Wild Card, 2006: Seattle 21 Dallas 20

Game information
Dallas Cowboys' quarterback Tony Romo, a four-year veteran who earned the starting job and made the Pro Bowl for the first time in his career during the regular season, botched the hold on a potential game-winning field goal with 1:19 left in the fourth quarter, allowing the Seattle Seahawks to escape with a victory.

Taking advantage of Dallas kicker Martín Gramática's opening kickoff, which went out-of-bounds and gave Seattle the ball at their own 40, the Seahawks marched down the field on their opening drive and scored with Josh Brown's 23-yard field goal. Dallas was forced to punt on their ensuing possession, but Cowboys cornerback Anthony Henry intercepted Seattle's next pass and returned it to the Seahawks 43-yard line, setting up Gramatica's 50-yard field goal to tie the game.

Early in the second quarter, Seattle drove 54 yards and retook the lead with Brown's second field goal of the game. After an exchange of punts, the Cowboys took the lead. Aided by Jason Witten's 32-yard reception, Dallas drove 76 yards in ten plays and scored on Romo's 12-yard touchdown pass to Patrick Crayton with only 11 seconds left in the half, giving the Cowboys a 10–6 lead. In the third quarter, Seattle drove 62 yards in 12 plays, featuring two fourth-down conversions by running back Shaun Alexander, and scored with Matt Hasselbeck's 15-yard touchdown pass to Jerramy Stevens, giving them a 13–10 lead. However, Dallas promptly took the lead right back after Miles Austin returned the ensuing kickoff 93 yards for a touchdown.

Early in the final quarter, Dallas safety Roy Williams intercepted a pass from Hasselbeck at the Cowboys 43-yard line. Eight plays later, Gramatica kicked a 29-yard field goal to increase his team's lead to 20–13. On Seattle's ensuing drive, a pass interference penalty on Dallas's Terence Newman gave them a first down on the 1-yard line. But Seattle failed to get into the end zone with their next four plays, turning the ball over on downs at the 2-yard line. On the first Dallas play after the turnover, Cowboys receiver Terry Glenn caught a short pass, but then lost a fumble. The ball was recovered by Seattle in the end zone for a touchdown, but after a Dallas challenge the referee ruled the play a safety, cutting the score to 20–15 and giving the ball back to the Seahawks at around the 50-yard line after the ensuing free kick and return. Four plays later, Hasselbeck's 37-yard touchdown pass to Stevens gave Seattle a 21–20 lead. The Seahawks attempted a two-point conversion to give themselves a three-point lead, but Hasselbeck's pass failed.

Dallas took the ensuing kickoff and marched down to the Seahawks' 8-yard line. On third down and 7 from there, Witten caught a pass that was initially ruled a first down on the 1-yard line, but after an instant-replay challenge, officials ruled Witten had been tackled at the 2-yard line, bringing up fourth down. With 1:19 left in the game, Gramatica lined up to attempt a 19-yard field goal, but Romo dropped the ball while setting it up for a hold. Romo picked up the fumble and ran with it, trying for either a touchdown or a first down, but he was tackled at the 2-yard line by safety Jordan Babineaux, turning the ball over on downs and allowing Seattle to run the clock down to eight seconds before punting back to Dallas. On the last play of the game, Romo's Hail Mary pass fell incomplete in the end zone.

"I know how hard everyone in that locker room worked to get themselves in position to win that game today and for it to end like that, and for me to be the cause is very tough to swallow right now", Romo said after the game. "I take responsibility for messing up at the end there. That's my fault. I cost the Dallas Cowboys a playoff win, and it's going to sit with me a long time. I don't know if I have ever felt this low."

This was the final game in the Hall of Fame coaching career of Bill Parcells, who resigned his position with the Cowboys two weeks later. Parcells would later take a front office position with the Miami Dolphins but never returned to the sidelines.

This was the first postseason meeting between the Cowboys and Seahawks.

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