I just read the article that Mike Tanier posted on Fox Sports.Net about how the Cowboys will win at Seattle this weekend. WHAT A JOKE!! After the Seahawks spank the Cowboys,I can't wait to see what garbage you have to say about the Hawks then!!?? GO SEAHAWKS! Cowgirls suck!!

Re: #1

Yes, I must be on the wrong web site.

I too just read Tanier's Fox article and it is a joke for what was said about Dallas players. He also gave too much credit for the Hawk's having a chance to win. Dallas will win and Tanier will have to eat crow for what was said about Dallas players.

While the game clearly favors the Cowboys; Brown, Burleson and Plackemeier certainly give Seattle the special teams advantage. I don’t think Martin Gramatica is much of an improvement over Mike Vanderjagt, and looking at Bill Parcells, I sort of worry about his health if this game is late and close.

Seattle's pass rush should be able to force Romo to make some mistakes, how big those mistakes are depends a lot on luck.

If Trufant and Herndon have been half as bad as your metrics make them look, perhaps Jennings and...well maybe Jennings will be an improvement, anyway. Scrappy guys like Babineaux seem adept at grabbing tipped pass and falling on loose balls if not, you know, covering the WR.

Frankly, even as a Hawks fan I don't see too many scenarios where Seattle wins,
but, hell, it's just one game and if nothing else can't we all root for no' mo' TO!

The biggest conundrum as a Seahawks fan is knowing that according to DVOA and conventional statistics, the Hawks have been very mediocre over the course of the season, while also knowing that this core of players played well enough to get to the Super Bowl last year (and have played well in their last two games of the regular season).

If Pete Hunter and whatshisface can survive Romo to Owens, the Hawks have as good a chance as any other NFC team to go deep in the playoffs.

/homer

As an Eagle fan .. this is a wonderful game .. either see the Cowgirls get crushed .. or possibly meet them in the NFC championship game and then crush them.

I can't imagine Seattle can win this unless the weather stops Tony 'small hands' Romo from getting the ball to what should be wide open Glenn, Owens and Whitten.

It doesn't seem at all unreasonable that the SeaChickens could win. Assuming Hasselbeck makes fewer mistakes than Romo and Owens' drops cancel out Stevens' drops, well, who the hell knows?

Re #6:

Carefull JRT, don't count the Eagles wins over the Giants and Saints before they hatch. Colts fans did that a lot last year against Pitt, and look what happened.

Hubris is a bitch.

Man, Alexander sounds exactly like Tiki Barber.

Maybe he is the long-lost third Barber brother.

It seems totally unreasonable to me that the Hawks could win. I know that Dallas has looked meh, but Seattle has looked downright putrid. And that was before they lost their secondary to a wasting disease or something.

I don't want this country. I just want your half.

Ana Ng!!!! Where have you been?!??!?

And for the 2007 Super Bowl halftime show...John Mellencamp!

Worst. pregame. music. ever.

I just got a new HDTV, and it's the first time I've seen Pink in all her ... uh ... "glory" is the word I was going to use, but somehow I don't think that's the right word.

i am left to wonder about T.O: Outside his histrionics, was TO ever a WR who would yank a catch in traffic and take nasty hits?

This season, it is terry glenn who has been doing the dirty part while TO has most of his catches pulled in toward the sideline.

Uh, isn't "spotlight" one word? Not that I need another reason to hate that commercial.

The only thing worse than "this is our country" is "this is our country" in HDTV.

i don't know how much more john cougar concentration camp my liver can take... we had our second our country BEFORE the kickoff!

err.... take a drink!

no, joel, no!

Think of your liver!

is this bobby carpenter's first game as starter?

Man, that Dallas defense is good! Parcells is a defensive genius!

dont get demarcus ware to cover bobby engram or else you would be giving a zillion yds

seattle looking like a well-oiled machine on first drive.

farmer repairing fence. chevy truck. drink!

Which is more surprising: That the Cowboys defended a pass or that the Seahawks didn't drop any passes on that drive?

If this Diet Pepsi commercial ran as much as 'our country' I might hate it even more.

28,

just give it time.

no doubt. i think bollywood musicals might have better dubbing.

I would love to see Holmgren go to Arizona.

It's like those old, bad "Football Follies" from NFL Films.

I think that Darby guy is really Art Shell in disguise.

any carrie underwood sightings? throw a dog a bone...

In the context of the "Centers win games" discussion, I found it interesting that on the only snap I've watched (very recent Dallas shotgun) the center spent the entire time watching for Romo to call for the snap, and no time watching the defense. Saturday is constantly watching the defense for the Colts.

Will the fan in seat c-267 report to the defensive backs coach?

the Fighting Mule knocks the pass out of the Jackass's hand...

this is our country...

