The Seahawks had to grind their way to 4-4. That’s not such a bad thing.

It doesn’t feel like the most satisfying win. The NFL public cares about style points. Nobody is going to give the Seahawks big licks for this performance. They beat Matt Cassel by a point. That’ll be the perception.

And really, you shouldn’t care one iota.

The Seahawks can take plenty of positives out of this one. The defense did what it had to — limit the damage in the running game and shut down Cassel. Dallas had four field goals for their efforts. That’s it. The Cowboys had 220 total yards in the game. Compare that to the 460 they had against the Giants last week.

Cliff Avril continues to have a brilliant season. It won’t show up in the stat column — but what he did against a very strong Cowboys O-line deserves respect. Michael Bennett came on strong at the end and Jason Witten was a non-factor. Don’t underestimate that by the way. Seattle has struggled against tight ends mightily.

On offense they generally moved the ball. Marshawn Lynch had 71 yards but it felt like more. Jimmy Graham had a nice 75-yard game. Luke Willson was an x-factor with the only touchdown. The Seahawks didn’t give up a single sack despite having to start Alvin Bailey at left tackle.

At times the offense lacked rhythm. Yet when it mattered in the fourth quarter they secured a 17-play drive starting at their own 15 for the game winning score. Given the inability to finish games on offense this year, that drive was a huge plus point.

Overall this was a good, solid road win against a desperate team. The Seahawks are 4-4 with three home games to follow. There was a lot of pressure to win today. A defeat puts you three games behind Arizona in the NFC West and the Wild Card group would be drifting clear. They had to win today. Job done.

There’s one big issue they need to resolve during the bye week.

Third downs.

For too long now, third down conversion has been an issue for the Seahawks. For some reason, despite a lot of time, resource and attention dedicated to addressing the issue, it lingers.

A great example was a third and four in the third quarter. Seattle threw a low percentage fade to Jimmy Graham. The score was 10-9 after a long, time consuming and punishing Cowboys drive. Three-and-out. The Seahawks punted.

The Seahawks have a perfect blend of weapons for third and short. A mobile quarterback. A punishing, brilliant running back. One of the best move-tight ends in the game. Even the pass protection was good today. And yet third and manageable remains a major headache.

Seattle finished the game 4/14 on third downs. If they convert at 50% they pull away in this one. Anything more than that and it’s probably a blow out given the way the defense played.

Teams generally have stock plays on third down. It’s the bread and butter of an offense. ‘This is what we are’. On 3rd and short — you kind of know what a team is going to try and you just have to stop it.

What is the Seahawks’ best play on third and short? We can all make a suggestion, but we don’t know a definitive answer. We should know by now.

The trade deadline is on Tuesday. There’s been some talk of possible moves by the Seahawks. They play Arizona in Seattle two weeks today.