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Romo makes playoff debut; Seatle seeks another Super Bowl run

Jan 6, 2007 - 2:32 PM Dallas (9-7) at Seattle (9-7) Saturday 8:00 pm EST

SEATTLE (Ticker) - Tony Romo will make his playoff debut against the defending NFC champions in one of the NFL's loudest stadiums.

Romo and the fifth-seeded Dallas Cowboys will face the fourth-seeded Seattle Seahawks in an NFC wild card game Saturday night.

The Seahawks reached the Super Bowl for the first time in franchise history last February with the help of home-field advantage throughout the NFC playoffs. The raucous crowd at Qwest Field has been known to rattle more than a few opposing quarterbacks.

Romo's first taste of the playoffs will come in front of those fans. Barking out signals and preventing illegal procedure penalties by the linemen will be a chore for Romo.

"It will be tough," Romo said. "But winning on the road in this league is always tough. We've won some games in places where the crowd noise is great like Atlanta and New York."

Seattle has not been invincible at home this season, losing three times. Last season, the Seahawks were 10-0 at Qwest Field, including playoffs.

The Cowboys were believed to be a Super Bowl contender after Romo replaced Drew Bledsoe and won five of his first six starts. But Dallas closed the season with three losses in four games and squandered a chance to win the NFC East title.

The defense was mostly responsible for the collapse, allowing 132 points in the last four games. That was the same amount the Cowboys had yielded in the previous eight contests.

Matt Hasselbeck and Shaun Alexander will attack that defense. After making the Pro Bowl as a starter in Seattle's Super Bowl campaign, Hasselbeck missed four games this season with a sprained knee ligament and had a passer rating of 76.0, completing just under 57 percent of his passes for 2,442 yards, 18 touchdowns and 15 interceptions.

Alexander won the rushing title in 2005 but missed six games this season with a broken foot, finishing with 896 yards and seven touchdowns.

The absence of both certainly cost the Seahawks, who claimed their third straight NFC West title under coach Mike Holmgren but won four fewer games than last season.

The Cowboys are in the playoffs for the second time in four years under coach Bill Parcells. But Dallas owner Jerry Jones has not experienced the joy of a playoff win since December 1996, when Troy Aikman, Emmitt Smith and Michael Irvin were his stars.

Now the Cowboys' fortunes rest with Romo and wide receiver Terrell Owens, who will try to take advantage of a secondary that has been hit with injuries.

Kelly Herndon broke his ankle and fellow cornerback Jimmy Williams sprained his knee in Seattle's 23-7 win at Tampa Bay in the season finale. Marcus Trufant, the team's best cover cornerback, missed the game due to a high ankle sprain and will not play against the Cowboys.

That leaves rookie Kelly Jennings, the team's first-round pick, and Jordan Babineaux as the team's only healthy cover men.

"It is what it is and we have to make the best of it," Holmgren said of his injured secondary. "No one is going to feel sorry for us."

Owens and Terry Glenn should exploit the situation. Owens had 85 catches for 1,180 yards and 13 touchdowns and Glenn caught 70 passes for 1,047 yards this season.

Romo, who was signed as an undrafted free agent in 2003, made the Pro Bowl despite starting only 10 games. He completed 65 percent of his passes for 2,903 yards, 19 touchdowns and 13 interceptions for a rating of 95.1.

Bledsoe was the starter and made a critical mistake when the Cowboys visited here on October 23, 2005 and left with a 13-10 loss. Babineaux intercepted Bledsoe in the closing seconds to set up a 50-yard field goal by Josh Brown as time expired.

Marion Barber rushed for 95 yards on 22 carries for Dallas. This season, Barber tied for the NFC lead with 16 touchdowns - 14 rushing and two receiving.