#32
ha. except those old follies clips were great! i used to have one called "Dial M for Moron" that had just a ton of late 70s/early 80s football suckitude.

Must by Chevy truck. The voice of Mellancamp compels me.

Kelly Jennings is a funny looking dude.

Or "buy" even.

Field goals and picks. Didn't I just see this game?

Madden is completely wrong in praises about TO

I broke down and e-mailed Chevy about how much they suck. I feel a little better.

Wow, that was terrible.

nice pancake block on a seahawks LB. i can't believe i'm sober enough to spot it.

Live blog updates from tony homo . com during the game. Pretty funny. Click my name for link

re: 44
I don't know, it made sense to me. Recievers like Holt will drop fewer balls, simply because he drops to the ground if any safety is within 10 yds of him when he catches the ball. Owens tries to set up the YAC when he catches the ball, and thus drops it more often.

I want Jerry Rice and Emmett Smith in the new "Grease"

"November rhythym" is the new swagger.

witten fumbles. somehow refs forget to rule it incomplete. ;)

if Bill bellichick was Dallas's HC, you would have seen an all-day dose of 3,4,5 WR set taking advantage of the depleted Seahawks secondary.

having said that, either the secondary is playing out of their skins or Tony Romo is not throwing well enough to his receivers

This is not an inspiring game.

Madden glossed over Ray Rhodes' stroke like it was refinancing a mortgage or getting new tires. "He was defensive co-ordiantor, then he went and had a stroke, and he is back in a different role."

53. You mean "HC of the DC"?

ok, al's pronounciation of "new or-lee-anns" grates my very soul. hasn't the city suffered enough?

Since when does Carol Burnett play for the Cowboys?

Two holding penalties on 3rd down, two dropped INTs, are Dallas trying to beat themselves?

terence newman drops awful hasselbeck fade pass in the end zone. wtf is going on today? can anyone play well?

James - back off - that has been our M.O. season long.

Is Tony Romo really going to the Pro Bowl when Tom Brady isn't?

Jesus, Hasslebeck is bad. Is he injured?

Judging by the number of posts, this game is either uninspiring or unwatchable. Or both.

Can't anyone here play this game?

Unless Brady somehow just got traded to the NFC, the two facts are totally unrelated, you realize.

I do, but it still seems like a travesty... take a spot away from the NFC team or put Brady on the NFC team.

#63 Hasselbeck sure looks nervous in the pocket.

67 - we could all be doing so much more to make sure Brady is properly lauded. So, so much more.

Like the Pro Bowl really matters? Sigh........

According to NFL.com's GameCenter, Terry Glenn was just tackled after a nine-yard gain by "K. Jennings" of Seattle.

Now, all-time Jeopardy! champ and recent best-selling author Ken Jennings has just moved to Seattle, I understand. Holmgren must be really desperate; no matter how smart the guy is, he can't be ready to be a CB in the playoffs, right?

shouldn't "playoffs...PLAYOFFs" be the only press conference allowed for the coors commercial? at least unless you can get "man, we're talking about practice."

Can't any of the quarterbacks here play this game?

Did that ball really just bounce 7 yards off T.O.'s chest?

I don't know; I was disappointed with what Coors (or its agency) did with that press conference ... not funny enough, or as funny as I thought it would be.

Have to disagree with Madden. That 3rd & 2 is a running down, as it's classic a "maroon zone" situation. The pass was fine (except for the T.O drop), but as four-down situation you absolutely cannot exclude the run.

romo hits witten in stride over the top of seattle's craptacular secondary. who told them they were allowed to play competent football? this is wildcard weekend, damnit!

I know a girl named Kelly Jennings here. I asked her if I could borrow some money when she became a first round draft pick and she just looked at me funny.

oh wait. the very next play featured a holding penalty and a hilarious aaron brooks-esque fumble into the third row of the bleachers.

Great effort by Creaton, but he should have been dropped.

James - especially with all three time outs left.

nice lunge to get into the end zone by crayton. 10-6 cowboys.

that's a half. time for a cougar-induced urination break.

To 57: New Or-Lee-Anns is the accepted pronunciation of the local news media. They choose to stay out of the war over "Naaaawlin's" and "New Or-leans" So I'm not surprised Al Michaels adopted it.

notice madden did not.

You know, those 'Get your story straight' commercials just never get old.

75: Disagree with you on the pass. I think TO did not see the ball coming and the pass was at an akward grion high level pass and not chest high.

Bad pass.

romo just cannot protect the ball when he's hit. kid has a lot to learn next off-season.

Another pronunciation pet peeve: the PREE-vent DEE-fense. That's the only time "prevent" is pronounced that way, and it drives me nuts.

