Hawks slip by after Cowboys mess up late FG attempt

They were all but finished. The Seahawks' season was teetering on the verge of being over.

Heads were hanging around jam-packed Qwest Field, even dulling the brightness of thousands of pairs of neon green gloves that were given away. There was a pall in the stands, even though a Seahawks challenge turned a first-and-goal into a fourth down for Dallas.

Still, Martin Gramatica needed only to line up and kick a chip-shot, 19-yard field goal with 1:19 left for what would be a two-point Cowboys lead and quite possibly the difference in the game.

And then, a savior in the form of Jordan Babineaux arrived in the nick of time to save the Seahawks' playoffs lives and their season, if only for another weekend.

Babineaux's arms undercut holder Tony Romo as Romo tried to run for a touchdown after he fumbled the snap on the field-goal attempt, and the Seahawks managed to hang on for an exhilarating 21-20 victory.

They call these the wild-card playoffs. The name certainly fits. They call Babineaux "Big Play Babs." The name certainly fits.

"Romo fumbled the snap and I saw it coming off the left edge," Babineaux said. "Once he picked it up, he was trying to run it in. So I had to. I had no choice. If not, he scores, we lose. It was grab him by the ankles before he gets the first down. Huge. Huge."

No one who saw the game will argue that. Not only did Babineaux stop a touchdown, he stopped a first down. The Cowboys would have retained possession if Romo could have made it to the 1-yard line.

Then who knows? Maybe the Seahawks' locker room would have been a far less fun place to be. Maybe owner Paul Allen doesn't walk out of the locker room with a tension-relieving "Whew!" Maybe it's time to pack up and make offseason travel plans.

Instead, it's off to either Chicago or New Orleans next weekend depending on the outcome of the Giants-Eagles game today.

If the Eagles win, then Seattle plays at Chicago next Sunday at 10 a.m. If the Giants win, then it's to New Orleans for a 5 p.m. game Saturday.

After Babineaux's play, the Seahawks still had to run out the clock. And Shaun Alexander's 20-yard run from out of the shadow of their own end zone advanced that cause.

The Seahawks punted the ball with eight seconds to play. Rookie Ryan Plackemeier got off the punt. Romo, the Cowboys' quarterback, had time for one Hail Mary into the end zone.

Pete Hunter, signed only Tuesday to add depth to Seattle's injury-depleted secondary, knocked down the pass. Game over. Adios vaqueros — so long, Cowboys.

Now, the Seahawks can sit back, revel in the victory Saturday night and watch to see which team they will play next in their quest to defend their NFC championship.

"I don't know, you guys, I don't know," coach Mike Holmgren said, shaking his head in front of reporters at a podium. "It was kind of a crazy game. Some unusual things happened in the game, and that's the playoffs for you."

Crazy. Full of momentum and emotion swings. Unfathomable.

And that was just the final seven minutes of the game.

The Seahawks missed a chance to tie the score at 20 with 6:42 to play when they failed to get a touchdown on fourth-and-goal from the 2. The Cowboys took possession from their own 2.

Romo completed a pass to the Cowboys' Terry Glenn, who had the ball knocked out of his hands by Seahawks cornerback Kelly Jennings, and a wild scramble for the ball in the end zone followed.

Safety Michael Boulware ended up with the ball on what was first signaled a touchdown. But the Cowboys challenged the ruling, and it was overturned to a safety.

Make it 20-15 Dallas.

The safety meant a free kick to the Seahawks, and Nate Burleson returned it 19 yards to midfield.

Four plays later, quarterback Matt Hasselbeck found tight end Jerramy Stevens wide open behind the defense for a 37-yard touchdown, and the Seahawks took the lead with 4:24 to play.

Their two-point-conversion attempt failed, and the Cowboys went on the drive that should have won them the game.

Until Romo's slip, and Babineaux's heroics to finish off one last defensive stand.

"Never surrender," linebacker Lofa Tatupu said. "I just love the effort our guys gave. We never thought we were down or out of it. We just played big when we had to."

The Seahawks can only hope they can get healthier now that they have another week to prepare for a game.

They can only hope that their offense, with Hasselbeck throwing two interceptions, finds that consistency it has sought since early in the regular season.

Saturday night, though, was about survival and advancement in what was likely the Seahawks' last home game this season.

Mission accomplished.

José Miguel Romero: 206-464-2409 or jromero@seattletimes.com