Cowboys vs. Seahawks: Come and enjoy some trash football with us

We’ll be providing live coverage of two teams desperately trying to save their seasons this Sunday afternoon. You can watch it at 4:25 p.m. ET on FOX.

Hello! Welcome to our Cowboys-Seahawks live blog. Keep checking back for updates, highlights, lowlights, fun and anything else we can jam in here to enhance your viewing experience. I’m Ryan Van Bibber, and I’ll be your guide on this spiritual journey today.

Earl Thomas’ ankle interception

Who needs practice? Not Earl Thomas. After skipping two sessions this week and incurring the wrath of his team, Thomas managed to pull in an interception late in the first quarter.

And not just any run-of-the-mill pick, he got it off his ankle.

That’s Dak Prescott’s first interception of the year.

Seattle’s resulting drive ended with a punt, because this offense is turrrrrrible.

There’s that terrible roughing the passer rule

The infamous body weight rule got Clay Matthews earlier in the day. The Cowboys got tagged with it right off the bat in this one.

Tyrone Crawford charged in on Russell Wilson on third-and-5 at the Seattle 12 at the 11:17 mark in the first quarter. He hit Wilson and brought him down right as the QB was throwing it. But that’s a penalty now, landing on the QB with full body weight.

That kept the drive alive for Seattle. They managed to get it out to the 50, but on third-and-9, the Seahawks couldn’t keep the pressure off Wilson and he failed to complete the pass.

Legion of Boom sort of back!

Kam Chancellor had to retire because of his neck injury, but he was in the house for Seattle’s home opener to raise the 12th man flag.

There are three NFL games in the second part of the afternoon broadcast, aka the 4pm ET slot. None of them are very good. But at least the Dallas Cowboys at Seattle Seahawks has the chance to be entertaining in sort of a crashing the clown car kind of way. It’s the national game on FOX this week, kicking off at 4:25 p.m. ET. If you’re one of the unfortunate souls who’ll have the Bears-Cardinals game, you can watch this one online with fuboTV or Fox Sports Go.

If you need some additional convincing for why you should watch it, we’ll be here live blogging it, with an eye toward the crap storm of fun that it’s bound to produce.

Pregame stuff to know

The Seahawks used to be good. Five years ago they won a Super Bowl, and they’re only two years removed from making the playoffs, something they did for five consecutive seasons under Pete Carroll. Stunningly enough, they even managed to finish last season with a 9-7 record. But the wheels really came off since then.

The Legion of Boom, the heart and soul of one of the league’s best defensive units, has broken up. Kam Chancellor was forced into retirement because of a neck injury. Richard Sherman left via free agency. Earl Thomas is still there, but he’s unhappy.

Oh, Seattle still hasn’t fixed its offensive line, and Russell Wilson could break a dubious NFL record for the number of times he’s been sacked. He’s been sacked 12 times, which puts him on pace for 96, easily beating the 77 times David Carr got sacked in 2002.

Dallas hasn’t had a winning record since 2016. That was Dak Prescott and Ezekiel Elliott’s rookie year, when the dynamic duo, behind a stout offensive line, led the team to a 13-3 record and gave fans a future to be excited about. That seems like forever ago. The Cowboys offense has been running in fits and starts since then. They’re only producing an average of 14 points a game so far this year.

It’s Dallas’ defense that’s been the team’s saving grace. They’re holding opponents to just 19 points a game, good enough for fifth best in the NFL. They also happen to be pretty good at rushing the passer, with nine sacks so far, second best in the league, and bringing down opposing QBs on almost 12 percent of their dropbacks.

Time, TV channel, and streaming info

• Time: 4:25 p.m. ET
• Location: Seattle
• TV: FOX
• Streaming: fuboTV or Fox Sports Go
• Odds: Seahawks (-2)

For more on the game and both of these teams specifically, check out SB Nation’s team brands Field Gulls and Blogging the Boys.