86 - I agree he didn't see it, but if he does it is an easy catch. It wasn't that bad a pass.

nice acting by ingram

terrible call on PI

the refs are clearly trying to make up for their performance in last year's super bow.

I'm waiting for the Dennis Green Coors Light "press conference" commercial. I am too tired to think up an amusing example.

re: 88
could always be the pre-VENT de-FENSE

:)

Why not throw on 3rd down if you're going to go for it on 4th?

Nice ! TD - Hasselbeck to Stevens.

Really good Seahawks drive for the TD, including two successful 4th & inches plays, both in FG range. Methinks Easterbrook is masturbating right now.

does no baking on gameday include 'wake and bake?'

hasselbeck to stevens for pretty little td. seahawks apparently NOT already planning out their stripclub shenanigans after the game.

Oh crap. 93 yd return for Dallas.

And the Seattle Special Teams hand it straight back. The returner goes 97yds untouched.

Props to Madden for saying "no flags" - that is always the first thing on my mind.

oh wait. nevermind.

Oh I see Madden, all you have to do to get a 93 yd KO return is "slide the wedge to the left" I shoulda thought of that before.

Actually Easterbrook advocates kicking early, going for it late--except for when he changes his no mind for no apparent reason.

Seattle, you're at home and losing, you've got nothing to lose, go for it!

OR

Seattle, you're at home and losing, kick the field goal to get within one, you have plenty of time to go for it later.

I thought Michaels said 93 yd return, but no matter.

94 -- You've given me my man law for the day.

Nice catch by FO favorite Hackett. Only 4 yards, but still a nice catch.

I didn't see an angle that showed his foot on the line. Not sure what Al Michaels is talking about.

nice tip and pick their by the cowboys. michaels said he thinks it was oob, but i dont see foot on white

#102

Agreed.

So I'm looking at the box score, and apparently the Seahawks have a RB named "Maurice Morris". Please let it be true that he pronounces his first name as the English do!

rather than the way steve miller does?

re: 113
yeah, Steve Miller pronounces it like a Frenchman would. The English find new pronunciations for all sorts of things to avoid sounding French.

Did you know "filet" is pronounced "fill it"?

What ever happened to the good old fashioned QB sneak?

112: In high school I knew a guy with the name Thomas Thomas...offically the III

Which makes sense in a perpetual spiral of bitterness and hatred sort of way.

Whew. That's a big penalty.

pass int on newman in the end zone. even seattle can't screw this up..... ok. maybe they can.

Ladies and Gentleman, your first complete BS pass interference call of the playoffs!

Good replay by NBC. He defintely grabbed his arm way early.

They might want to try blocking Ware if they are going to run towards him.

The QB sneak would have served the Seahawks well on 1st & goal from the 1. Instead they try to run outside and lose 7.

They now have 4th & goal at the 1, and a decision to make. Seahawks going for it, call a play pass and don't get it.

#119. Holy simultaneous opposing viewpoints. :-)

Well, that was unusually ugly.

That PI called looked BS initially, but was right on.

seattle goes for the td on fourth down. holmgren calls some sort of awful drop-back pass. incomplete. is there one team playing today that isn't deeply flawed?

what the hell just happened?

WTF was THAT?!

I DO NOT BELIEVE WHAT I JUST SAW

i think dallas might want to challenge that.

Is there something wrong with taking a field goal? With 7 minutes left in the game, was it really a good idea for Holmgren to go for a TD?

I'm thinking not. (Not hindsight - I thought this before the snap.)

LOL

Okay, which Seahawk fan just sold his soul?

Man both these teams are terrible.

Wow. TD Seahawks? The catch looked fine so the ball is live, but is it recovered?

Indisputable visual evidence might be a problem here.

It sure is fun watching a feed that's on a delay. I read the call for a challenge before I saw the play. :)

I think the ball bounced in the white paint before it was recovered, therefore it was out of bounds and the play was over before Seattle recovered.

I don't think it's a catch, I definitely think that the ball went out before Boulware had it and I don't think that Boulware had possession. So it will probably be a Seattle TD.

the ball hits the ground, Glenn never had control of it. INC

Well, the guy who signaled a touchdown was about 2 feet away and didn't say it went out, so...

It's definitely a catch and fumble. From there, who knows.

Tatupu's definitely out of bounds when he touches it.

Damn, I wanted that to stand just because of its sheer rediculousness.

the vodafone music is the PERFECT accompanyment to the replay.

Damn it. A safety. I wanted OT and Hasselbeck to win the coin toss and say something stupid.

So the upshot of the last 5 minutes or so is that instead of being down 4, Seattle are down 5, but should have slightly better field position.

