NFC Wild Card - Romo Drops the Hold
The NFC Wild-Card contest on January 6, 2007, between the Seahawks and Cowboys at Seattle’s Qwest Field, was a riveting, back-and-forth game that was decided by a blunder in the final seconds. The first half was a battle of field goals until a Tony Romo touchdown pass to Patrick Crayton with 11 seconds left gave the Cowboys a 10-6 lead at the break. In the second half, the lead ping-ponged back and forth. The Cowboys’ Miles Austin returned a kickoff 93 yards, pulling Dallas ahead 17-13 – and as the game clock ticked down below five minutes, the Cowboys had maintained a 20-15 lead. But after a 37-yard touchdown throw from Matt Hasselbeck to the 6-foot-7 tight end Jerramy Stevens, the Seahawks led 21-20. They missed a two-point conversion, though, which gave the Cowboys a chance to win it with a field goal. And the opportunity would come: starting at their own 28, the Cowboys drove all the way down the field, to the Seattle 2- yard line. Facing a fourth down and 1 with 1:19 left, the Cowboys brought on Martin Gramatica to kick an extra-point length field goal. The ball was snapped, but the holder, Romo, fumbled the hold, picked up the ball, and started running toward the end zone and was tackled from behind. The Seahawks won 21-20, advancing to the divisional round, where they lost to Chicago, 27-24.