Dak Prescott threw three touchdown passes as the Dallas Cowboys rallied to a 41-35 victory over the Seattle Seahawks to extend their home winning streak to 14 games on Thursday night.
Prescott's 12-yard pass to Jake Ferguson put Dallas in front with four-and-a-half minutes remaining as the Cowboys (9-3) set up a rematch with NFC East rival Philadelphia by escaping for a fourth consecutive victory since falling to the Eagles 28-23 to start November.
Geno Smith threw three touchdown passes to DK Metcalf, including a 73-yarder, as the Seahawks (6-6) got their offense going again. But Seattle couldn't avoid a third consecutive loss to drop to .500 for the first time since splitting its first two games of the season.
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Dallas' Brandon Aubrey kicked four field goals to extend the 28-year-old rookie's NFL record to 26 consecutive successful kicks to start a career.
Neither team punted in the game, marking only the fifth time in NFL history that has happened. But the Dallas defense, ranked third in the league coming in, came up with fourth-down stops on the Seahawks' final three possessions as the Cowboys continued their best home winning streak since an 18-game run at old Texas Stadium from 1979-81.
Dallas trailed 35-30 when Zach Charbonnet was stopped on fourth-and-one from the Dallas 46. Seven plays later, Ferguson scored before Prescott hit Brandin Cooks for the 2-point conversion. Cooks also had a touchdown catch in the second quarter.
CeeDee Lamb had the other scoring catch while finishing with 12 catches for 116 yards, with his 24-yard run on a jet sweep helping set up Aubrey's final field goal to put Dallas ahead by six. That came after Smith threw incomplete on fourth down near midfield with 3:11 to go.
The Seahawks reached midfield with 1:11 left, but Micah Parsons' pressure on fourth down forced Smith to throw the ball into the ground, sealing the Dallas victory.
Stats leaders:
Seattle Seahawks
- Passing: Geno Smith, 23/41, 334 yards, 3 TDs, 1 INT
- Rushing: Zach Charbonnet, 19 carries, 60 yards, 1 TD
- Receiving: DK Metcalf, 6 catches 134 yards, 3 TDs
Dallas Cowboys
- Passing: Dak Prescott, 29/41, 299 yards, 3 TDs
- Rushing: Tony Pollard, 20 carries, 68 yards, 1 TD
- Receiving: CeeDee Lamb, 12 carries, 116 yards, 1 TD
Metcalf posted a season-high 134 yards on six catches in his second career three-score game as the Seahawks scored touchdowns on five of their first seven drives having arrived after 20 consecutive possessions without an offensive touchdown.
Smith also ran for a score while throwing for 334 yards with an interception.
Seattle's stretch without an offensive touchdown ended on its third play - and longest on offense this season - when Metcalf beat DaRon Bland while reaching 22.23 mph, the fastest for a ball-carrier since early in 2022, as he made the catch ahead of the cornerback before racing up the middle of the field to the end zone.
It was the first deficit at home this season for the Cowboys, who were the first team to win their first five home games by at least 20 points.
Jaxon Smith-Njigba set up two touchdowns by drawing pass interference penalties in the end zone. On the second, officials ruled Smith-Njigba made a 30-yard touchdown catch over Bland, who later bounced back with his NFL-leading eighth interception. But it was overturned on review.
With seven seconds remaining before half-time and no timeouts, Smith threw a one-yard scoring pass only for officials to say Dallas had called timeout, before making no mistake second time around with a one-yarder to Metcalf that did count, giving Seattle a 21-20 lead at the break.
Seattle scored again to start the second half on Smith's five-yard run, but the Cowboys answered with Tony Pollard's six-yard score as the teams combined for 58 first downs (33 for Dallas, 25 for Seattle) while converting 17 of 28 third downs (9 of 14 for the Seahawks, 8 of 14 for the Cowboys).
Scoring summary
What did they say?
Cowboys head coach Mike McCarthy: "I told the team after the game we need games like this. To get to where you want to go, you have to win these kind of games."
Cowboys quarterback Dak Prescott: "This was a big one to get. The first one with a winning record, but more importantly in the fashion that we did. Tough game, down at halftime, down in the fourth quarter. The guys and the team just making plays when plays were needed."
Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll: "There's no concession to losing, but we will definitely build on this. The story is not told what's going to happen."
Cowboys cornerback DaRon Bland: "When you stick together, we can do amazing things. Like we showed in the second half, we stuck together and made the plays."
What's next?
Both teams now face an extended rest period following back-to-back Thursday night games, returning on December 10 when the Seahawks visit the San Francisco 49ers and the Cowboys meet the Philadelphia Eagles.