Now if Seattle get a TD they'll have to go for 2.

Well, a safety is almost as good as a field goal.

I hope the Seahawks lose by one point.

nate burleston has the instincts of a great kick returner and the execution of a poor kick returner. its not a good combo.

2-Point time.

stevens with a nice TD. right over - SHOCKER - roy williams.

When I saw how wide open he was, I honestly expected Stevens to drop it. This has turned into a pretty exciting game.

If they get the 2 pt conversion here, we can still have the return of loudmouth coin toss Hasselebeck.

If they get the 2 pt conversion here, we can still have the return of loudmouth coin toss Hasselebeck.

So this is why Holmgren didn't take the FG. It was all part of his master plan, ye of so little faith.

Oh well.

The 2-point attempt was a clusterfudge.

How to make a 2-point conversion:
1) If you're going to pass, do not fall back to the 20 yard line.

a fittingly shit-tastic failed 2-pt conversion.

That was the worst executed two point conversion I've ever seen . Who sprints backwards 20 yards to turn 2 yard play into a Hail Mary?

Hasslebeck didn't really have a choice other than to run backwards, as pressure was coming from both sides.

It's a 2 point try, a sack gives you no chance at scoring while lobbing it into traffic in the endzone at least maintains the possibility of the conversion. If you have to run back 20 yards before you toss your prayer, so be it

It looks like Tony Romo Time.

anyone else move from just beer to like ridiculously strong whiskey-and-cokes recently? sober is no way to get through this game!

It's too bad Vanderjagt was released.

Are Al Michaels and John Madden talking about Perry Como because his name rhymes with Tony Romo?

Can they just give a loss to both teams and let someone else play the Saints?

re: 160
could Hassleback have tried a drop kick PAT? (Anybody know the rules here?)

162. I just stopped drinking. But I like your idea better. :-)

Is there something wrong with taking a field goal? With 7 minutes left in the game, was it really a good idea for Holmgren to go for a TD?

I’m thinking not.

Going for it from the one is virtually always the right play -- really the only exceptions are when a late field goal would give you the lead or extend your lead to two possessions -- because 1) the probability of making it is high and 2) if you fail, you pin the opposition on the goal line, making safeties, defensive touchdowns or a short field following a punt very likely. When you trail by seven with 7:00 left, the choice becomes even more obvious, because a field goal still leaves you in need of a touchdown.

Well, a safety is almost as good as a field goal.

I hope the Seahawks lose by one point.

You do realize that down by five with the ball at midfield is better than down by four with the ball in the opposition's hands, right?

Mugged by the Draw. Somewhere, Doug Farrar is sobbing quietly.

Will Parcells be let down by yet another FG kicker?

Terrible spot.

re: 168
sure, the safety was better for Seattle than a FG would have been.
Are you arguing that this was a planned result?

My annoyance is based on Holmgren passing on an easy FG and getting lucky by getting a safety. I don't like seeing bad coaching rewarded.

There's no way he made the first down.

Dallas get the 1st. Why on earth didn't Seattle let them score? Now Dallas can kneel and it's academic.

While Michaels babbles about the first down, there's NO WAY he got that first down.

There's no way the ball crossed the 1 yard line.

Good review.

4th down! dallas has to kick the fg. game on.

Seattle get an ENOURMOUS break. Game on.

HAHAHAHAHAHA

HOLY SHIT

um, wow

HOLY SHIT!!!!!

I repeat. Both these teams are terrible.

Oh My God!

today is the feast of ephiphany so i guess it's a good day for gifts.

AWESOME!!!

Ri COCK ulous

OMG

Ladies and gentlemen, NFC Pro Bowler Tony Romo.

Seriously how fucking amazing was Babineaux on that play, running Romo down from behind, and diving to grab Romo's feet, keeping him out of the endzone

game decided by fumbled snap and awful scramble to the left by romo. high comedy.

Holy Romo.

What if Dallas gets a safety here.... never mind...

This game is threatening to destroy all my love for good football that was cultivated by watching the last half hour of the Fiesta Bowl.

Ugly.

What a really exciting ending to this game. I thought for sure Romo was getting 7 for his team. Crazy!

It was convenient of Romo to fumble the ball a second time, cause he crossed the first down marker.

You know, that would've been even more funny if Grammatica had pulled a Charlie Brown fall following Romo's Lucy impression.

Forget the endzone, he was half a yard from getting a first down

OK, now let's see a DALLAS SAFETY!

Is it just me, or did it look like Romo had the first and was down by contact?

196 - he was down well before the 1. Way to pile on though.

I dunno. Did Romo get close to that first down. It kinds looked like the ground caused the fumble. I don't know what was ruled or if if the spot was short. Anyway who cares, both these teams are terrible.

