Cowboy fans still have nightmares about the last time they played the Seattle Seahawks in the playoffs.
The year was 2006 and the season had started with Drew Bledsoe as the Dallas Cowboys QB, until week 7 when Drew Bledsoe was benched for a little unknown QB named Tony Romo.
Romo would enter the game in the second half and on his first drive of that game his pass was tipped and intercepted but he would finish that game 14-25 227 Yards 2 TDs and 3 INT.
Romo would remain the starter for the rest of the season, including a win over Peyton Manning’s undefeated Colts. Fast forward to the playoffs and Romo would put the Cowboys in position to win the game with 1:19 left on the clock.
He was not able to get the snap down for the 19 yard FG attempt and the Cowboys would lose by a shoestring tackle 21-20.
Seattle Seahawks Season Recap
Since the NFL playoffs had been expanded in 1990 to 12 teams, 223 teams have started the season 0-2 prior to this season. Out of those 223 teams, only 28 have recovered to make the playoffs a whopping 13% of the time.
Well, this year, not one team but two teams did it, including the Seattle Seahawks, the other was the Houston Texans. Seattle was 0-2 and facing a must-win against the visiting 1-1 Dallas Cowboys.
Well, Seattle would get what they needed and get the victory over Dallas and follow up the next week with a victory over the Arizona Cardinals which brought their record to 2-2. A big win over the Chiefs on December 23rd would put the Seahawks into the playoffs.
An accomplishment many fans thought they would not see this season. All in all a good season for the Seahawks even if it ends in a loss to the Cowboys
Dallas Cowboys Season Recap
At the start of the year, Dallas lost their starting Center Travis Frederick to Guillain-Barre Syndrom and is now on the Injured Reserve. So the strength of this team which was built on the offensive line was weakened to start the season.
Dallas started out very slow and their offense looked anemic at times. They hit their bye week at 3-4 but the Defense was stealing the show and was the main reason they were in most of the games they were playing.
The Cowboys knew they were in striking distance and could win the NFC East and Jerry Jones decided to pull the trigger and make a trade for Amari Cooper with the Oakland Raiders.
At first, the NFL was laughing at the Cowboys saying they overpaid for him and that the “Cowboys got beat twice in the same week by Gruden’s”, first time was the Redskins before the Bye week and then the day later by the Raiders trade.
Cooper, since being traded over to the Cowboys played in 9 Games and had 53 catches for 725 yards and 6 TDs including 3 in a huge showdown with the NFC East division rival Eagles, which essentially gave the Cowboys the NFC East.
Cooper brings a new dimension to the Cowboys offense that seems to have helped Dak Prescott relax a bit more in the passing game. And in other news, Ezekiel Elliott once again won the NFL rushing title the 2nd time in his 3 seasons since being drafted 4th overall.
Prediction
Dallas has come a long way since week 3 of the NFL season and although they lost to the Seahawks during that week I fully expect that Dallas’ defense and their new-found offense will be enough to win this game.
Final Score: Dallas 27 Seattle 13.