SEATTLE – In their first preseason opening win since 2017, the Cowboys defeated the Seahawks 17-7 on Saturday night in a game where Dallas' defense allowed just 76 yards on Seattle's final seven drives of the game.

It is only the preseason after all, which means that with positives like the defense, there are also negatives and things to be corrected for head coach Brian Schottenheimer and his players.

"A lot of great things," Schottenheimer said of the game. "I thought the second half was really well played. Defensively, they were amazing. I think three or four four-and-outs, I thought they were awesome. A couple of red zone stops. Jonathan Mingo, I think it was the first half, made an incredible play on a punt return, stopped it. Then we muffed the fumble there late, defense goes right back out there, a little bit of training camp football, a little sloppy. That's kind of what you deal with."

"But overall, I thought the team effort to get the win against a good opponent was really good. Things that we obviously need to clean up, the penalties. They threw a lot of penalties really on both teams. That's what the preseason is for, work on your hand placement, get better. But overall, I'm really, really proud of our guys."

In his first game as a defensive play caller, Christian Parker was as advertised.

"He was really good," Schottenheimer said. "I was over there listening on [channel] two. He is what he is, man. He's calm, cool, convicted… We need the adversity. There's going to be adversity, and that's going to happen in this season. And so it was really cool for our guys to respond, but I thought he did a great job."

Most of Dallas' adversity came from penalties and some poor special teams plays. Dallas was called for 13 penalties and 103 penalty yards, up from the 11 penalties they had in their preseason opener a year ago against the Rams. On special teams, the Seahawks' average starting field position was at their own 42-yard line, compared to the Cowboys averaging beginning each drive at their own 19.

Even on a play where WR Traeshon Holden muffed a punt return and gave the Seahawks the ball at the Dallas five-yard line with first and goal, the defense was able to step up and force a turnover on downs three plays later.

"The defense's job is to keep people out of the end zone," Schottenheimer said. "That's what they're tasked to do. I'm fine winning games 7-3, 10-7, I don't care. But I thought they were terrific. We were a little sloppy early on, and we gave them some 10-yard penalties early on. But I thought they really buttoned down, I thought the pass rush was really good. We let [Jalen] Milroe get out a few times, which he's very athletic. Overall, I was very, very pleased. Anytime you can get three-and-outs and four-and-outs and the red zone stops, that's what you want."

Dallas' two defensive first-round picks, S Caleb Downs and OLB Malachi Lawrence, played a combined 23 snaps, which was according to plan. Albeit a limited sample size, Schottenheimer was happy with what he saw.

"It seemed like Caleb was out pretty quick," Schottenheimer said. "That was the plan, of course, which you stick to the plan. And I thought Malachi had a couple really good rushes that I saw affecting the quarterback. I'd thought he definitely settled in. But for the most part, those guys, we see it every day. They're going to get great work against the Saints here in a couple days. All in all, I thought they played well."

On the offensive side of the ball, two offensive skill position battles were occurring over the course of the night: Backup quarterback, and backup running back.

Veteran Sam Howell started the game for the Cowboys, completing eight of his 12 attempts for 94 yards and a touchdown. Joe Milton followed in the second half with 11 completions on 13 attempts for 96 yards and a touchdown, with both QBs throwing their touchdown to rookie UDFA WR Camden Brown.

Against a Seahawks defense that brings pressure at a high rate, Schottenheimer's initial thoughts before watching film say they handled it well.

"I thought both guys functioned outstanding," Schottenheimer said. "They both were tasked with going out there and playing against heavy pressure… They brought a bunch of things against us that, not that we weren't prepared for, but we didn't handle very well, so they were taking some shots, but they just hung in there. Made the throws when they had to make them, and they're both very efficient, and that's what we want.

"We evaluate quarterbacks by a couple of things. One, moving the team, scoring points. And then two, protecting the football. And I thought both guys did that."

In the running back room, Jaydon Blue, Phil Mafah, Malik Davis and Israel Abanikanda got opportunities in the backfield. Davis ended up leading the back with 39 yards on seven rushes, but Schottenheimer found praise for all four of his ball carriers.

"Thought [Israel Abanikanda] ran really, really hard," Schottenheimer said. "I though the receivers blocked really well. Malik [Davis], he's just a slasher, man. His vision and understanding of blocking schemes and all that I think was great. Phil [Mafah] had some really good runs. And then Jaydon, there wasn't a whole lot there, but you get him going on screens and things like that. He's a weapon. I'll know more watching the film, but they all ran hard."

Second-year running back Phil Mafah left the game early with a chest injury, but Schottenheimer said post-game that "he's okay," and overall his team came out with "bumps and bruises" but alright for the most part.

Where the Cowboys struggled at times offensively was on the offensive line, with Schottenheimer saying that after a slow start, he felt they settled in a bit better to close out the game.

"A lot of moving parts, like I said, they threw a lot of things at us," Schottenheimer said. "I want to look at the film. Definitely some leaky moments, but early on especially, we struggled to move their guys up front. I think you'll see that. That's why the run numbers in the first half weren't very good."

"They were doing a good job plugging up the middle. So we started the second half actually with a perimeter play. We have those, we don't want to show too many of them, but give them some credit because I thought early on their defensive front was really a handful of force."

The Cowboys' next preseason games comes against the Arizona Cardinals on August 22, but Dallas will hold a joint practice with the New Orleans Saints first on Tuesday, August 18.