Mike Salk on latest Seahawks win: ‘This one was about pride’

“This one was about pride,” Mike Salk said about the Seahawks’ Christmas Eve win over the Cowboys. “I don’t think they won for any other reason.”

Seattle pulled off a defensive victory in Dallas, winning 21-12 to keep their playoff hopes alive.

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“At times, it’s that pride that is their worst enemy,” Salk said Tuesday on 710 ESPN Seattle’s Brock and Salk. “We’ve talked about how bad they look at the end of losses at times. But when they are kicked around a little bit they do have an incredible resilience to turn around and bounce back.”

Although Seattle only gained 136 yards of offense, the team’s defense forced three turnovers and scored once on a pick-six.

“The effort level defensively was a stark contrast from the week before. The effort level tackling. The emotion. And Earl Thomas I think set a lot of that tone very early in the game,” said Brock Huard, Salk’s co-host. “They hit. They harassed. They out-sacked Dallas. They had four sacks on Dak Prescott. They hit him early. They blitzed him. They did not just sit on their heels.”

Huard said in a tweet during the game on Sunday that the Seahawks play best when they’re being doubted.

“They had a chip on their shoulder,” he said. “After a 42-7 debacle in the worst game that they have played, they flushed that one and they came back and responded in mighty ways.”

Seattle can make the playoffs as a wild-card team if they beat the Cardinals Sunday – but only if the Panthers beat the Falcons as well. It’s no sure thing, but the Seahawks’ improved defensive showing bodes well for its upcoming matchup against Drew Stanton.

“You know what this team is capable of,” Salk said. “I mean, that’s a throwback, old-school win where you just kind of grind your way to victory and play defense. That’s the old-school Seahawks way of winning. And unfortunately, it just makes me think, ‘How dare you lose to Washington and Tennessee.’”