'Keep Fighting!' Lewis Recaps Cowboys' Clutch Stops

“Just knew that I had to fight,” Lewis said after the game. “We talked about fighting all week and competing with those guys … So we just had to go out there and keep fighting every single down. We knew there would be one-on-ones and time to step up when we needed to.”

It wasn’t a banner day at the office, but the secondary ultimately did enough to win. Corner DaRon Bland added to his interception total with his eighth of the year and dropped another on a fourth-down pass breakup. When the time came to shut the door on the Seahawks, they slammed it shut.

“Keep fighting … We go out there and take pride in playing man-to-man and we go out there and fight every single possession,” Lewis said.

The unit’s resilience deserves some credit, too. Seattle receiver DK Metcalf embarrassed Bland for much of the first half, and Smith-Njigba joined veteran Tyler Lockett in having productive prime-time showings. If it wasn’t for a pass getting on the latter a little too fast and a long Njigba touchdown not surviving the ground, this is likely a different conversation—one about a Dallas team destined to the five seed.

Instead, the Cowboys are 9-3 and 1.5 games out of first place behind the Philadelphia Eagles, who’ll visit in Week 14 in their most important game of the regular season.

Beating a (previously) above-.500 Seahawks team was background noise to a statement game from MVP-candidate quarterback Dak Prescott. Dallas did what it had to do to keep itself alive in the NFC East and quiet the critics dead set on diminishing the team’s recent hot streak.

Lewis is relieved by the victory but knows better than to doubt the persistent peanut gallery waiting on the Cowboys’ next misstep. For now, he can enjoy playing a big part in a quasi-playoff win.

“They’re gonna find something else to talk about.”