Cowboys Loss Unsurprising, Improbable

Obviously, I picked against the Cowboys in this game so I figured they'd lose. But inside Seattle's five-yard line with just over a minute to play, I thought the Cowboys had suprised us. I thought we might see Gramatica duff the kick the kick but I never expected the catastrophe that developed.

Tony Romo had done many things to do his part to throw away games in recent weeks, including poorly timed interceptions and a near league leading number of fumbles in the last five games. Yet, even he had seemed to overcome the fumble that short circuited the Cowboys possession to start the third quarter. Other than that play and a few passes left short, he had played a smart game to give his team a chance to win.

But then he fumbles the ball on the hold of what may have been the game winning field goal. Despite his best efforts to save the play, he was tackled from behind to clinch the game for the Seahawks.

Sure their were plenty of culprits on this night. Terry Glenn and his fumble on the Cowboys two that resulted in the saftey that gave Seattle a lead. The offensive line for committing a number of penalites as they usually do. Even the defense, who failed to capitalize on Matt Hassellbeck's horrible in which the Cowboys should have had five interceptions and caught only two. On top of that, the defense allowed two drives the length of the field in the fourth quarter after a suprisingly good performance in the first three. They made a stop on the second drive on downs but it set the stage for Glenn's idiocy. The coaches even failed, along with the wide receivers to exploit the decimated Seahawks secondary in scoring only 20 points.

But no mistake was bigger than Romo's. Dallas had not played its best game but because of late poise from Romo and shocking intensity from Julius Jones. the Cowboys had a gimme win at their fingertips. The table was set to surprise and get us excited about the weak NFC playoff field. Instead Romo's fingertips failed leaving us looking to training camp '07 in San Antonio.

Bill Parcells and T.O. will likely be gone. Romo, along with the rest fot he team, will hopefully have more discipline. The Cowboys will likely finally use a first round pick on the offensive side of the ball. Greg Ellis is a longshot to return with the second serious leg injury of his career. But Bobby Carpenter ahowed he may have been worth a first round pick last night. So while hanging my head for this season, here's predicting an NFC title in 2007.