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Cowboys at Seahawks

The Seattle Seahawks host the Dallas Cowboys in a first-round NFC playoff game Saturday (6 p.m., NBC).

Both teams struggled in December, each going 2-3 for the month (and finishing with identical 9-7 records). The Cowboys' failures were predictable-two of their losses came to playoff teams, and Tony Romo had to cool down eventually. The Seahawks' slip-ups are a little more puzzling. With stars Matt Hasselbeck and Shaun Alexander back in the lineup, I expected them to build momentum for a playoff run.

They didn't. And I'm not sure why. There's not any one statistic that clearly points to trouble, unless "they're not really that good" is a statistic. (It isn't.)

Tony Romo, on the other hand, has come under fire in the last couple of weeks, partly because he's come down to earth and partly because he can't live up to the suffocating hype. (Being a Cowboy is sort of like being a Yankee in that regard-no one will assess you honestly.) Nevertheless, he's had good games mixed in with the bad, so he's hardly the shakiest QB in the postseason. He may even outplay Hasselbeck, a tremendous talent who's been sort of blah since his return from injury.

Regardless, the Seahawks will win. They still have experience and they still have a terrific home-field advantage. I also think Dallas lost momentum down the stretch, which is huge for a team with a young quarterback.

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