The roster notes off the field told their own story. Devon Witherspoon inked a four-year, $132 million extension just before kickoff, and Quinnen Williams signed his own three-year, $105.9 million deal days earlier — Seattle spending like a team that just won it all. Dallas, meanwhile, spent camp buzzing about George Pickens turning heads and CeeDee Lamb saying he and Prescott are already "hitting on all cylinders" ahead of the real season. None of that money or momentum was on the field Saturday night, and Seattle opened as a moneyline favorite anyway on the strength of its roster depth alone.
None of the pedigree translated into offense. Seattle scored on its opening drive and then nothing else, while Lock and Milroe combined for well under 100 yards passing and Seattle finished the night with just 49 net passing yards after Milroe took sacks. Dallas leaned on Camden Brown, whose two touchdowns were the difference in a game neither team's real quarterback watched from the sideline in street clothes.
It was the kind of preseason final that means little for the regular season and a lot for a depth chart. Howell and Milton both got extended, clean look at live snaps, and Brown's two scores are the type of thing that gets a fringe roster spot noticed in August. Seattle's offensive stumble is far less concerning given who was actually on the field, but it's still not the way a defending champion wanted to open the exhibition slate.
Zoom out and the form gap is stark, even accounting for who sat. Seattle rolled into this game on a 5-game win streak that closed out with a Super Bowl win over New England, while Dallas was finishing last season having been outscored badly in 3 of its final 5 outings. That disparity is exactly why the Seahawks were priced as favorites here, backups or not — and exactly why Saturday's result won't move much of anyone's opinion of either team long-term.
The injury sheets explain a lot about how thin this was as a measuring stick. Between Prescott, Ferguson and Flournoy sitting for Dallas and Darnold and Price out for Seattle, neither team's actual season-opening plan was on display. What Saturday really answered were two much smaller questions: who wins the Cowboys' backup QB battle, and how quickly Seattle's new secondary pieces mesh — and those answers matter a lot more in September than a 17-7 preseason final ever will.