Bobble Head

yesterdays' wild-card games

Seattle Seahawks 21, Dallas Cowboys 20

How hard is to to believe that only a month ago, Tony Romo being touted as the Second Coming?

Trailing by one point at the end of the fourth quarter, a 25-yard run by Julius Jones put the Cowboys into range for what should have been an easy Martin Gramatica field goal from 19 yards out.

But Romo, acting as holder, lost his grip of the ball on the snap and had to run toward the end zone before getting stopped short of the first-down marker.

End of game. And the beginning of an excruciatingly long offseason for Romo who will, no doubt, will be able to see his mistake replayed over and over again on NFL highlight reels for years to come.

And that wasn't even the weirdest play of the game. That honor would go to a fourth-quarter safety originally ruled a touchdown after Terry Glenn got stripped of the ball by Kelly Jennings on the one-yard line.

Bill Parcells was in such shock afterwards, he wasn't even surly:

"You gotta finish the game. We just didn't do it."

You could see on his face, this one cut deep.

Some analysts surmised it was so bad, it might push him to retire.

Our guess is the opposite. No coach as competitive as Parcells wants that play to be the last of his career.

Indianapolis Colts 23, Kansas City Chiefs 8

Pregame, all the "experts" predicted it would be a battle between Peyton Manning, who'd wreck havoc in the end zone, and Larry Johnson, who'd run a hole through the Indianapolis defense.

Nice guess, fellas.

Peyton Manning folded (the post-season Manning Meltdown)and made it way closer than it had to be, throwing three interceptions that kept Kansas City within striking range until late in the third quarter.

But the Colts' defense, stung by a week-long bitch slap by the media, had something to prove.

Said a jubiliant Dwight Freeney after the game:

"Doesn't matter what anybody says 'cept the eleven guys on the field."

And he reminded folks what Tony Dungy told his players a couple weeks ago when reamed for not altering a defensive roster that was giving up on average 173 yards per game: "We have the right defense. We just need to tackle better."

And that's what they did, preventing the Chiefs from making a single first down for the first forty minutes of the game.

KC quarterback Trent Green looked like he still had a concussion - or wished he did. At this moment, Ty Law is no doubt locked in the bathroom of the team plane, banging his head on the sink, mumbling "Why me?" after making two brilliant interceptions only to see them squandered by Green.

Trent Green's performance.

The best part of the game came after, during the obligatory handshake between KC head coach Herman Edwards and Dungy. They have been best friends since early in their respective careers and it showed in their genuine display of sportsmanship and - dare we say it? - affection. The two - accompanied by Bears head coach Lovie Smith - also went out to dinner the night before the game. Not sure that's a choice we would have made but it's heart-warming, nonetheless.

So now the Colts travel to Baltimore, where we're guessing they'll get shellacked, karmic payback 23 years later for "The Move."

In fact, someone oughta get the cast of Most Haunted to Bob Irsay's grave - we promise you, he'll be turning over in it when the Ravens end the Colts season.