You know -- Romo didn't fumble. He was tripped by a defender and "fumbled" when it hit the ground. However, since he didn't make the first down, it didn't matter.

And that cracking sound you hear is Dallas' back being broken. God, what a way to lose.

babineaux made a nice tackle. but romo looked like he learned his scrambling technique from drew "my two left feet" bledsoe.

A shot of Bledsoe consoling Romo would be beautiful right now.

re:106

That was a great play by Babineaux. Remember, Romo could have earned the first down by getting to the 1. He didn't have to score.

By the way, pretty subpar block attempt by gramattica on the botched FG.

Tony Romo Just Wins Games...

(oh, wait that was my November Autotext)

Remember Jason's Eli Manning cartoon, "Adventures of a Number 1 Draft Pick"?

"The ghost of Vanderjagt still haunts the Cowboys, feasting on the organs of kickers!"

The game was worth staying up for, if only for the last few minutes. And does Romo's "clutch" rating go into the tank because he cocks the snap up?

sure, the safety was better for Seattle than a FG would have been. Are you arguing that this was a planned result?

No, I'm arguing that the probability of scoring from the one-and-a-half, plus the probability of scoring on a safety, defensive touchdown, blocked punt or with the benefit of a short field should the fourth down attempt fail is greater than the probability of getting a defensive stop and driving down for a touchdown after having kicked a field goal.

Seattle should definitely punt out of bounds...

going back to an earlier discussion, I think Seattle going for it instead of kicking the field go was absolutely the right thing to do.

What odds on a blocked punt?

well within hail mary distance

Oh god, my dream of a botched punt snap was almost realized.

Wow. What a bad break for the punter.

Dammit, does anybody want to win this game?

Prediction: TO drops this

Game over.

Thanks for playing, Dallas.

ROMO'S WALK OF SHAME.
PRICELESS.

I feel alittle bad for Romo, but at least now the TO hype is gone.

I'm a steelers fan living in Seattle, so I don't really care how this game ends, but damn that was exciting.

I didn't plan on going out, but I might have to go hit the bars tonight cause I suspect it'll be crazy

This playoff victory was as well deserved as the Chief's postseason berth.

if you had one word to describe this game, what would it be?
mine would be "fagatini"

Not to take away from Romo's crapfest, but if Gramatica actually tries to block Babineaux instead of shoving ineffectually at him with an arm Romo might have gotten the first.

Seven-and-a-half quarters of mediocre football redeemed themselves spectacularly.

i'm with russell from the first post, i can't wait to read what mike tanier has to say about this game.

That was great. Not only did the Cowflops lose, they lost in what might have been the stupidest way possible. I'll watch thousands of GMC commercials to enjoy this again.

re: 211

Well, most of the contigencies you list would have had what we would call "vanishingly small" probabilities, present outcome notwithstanding. I prefer to model the situation as TD attempt vs. FG attempt. A FG with 7 minutes left would have left plenty of time for a defensive stop and another drive.

If the Seahawks had their O-line from last year, and could have felt confident about simply blasting it in from the 1, then I would have gone for the TD.

anyone remember this many weird kicking problems cropping up in significant situations? Cincinnati, tonight, have there been others? I remember Ypremian in the Super Bowl, but that wasn't decisive, his team won anyway.

Does Bill Parcells return next year, or does he jump from a bridge before that? If he does come back I expect him to draft a kicker in the 1st round, and a holder in the 2nd.

Re: 226 It's Martin freaking Gramatica. Hell, flailing an arm is a good as you can possibly expect.

208: Give the guy a break, he's a 165 pound 31 year old soccer castoff who was out of football for a year.

#231

The Saints blew a playoff spot with the last kick of their last game 3 seasons ago when they missed an extra point.

I cannot believe the Romo fumble wasn't reviewed. I am certain the replay officials overlooked the possibility of a first down on the play and figured it didn't matter.

230,

You are ignoring the most underrated aspect of football--field position. This is not a TD/FG scenario. If you don't get the TD, you give the opponent the ball on their ONE YARD LINE! The only time you kick it is if it gives you the lead or extends your lead to two possessions. Nuff said.

I didn't think it was possible, but Coors Light just ruined my favorite moment of Jim Mora's career.

Re 236 he was a yard short of the first. it wasn't close. It looked close on the initial camera angels, but replays of the play showed him to be well short.

Well, most of the contigencies you list would have had what we would call “vanishingly small� probabilities, present outcome notwithstanding.

"Vanishingly small"? A tackle for loss, turnover or three-and-out can't be considered that unlikely.

231, 235: Click my name for a video of the ridiculous play, affectionately known as the River City Relay.

