Krieg, Warner Help Seahawks Turn Tables on the Cowboys, 31-14

Six years ago, the Seattle Seahawks were 51-7 Thanksgiving Day turkeys in Texas Stadium. The turkeys got a measure of revenge Thursday.

Paced by the passing of Dave Krieg and the running of Curt Warner, the Seahawks ripped Dallas, 31-14, severely damaging the Cowboys’ NFL playoff hopes.

Seattle Coach Chuck Knox said he couldn’t remember a bigger victory.

“It’s the best win in the history of the franchise,” he said. “Warner was great, and Krieg executed superbly.

“Our whole team did what it had to do to win the game. Our defense shut down a potent Dallas offense.”

Krieg, who had two touchdown passes and ran for another score in the first half, said Warner’s second-half performance was crucial to Seattle’s first-ever victory over the Cowboys.

“It was critical after they scored in the third quarter that we were able to put seven on the board, too,” Krieg said. “We’re going to enjoy this one, I tell you.”

Said Warner, who had 122 yards in 22 carries and scored on a 9-yard run: “We have a lot of balance in our offense, and we showed that today. We played as well as we’ve played all year.”

Dallas Coach Tom Landry said: “We couldn’t stop them. We couldn’t stop Krieg’s passing in the first half and Warner’s running in the second half.

“It’s going to be tough to get into the playoffs because you might be out of it with a 10-6 record this year. We’ll have to regroup and see what happens. We have 10 days to figure it out.

“I’m not pleased with much of anything we did.”

Although each club is 7-6, Seattle’s victory assured the Seahawks of being no worse than two games back of the second-place Raiders in the AFC West when the weekend is completed. Dallas, on the other hand, could be four games behind both the Washington Redskins and the New York Giants.

The Seahawks scored on all four possessions of the first half to build a 24-7 lead behind Krieg’s bombardment of the NFL’s top-rated secondary.

Warner took command of the Seahawk offense in the second half and climbed over the 1,000-yard mark for the season.

Tony Dorsett ran eight yards for a first-period touchdown to give Dallas a 7-0 lead before Krieg started his sizzling show.

Krieg ran six yards for a score on a quarterback draw, connected with Steve Largent on an 11-yard touchdown play and threw a 19-yard scoring pass to Byron Franklin. Norm Johnson’s 42-yard field goal was set up by a 21-yard Krieg completion.

The Cowboys cut the lead to 24-14 on Herschel Walker’s one-yard run in the third period, but Seattle answered with a 40-yard scoring drive in which Warner got all the yards on three plays.

Krieg, who completed 12 of 16 passes for 179 yards in the first half, finished 16 of 23 for 214.

Largent ran to 136 his NFL consecutive-game receiving record when, in the second quarter, he caught a 37-yard pass from Krieg.

Dorsett moved past Pittsburgh’s Franco Harris into third place in NFL career combined yardage. Dorsett, who accounted for 80 yards Thursday, has 14,680 yards to Harris’ 14,622.

Dallas quarterback Steve Pelluer set a club record by hitting 14 consecutive passes.

Dallas drove 78 yards in 15 plays after the opening kickoff. A roughing call on Seattle’s Joe Nash after Pelluer’s 10-yard run set up Dorsett’s 8-yard run.

Krieg completed a 25-yard pass to Franklin during a 66-yard drive in nine plays that tied the game. Krieg ran six yards for the score on a quarterback draw.

Krieg drove the Seahawks 77 and 47 yards for touchdowns the next two times Seattle got the ball.

It was Dallas’ first Thanksgiving Day loss since 1979 and dropped its record to 14-4-1 in the annual game.