RENTON, Wash. -- Byron Maxwell gave the Seattle Seahawks the first of their three takeaways in Sunday's win over the Dallas Cowboys when he punched the ball out of receiver Dez Bryant's hands. The play happened right by Seattle's sideline, where players and coaches erupted once teammate K.J. Wright recovered the fumble.

Meanwhile, Maxwell nonchalantly walked off the field. His understated celebration -- if you could even call it one -- was perhaps fitting given how many times he's pulled that play off over his career.

"He has a knack for it," Wright said.

Byron Maxwell's "Peanut Punch" of Dez Bryant set up the first Seahawks touchdown in their win over Dallas. Tim Heitman/USA TODAY Sports

Maxwell has 10 defensive forced fumbles since 2012, which was his second NFL season. According to ESPN charting, that's the second most among cornerbacks in that span behind Charles "Peanut" Tillman, who had 15 from 2012 to his final season in 2015 and a whopping 44 over a 13-year career.

Maxwell's total doesn't include a forced fumble on special teams in 2012 and another against Denver's Demaryius Thomas in Super Bowl XLVIII, when he jarred the ball lose with a punch just like he did to Bryant. In fact, a review of Maxwell's 12 forced fumbles shows that at least eight of them were the result of a punch.

It's a tactic that Maxwell learned a couple of years into his career -- and has since mastered -- by watching film of Tillman. The long-time Chicago Bears cornerback was so prolific at forcing fumbles that way that it became known as the "Peanut Punch."

"He was impressed a while back, a few years ago," Carroll said of Maxwell, who spent his first four seasons in Seattle and was brought back in November. "He's never backed off. He's always stayed with it. He's been great at it. We use him as an example of what we're looking for in how to do that all the time. He's got so many of them. 'Peanut' was the guy that taught him how to do that and he's never forgot it and it's been a great part of his game."

Maxwell, a sixth-round pick by Seattle in 2011, primarily played special teams over his first two seasons. Then he realized he had to somehow set himself apart from a logjam of cornerbacks who were vying for playing time opposite Richard Sherman.

When then-Seahawks defensive assistant Rocky Seto noticed Maxwell trying to emulate Tillman's punch, he began coaching him up on it. That included showing Maxwell video of Tillman.

"Really, it was one of my ways of staying on the field," Maxwell said. "We had a lot of competition when I first started getting on the field. You had Walter Thurmond, Brandon Browner. I was like, 'Man, I've got to stay on the field, so let me think of ways besides interceptions to stay on the field,' and that was just one of the ways. I would look at 'Peanut' Tillman. He would affect the game like that."

To some defenders like Wright, the punch runs counter to their first instinct when they're closing in on a ball carrier, which is to secure the tackle with both arms. Carroll called that a "very difficult choice" and one reason why defenders don't try it more -- they don't want to whiff and give up a big play.

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"Some guys can do it all, and Maxy happens to be one of those guys who has developed a real knack and the ability to make those decisions at the right time and not give up the tackle to do it," Carroll said. "So there's a way that you do it and there's a lot that goes into it, and we really admire and hold the guys in high esteem that have figured that out because that's a whole different level of mentality as you're approaching the tackle and the play that you have to make. He certainly has it. That's why there's so few guys that are good at it. He's very special."

Maxwell said when he watches film he can tell that some players will be more vulnerable to the punch based on how loosely they carry the football. He knew he'd have a chance when he saw Bryant catch a pass on a comeback route in the second quarter Sunday.

Maxwell's forced fumble set up Seattle's offense with a short field, something it needed on a day in which it managed 136 total yards, the team's fewest in a game since 2013. The Seahawks, trailing 6-0 at the time, scored the first of their three touchdowns after taking over at Dallas' 43-yard line.

It was the biggest play Maxwell has made in his second stint with Seattle. The Seahawks needed cornerback depth after losing Sherman to a season-ending Achilles tear in Week 10. Maxwell has given Seattle that and more. He filled in for the better part of two games at right cornerback while Shaquill Griffin was out with a concussion and then took over for Jeremy Lane as the starter on the left side in Week 13 once Griffin returned.

"I told the team that I thought he had played his best game for us since he’s been back last week," Carroll said. "He was just solid across the board and very aggressive in his coverage, tackled well, big turnover. He just looked like he was on it. He's been a terrific addition. Our ability to find him, [general manager John Schneider getting] him in our locker room at the time after losing Sherm was really a factor. I'm fired up to see him play well."