#231... The 2002 Giants losing in San Fran say hello!

I say screw Trey Junkin.

Wow. You've got to feel for Tony Romo right now.

Wow. You’ve got to feel for Tony Romo right now.

My wife said she can't feel bad for him ever since he did a little-girl slide ten yards in front of an Eagle defender two weeks ago.

Oh, by the way, I'm SO pulling for the Giants tomorrow.

I'm just a 26 years old brazilian lawyer, Giants fan, that loves football. It's 2:30AM and I can't sleep. I can't type. I'm still shaking!

And there are two more games tomorrow!

Dá-lhe!

re 238: It's true. What made this campaign work was use of footage from otherwise forgettable press conferences. The fact that we all remember this freakout makes this commerical worse, not better.

Re 239: Whether it was a 1st down or not isn't the point. that play HAS to be reviewed. I am truly astonished.

If Dallas had someone other than a flying Grammatica, it would have been interesting to see if Parcells would have tried the 60yd free kick. After today I believe anything can happen in this year's playoffs.

248:
The booth official is looking at every replay. If he sees that a play is not close, the play won't be reviewed. In this case, the play was not close enough for a review.

Re 248 Why does it have to be reviewed? If it's not close, there's no point. you didn't see parcells complaining about it.

That was one of the most wild games I can ever remember seeing. Ugly or not, it was a pleasure to watch.

As an extra, I'd like to say the Mora Coors Light commercial is also one of the most wild things I can ever remember seeing.

God, I hate football.

249: IIRC, the free kick can only be used on a fair catch, not on a kick that goes out of bounds.

Also, why didn't Terry Glenn put forth ANY effort on the Ave Maria?

Re 250, 251: Well, to me it certainly looks close enough, but I guarantee you the replay officials, Parcells, and Michaels & Madden all got caught up in the excitement overlooked the possibility of a first down.

T.O. is being mature in his press conference, refusing to pin the blame on anyone for the loss. What is this bullshit?

A fantastic finish for a terrible game. That's playoffs. You must just love it...

How blatant would P.I. on a Hail Mary have to be? I am not saying there was, just hypothetical-like....

Re: 255

I don't think so. it wasn't ruled a fumble on the field. The spotted the ball and it was short.

255 - maybe Madden and Michaels, but not Parcells.

255:
That's a pretty cynical view of the replay officials. Madden, Michaels, even Parcells--I can see them getting caught up in the excitement. But the replay official has one job to do, so I trust that he saw the play and determined that no review was necessary.

Re: 236What fumble? The FG attempt? Not even close. He needed to carry the ball to the 1-yard line...

This game was so poorly played that Jerramy Stevens looked like a Pro Bowler.
Nuff Said. What a weird day of football.

247: But 90% of football fans probably don't remember it. It sticks in our minds because it's a running joke in NFL commentary, but most people don't read NFL commentary.

Bwahahaha!

Re: 1, 228, etc:

I can't speak for Mike Tanier. But if it was me, here's approximately what I would say.

I wrote that your team isn't very good and has a lot of injuries. That's still true. I wrote that Dallas wasn't very good either, and there are a few ways Seattle could win. No problem there. I wrote that it was unlikely. Hey, it happened. Great. Congrats, go celebrate.

But if you expect me to apologize for picking against your crappy team, there's no chance of that happening. I'm sorry that none of our advanced metrics account for Seattle's magical ability to make opponents fumble the snaps of easy game-winning kicks, I guess. Or maybe not. Basically we just watched one mediocre team out-suck another one. Hardly the SPANKing predicted way up top.

But hey, a win's a win. And they get to play next week, and I'll pick against them again. For now, enjoy it, go wank or whatever it is you do. But I don't think I'll ever apologize for picking against a pile of crap like the Seahawks in the playoffs.

But that's just me.

261: In every game I've seen this year, in the final 2 minutes of a half, any play that was even slightly questionable was reviewed by the booth official. As the play was happening, EVERYONE forgot there was the possibility of a first down.

In the very last shot of Romo walking off the field, there was a sign clearly visible in the background that read "Another Romo Fumble." A prescient sign, to be sure, but if you saw the Detroit game, you really weren't surprised to see the ball fall out of Romo's hands like that.

267 - I didn't sitting on my couch, so I am going to give the replay official and Parcells the benefit of the doubt. But you seem to know...

Well, I know why Dallas lost. It's because they didn't sign Koy Detmer when he was a free agent. And he even lives in Texas, too.

Re 267 I didn't forget. I watched the replay, he was a easily a couple feet short. Dude, let it go already.

