a fine start as well, currently ranking sixth in the NFL in rushing yards per game this season with 76.5. Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson is coming off a career-high rushing performance with 122 yards in the Seahawks' win over the Washington Redskins on Monday night.
One magical play to remember
Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo produced one of the top can't-miss plays of the 2014 season so far in Sunday's win over the Houston Texas. Romo escaped the clutches of Texans defensive end J.J. Watt on what appeared would be a sure sack, and then fired a long touchdown pass to receiver Terrance Williams.
"Certainly it's one for the ages with Romo," Cowboys coach Jason Garrett said.
Great Moments in Air & Ground History
Cowboys 43, Seahawks 39 (Week 13 of 2004 season) -- Primetime viewers of pro football were witnesses to a score-a-minute treat in early December of 2006. The Cowboys scored 26 unanswered points in the second and third quarters before the Seahawks mounted a valiant comeback with 21 unanswered points of their own after the Dallas onslaught. Two late fourth-quarter touchdowns gave the Cowboys the win. This game was a box score bonanza. Cowboys quarterback Vinny Testaverde threw two touchdowns, and running back Julius Jones had a career game with 198 yards rushing and three touchdowns. Seahawks quarterback Matt Hasselbeck threw for 414 yards and three touchdowns, while running back Shaun Alexander had two touchdowns on the ground. Pro Football Hall of FamerJerry Rice, playing in his final NFL season, had 145 yards receiving and a touchdown.
Follow Jim Reineking on Twitter @jimreineking.
