ARLINGTON, Texas — The past two games demonstrated pretty clearly that Tarvaris Jackson is Seattle's best option at quarterback.

But Sunday in Dallas, Seattle's best option didn't play very well by his own admission.

"Poor decisions on my part," he said. "I feel very sick about the way I played today."

Jackson did not start the previous two Seahawks games because of a strained pectoral muscle, though he came on to replace Charlie Whitehurst in the second quarter of the Oct. 30 loss to Cincinnati.

Jackson was picked off three times by Dallas, all in the second half. The first came on a pass he was trying to throw away, aiming for the feet of tight end Anthony McCoy, only to have it deflected by defensive tackle Jay Ratliff into Jason Hatcher's hands.

His next pass was the worst of the three interceptions. He was on the move to his right, threw off his back foot and underthrew Sidney Rice so badly that cornerback Terence Newman was able to settle under it like he was fielding a punt.

"One of those games where you just do something stupid," Jackson said.

His third interception came on the second-to-last play of the game, when he tried to force a throw to a well-covered Doug Baldwin.

The three interceptions were Jackson's most in any game this season, and his 40.4 quarterback rating was his lowest as a Seahawk.

What a rush

Seattle's progress wasn't measured in inches so much as rushing yards — all 162 of them. Running back Marshawn Lynch gained a season-high 135 yards.

The breakthrough was surprising considering it came against a Cowboys defense that had given up an average of 69.7 yards rushing entering last week's game against Philadelphia. The Eagles ran for 239 yards, giving the Seahawks a road map for navigating the Cowboys defense.

"We thought we saw something, and we went after it," coach Pete Carroll said.

Flag football

Seattle was penalized 10 times Sunday, bringing the team's season total to 70. Two of those penalties were against left guard Robert Gallery — one for holding in the third quarter, and another on a false start.

McCoy was also penalized for a false start, and Carroll indicated Seattle had a specific change in mind to remedy the recurring issue of pre-snap penalties.

"We have to help out our young guys up front cadence-wise," he said. "We'll work some things out. It's continued to be a problem."

Rookie Byron Maxwell was penalized twice for unsportsmanlike conduct on punt coverage when officials determined he did not run back onto the field quickly enough after being forced out of bounds.

"We thought we made the correction, but the exact same call came again," Carroll said. "So I don't know what to tell you. He was very frustrated, because he thought he did it right."

Notes

• Anthony Spencer's block of a Seahawks third-quarter field-goal attempt was the first against Seattle since October 2007 by New Orleans.

• DT Alan Branch and LB David Vobora were both active after being listed as questionable because of injuries that kept them out of practice. TE Cameron Morrah was inactive.

• P Jon Ryan averaged 61 yards on his three punts with a net of 58.3.

Danny O'Neil: 206-464-2364 or doneil@seattletimes.com