267:
I agree that any questionable play should be and has been challenged. However, seeing the replay (which I can only assume the booth official has access to--if not, what's the point of having this official), it seems that Romo was clearly short of the first down, and therefore, the play was not questionable enough for a review.

Man, Pat--you're really begging for Detmer to botch a hold tomorrow.

It looked to me like Glenn(?) had a chance to catch that hail mary, it just sort of fell right in front of him as he stood there dumbfounded.

What a wild game. First Boise State-OU and then this. I feel great that I was able to watch those two games.

By the way, on the Roy Williams play, I thought he only got one foot in bounds.

Even if Romo hadnt droped it then the Hawks would have gotten in field goal range and Josh Brown would have kicked another game winner.

re: Tanier

Some of you are forgetting that a close game like this does NOT mean we can conclude that the Seahawks are a better team, or that the Cowboys suck, or any nonsense like that. The teams essentially played to a tie, and Seattle won on a few crazy, non-repeatable plays. But this is the playoffs, and they don't have to be repeatable.

I like how James in London said it: Seven-and-a-half quarters of mediocre football redeemed themselves spectacularly.

RE: 48

LOL

I'm reading the invitation stuff.

What's a Live Blog?
A live blog is when somebody, in this case me, updates his blog as an event is going on, in this case our playoff game at Seattle. So as the game unfolds I will be updating this baby instantly. It'll be like watching the game with my hilarious commentary throughout. You will finally understand how lucky my teammates are, because they get to listen to my jokes all game long.

How can you do that from the sidelines?
Blackberry. Homo usually leaves his in his locker so I'll just use it during game time. He won't care about the minutes I use because it'll seem very irrelevant after he gets cut for losing our first playoff game in four years.

What if Parcells comes to his senses by Saturday and you get to play?
If Coach actually wants to win on Saturday and decides to put me in there (hopefully by the fourth quarter so I can have enough time to dig us out of the Homo sized hole) I'll try to blog in between touchdown passes.

I don't think you can fault Gramatica for not getting the block in, due to many factors.

But it's amazing that a playoff game was decided entirely on whether a stunned kicker could have gotten the tiniest bit more of a block on a safety.

Also I'm surprised nobody mentioned the cowboys loss to the skins on even more unbelievable kicking highjinx. They win that game and they win the NFC East. What a tragic season for them, I couldn't be happier.

Bill -

They win that game and they tie for the NFC East lead, except Philly still takes the title on head-to-head. They beat the Skins and don't lay that giant egg against the Lions, and then they win the division.

Anyway, yeah, that was amazing. Who'd have thought that Drew Bledsoe's Blog would be prophetic?

BillWallace,
As a fellow Redskin fan... this is enjoyable.

Not to mention beating the Cowboys 3/4 in the past 2 years, and the Cowboys choking down the stretch last year. The Redskins should immediately trade for Jordan Babineaux, who is a Cowboy killer. He had the Bledsoe interception in last years game, and now the shoestring tackle on Mr. Romo.

Reading this thread is hilarious...

You know what else would be hilarious?

A Yakety sax clip montage of various cowboy kicking blunders, TO drops, and Roy Williams getting beat deep.

I would definitely pay money for that.

In case anyone somehow missed it, a YouTube of the fumble in question is linked in my name. I love the Internets.

This picture is pretty effin funny.
http://img233.imageshack.us/img233/1748/romouy4.jpg

... what's with the painful losses to the Redskins and Seahawks lately... I don't think Parcells will retire on that note, and I don't think he's fired.

This game disproves DVOA because Seattle won. FACT.

RE: 190

Seriously how fucking amazing was Babineaux on that play, running Romo down from behind, and diving to grab Romo’s feet, keeping him out of the endzone

More like how amazing was he stopping him from getting to the 1. If he got to the 1 and not the endzone, it's game over. If Homo gets a TD, Seattle still has a chance.

RE: 196

It was convenient of Romo to fumble the ball a second time, cause he crossed the first down marker.

1)He didn't cross the first down marker.

2)It wasn't a fumble. He was down before he lost the ball.

Re 99, There will be no stripclub hijinx of anykind in Seattle because we have probably the most draconian "dancing" laws in the States. Voters recently rejected measures to change "probably" to "by far". Now if you wanted to have sex with a gorilla, that was a different story until recently. You used to be able to do that legally, even while drinking a beer. Seattle's pretty puritanical overall. And who really wants to drive all the way down to Portland?

re 266: trogdor, needs more funny.

