Seattle Seahawks: 5 Players to watch vs. Cowboys in Week 3

Earl Thomas

The All-Pro safety needs to step up with Bobby Wagner and K.J. Wright not guaranteed to play. When Wagner is out, Thomas is by far the best player on the defense and needs to be a beacon of hope for his teammates. His play has to stand above everybody else’s.

Many consider Thomas to be the best safety in the NFL since Troy Polamalu and Ed Reed retired. If he really deserves to have his name spoken alongside those two then he needs to show up for the Seahawks. He had a strong pereormcane in Week 1, when he intercepted a pass and erased the memories of a long, dramatic preseason holdout. Another big play or two like that are in order.

The wily veteran safety and his young secondary are facing off against the struggling Dak Prescott on Sunday. Prescott, for all of his flaws, doesn’t throw a lot of interceptions. He’s a lot like Wilson that way. That being said, there’s a good chance Thomas will take advantage of Prescott’s current inconsistent play and capitalize on a mistake the same way Shaquill Griffin did against the Bears.

Thomas is the only remaining member of the Legion of Boom and he’s still the team’s X-factor after all these years. The job of the X-factor is to make game changing plays. Look for Thomas to deliver just that kind of performance on Sunday.