Cowboys-Seahawks Prediction, 11/27

The Cowboys have a chance to improve to 8-4 (3-0 since Romo has come back) against the woeful Seattle Seahawks.

Here are the keys to the game for the Cowboys according to the Sporting News:

1. Avoid letdown. The Cowboys lost to the Rams, one of the league's worst teams. They did it by 20 points. There's no possible way they could take another team for granted this season. Besides, the game is on Thanksgiving Day before a national TV audience and guys will be trying to make their last Pro Bowl impression of the season. Still, players are human. The Cowboys blew out San Francisco last week and after two straight wins could have an emotional letdown. Then again, their playoff hopes will take a serious hit if they lose to a bad team like Seattle.

2. Contain Jones. Jones was miserable during his last season in Dallas. He felt disrespected by the coaching staff and its love for Marion Barber. He believed nothing he ever did was good enough and that the coaching staff never really gave him an opportunity to take the job and make it his. The result: He quit taking the three- and four-yard runs and started looking for the big play. He's a lot more comfortable this year and has 637 yards and a 4.5 average, though he has scored just two touchdowns because T.J. Duckett does the heavy lifting inside the 20. Jones has always been explosive, and has two of the four biggest games in franchise history.

3. Play well in the first quarter. Offensive coordinator Jason Garrett must do a better job because the Cowboys have scored just one first-quarter touchdown in their last six games. In that span, the Cowboys have been outscored 61-7. They have allowed their opponent to score on the game's first drive in five of the past six games. The one thing no good team wants to do is give an inferior team the belief that it can win. That's why the Cowboys must win the first quarter and dictate the game's tempo to Seattle. It's up to Garrett to do a better job in the week preparing and being creative so the Cowboys can play from ahead. As they face better teams in December, Dallas isn't going to be able to rally like they have much of November.

Prediction: Cowboys 21, Seahawks 13