Apologies if I missed this comment somewhere in the thread ... I wasn't anywhere near a computer during the game. On the sequence before the field goal, Seattle was spending its time outs. Because of the weirdness of the Witten pass -- the delay finishing the play, and making the spot, the time to decide to review it -- the clock ran all the way down to 1:19. Here's the sequence from NFL.com's gamebook:

2-10-SEA11 (2:00) M.Barber right guard to SEA 8 for 3 yards (J.Babineaux, J.Peterson).
3-7-SEA8 (1:53) T.Romo pass short right to J.Witten to SEA 1 for 7 yards (L.Tatupu, J.Peterson). Play Challenged by Review Assistant and REVERSED. T.Romo pass short right to J.Witten to SEA 2 for 6 yards (L.Tatupu, J.Peterson).
4-1-SEA9 (1:19) (Field Goal formation) T.Romo FUMBLES (Aborted) at SEA 9, and recovers at SEA 9. T.Romo to SEA 2 for 7 yards (J.Babineaux).

... so I'm wondering whether Seattle was being characteristically inept with the clock when they got distracted, or whether there was a cock up by officials or the clock operator here (and there definitely was a time out; the clock wasn't running when Dallas lined up for the field goal -- YouTube on my name). If it had been a more straightforward play, the Seattle TO should have come around 1:40 at worst, to leave Hasselbeck time to mount a drive. With the way the game ultimately turned out, the extra 20+ seconds could have been decisive.

Anyone catch this? I never heard an explanation.

Man, Pat–you’re really begging for Detmer to botch a hold tomorrow.

Blasphemy!

Apologies if I missed this comment somewhere in the thread ... I wasn't anywhere near a computer during the game. On the sequence before the field goal, Seattle was spending its time outs. Because of the weirdness of the Witten pass -- the delay finishing the play, and making the spot, the time to decide to review it -- the clock ran all the way down to 1:19. Here's the sequence from NFL.com's gamebook:

2-10-SEA11 (2:00) M.Barber right guard to SEA 8 for 3 yards (J.Babineaux, J.Peterson).

3-7-SEA8 (1:53) T.Romo pass short right to J.Witten to SEA 1 for 7 yards (L.Tatupu, J.Peterson). Play Challenged by Review Assistant and REVERSED. T.Romo pass short right to J.Witten to SEA 2 for 6 yards (L.Tatupu, J.Peterson).

4-1-SEA9 (1:19) (Field Goal formation) T.Romo FUMBLES (Aborted) at SEA 9, and recovers at SEA 9. T.Romo to SEA 2 for 7 yards (J.Babineaux).

So I'm wondering whether Seattle was being characteristically inept with the clock when they got distracted and didn't get around to the timeout until way later, or whether there was a mistake by the game officials and/or clock operator (and there definitely was a time out; the clock wasn't running when Dallas lined up for the field goal). If it had been a more straightforward play, the Seattle TO should have come around 1:40 at worst, to leave Hasselbeck time to mount a drive. With the way the game ultimately turned out, the extra 20+ seconds could have easily been decisive.

Anyone catch this? I never heard an explanation.

Apologies if I missed this comment somewhere in the thread ... I wasn't anywhere near a computer during the game. On the sequence before the field goal, Seattle was spending its timeouts. Because of the weirdness of the Witten pass -- the delay finishing the play, and making the spot, the time to decide to review it -- the clock ran all the way down to 1:19.

Was Seattle being characteristically inept with the clock when they got distracted and didn't get around to the timeout for half a minute, or was there a mistake by the game officials and/or clock operator (and there definitely was a time out; the clock wasn't running when Dallas lined up for the field goal). If it had been a more straightforward play, the Seattle TO should have come around 1:40 at worst. With the way the game ultimately turned out, the extra 20+ seconds could have easily been decisive.

I root against the Cowboys and have for years, and I'm glad Seattle won this game. However, I hope that the fumbled snap at the end of the game doesn't haunt Romo and ruin his career. Yes, I disliked how over-hyped he was when he first took over for Bledsoe, but that's not exactly his fault. I like the idea of a guy coming in from Eastern Illinois and succeeding at QB in the NFL, although, since he's a Cowboy, I'd prefer that success to be somewhat limited. But, just out of human sympathy, I do hope he comes back from this.

Hither - I am a Cowboy fan, so I was a little distracted, but I thought that a good chunk of clock went into a vortex there as well. There must be a simple explanation that I missed.

Because the Seahawks called a timeout after the ruling on the field changed they apparently and fortunately lost the 20 odd seconds. Probably something about not being able to argue about the timeout you would have called. Where you can be awarded a timeout back in the reverse of the situation. (Calling the timeout first, booth review overturns the play. AFAIK at least.) From my perspective in the stands it appeared as if Holmgren was trying to argue for the time back with the officals. For once I'm glad they didn't listen to him. :)

that just sucked

Another pic
http://artmonk.wordpress.com/files/2007/01/romoaaugh.jpg