ARLINGTON, Texas—When DK Metcalf caught a quick pass from Geno Smith on the Seahawks' first third down of the game, he broke free of Cowboys cornerback DaRon Bland, turned up field, and saw nothing but green between him and the end zone.

And if it looked like DK Metcalf was moving fast as he sprinted his way to a 73-yard touchdown, the Seahawks' longest play of the season, that's because he was. According to NFL Next Gen Stats, Metcalf hit a top speed of 22.23 miles per hour, making him the fastest ball carrier in the NFL this season, and the fastest since Week 2 of the 2020 season.

Metcalf noted after the game that he had good reason to give maximum effort on his way to the end zone. In a 2020 Seahawks win over the Cowboys, Metcalf caught a deep pass from Russell Wilson and looked to be on his way to a 63-yard touchdown, but he slowed down before reaching the end zone and had the ball knocked out by Trevon Diggs for a turnover. This time, Metcalf made sure no one was catching him.

"I just saw the ball in the air, then nobody was in front of me," he said. "The last time I was in the open field with a Dallas defender behind me, they knocked it out of my hands, so I was trying not to relive that moment."

That first-quarter touchdown was just the beginning of a huge day for Metcalf, who was one of the bright spots in a 41-35 loss to the Cowboys. Metcalf would go on to finish the half with three catches for 108 yards and two touchdowns, all of which came on Bland, who has been one of the NFL's best cornerbacks this season, and he ended the game with a season-high 134 yards and three touchdowns on six catches, the second three-touchdown game of his career.

"DK had a huge game," Seahawks coach Pete Carroll said. "I thought he did great. Dominant. I love the way he played tonight."

Smith, who himself had a big day with 334 yards and the three touchdowns to Metcalf, said Metcalf, "was just playing the way he is capable of. He was running so fast out there, I think he hit 22 miles an hour. Shoot, he made a bunch of plays, man. He's such a mismatch out there, and I just appreciate playing with him. I thought he had a phenomenal game; everything about what he did today was awesome."

Metcalf punctuated his first touchdown, as well as other catches, with sign language, something he has been doing as of late, having started to learn sign language early this season.

"It's just something outside of football to continue to exercise my mind and take my mind off football sometimes," he said.

Asked if he was using sign language to talk trash after a score, Metcalf smiled and said, "I'm going to say you can start taking sign language to start deciphering it."

Smith found a lot of success targeting Bland, including all three completions to Metcalf in the first half, not an easy task against the league leader in interceptions and a player who last week set an NFL record with his fifth interception return touchdown of the season. But Bland did have his moment as well, intercepting Smith on a third-down pass attempt in the third quarter, though that didn't end up hurting the Seahawks because the defense got a quick stop. 

"I thought we played very well against him," Carroll said. "We didn't want to throw the ball to him that one time. We shouldn't have done it, that's our mistake. He's having an incredible year. Total hat's off to the dude. He's a terrific football player. Deserves all the credit that he's getting. It's really hard to do what he's doing. I have great respect for that."