Cowboys special teams under fire after risky Seahawks matchup originally appeared on The Sporting News. Add The Sporting News as a Preferred Source by clicking here. Will the Dallas Cowboys' special teams again rear its ugly head as wide receiver Traeshon Holden regrettably tried to pick up the bouncing ball at the 2-yard line? Players fighting for an NFL career caused concern at Lumen Field despite the 17-7 win over the Seattle Seahawks on Saturday. Holden's 19-yard punt return was called back because there were too many players on the field. On the next punt, Holden tried to pick up the football at the 2-yard line, but it got muffed. The ball went into Seahawks' running back TJ Harden's hands, and Seattle recovered the fumble right under Dallas' nose.
so... this was a weird one 😅@seahawks recover the muffed punt DALvsSEA on @nflnetwork Stream on @NFLPluspic.twitter.com/fVnQdcnuLo — NFL (@NFL) August 16, 2026 Head coach Brian Schottenheimer reacted to the football team's carelessness:
"Then we muffed the fumble there late, defense goes right back out there, a little bit of training camp football, a little sloppy,” Schottenheimer said. “That's kind of what you deal with."
MORE:Devon Witherspoon contract details: Seahawks make 3-time Pro Bowler highest-paid DB in NFL history Where Holden missed a punt return, the defense still did an amazing job. The unit stopped the Seahawks' four consecutive attempts from reaching the end zone. The Cowboys fans have to say that defensive coordinator Christian Parker's debut was impressive. Schottenheimer talked about the unit's special performance and overall expressed satisfaction about it.
"The defense's job is to keep people out of the end zone,” he said. “That's what they're tasked to do. I'm fine winning games 7-3, 10-7, I don't care."
Maybe Holden was under pressure to make room on the roster because of his teammate, WR Camden Brown's performance, who is an undrafted rookie from Georgia Southern and had three catches for 62 yards and two touchdown receptions for 39 and 2 yards, but it was a terrible decision. More Seattle Seahawks News:
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