Epic game from 1986; Atlanta At Dallas week 3!

[KJJ]

There was also that blowout in Cincinnati right after Thanksgiving. Cowboys were obliterated, 50-24.

That blowout loss to Cinn in week 14 was another big indicator the cracks were forming. I attended the playoff game vs the Rams in Anaheim during the 85 season. It was a chilly, cloudy damp afternoon and the Cowboys performance was as dismal as the weather. Eric Dickerson ran all over the Cowboys defense for 248 yards I seriously thought he was going to break the 300 yard mark. The 86 season actually started off pretty well for the Cowboys with a 6-2 record at mid season and the offense was ranked #1. White was leading the NFC in passing until that blind-side sack by Carl Banks vs the Giants broke his wrist knocking him out for the season. That season ended up going down the drain and White was never the same QB after that injury and ended up being benched in favor of Steve Pelluer.

 

[KJJ]

I disagree on Landry not learning new tricks. Dallas did drop the flex defense. On offense Landry got a lot of use out of Herschel Walker with mostly poor QB play at the time. No one would have envisioned Walker catching 76 passes in a season when he made it to the NFL, but that is what Dallas did.

Chad Hennings was also part of that 1988 draft class.

By the time Landry dropped the flex defense it was too late the damage had already been done by all the bad drafts. The defense was beginning to get brutalized and the Cowboys didn't have the players to do anything about it. From 77 to 87 the Cowboys only had 2 first round picks pan out Tony Dorsett in 77 and Jim Jeffcoat in 83. Most of those failed picks were on the defensive side of the ball. The DL was in shambles by the late 80's due to Kevin Brooks and Danny Noonan going bust which is why Landry "originally" wanted to trade the #1 overall pick in 89 to try and add players to the DL. Landry had the same thought Jimmy had when he first arrived of wanting to trade something of value to acquire more players because he was looking for a quick fix to try and save his job. Landry did with Walker what he did with Dorsett he ran him and although Walker had success the Cowboys had too many issues on defense and a poor QB situation. As for Hennings yes he was part of that 88 draft class.

 

[joseephuss]

By the time Landry dropped the flex defense it was too late the damage had already been done by all the bad drafts. The defense was beginning to get brutalized and the Cowboys didn't have the players to do anything about it. From 77 to 87 the Cowboys only had 2 first round picks pan out Tony Dorsett in 77 and Jim Jeffcoat in 83. Most of those failed picks were on the defensive side of the ball. The DL was in shambles by the late 80's due to Kevin Brooks and Danny Noonan going bust which is why Landry "originally" wanted to trade the #1 overall pick in 89 to try and add players to the DL. Landry had the same thought Jimmy had when he first arrived of wanting to trade something of value to acquire more players because he was looking for a quick fix. Landry did with Walker what he did with Dorsett he ran him and although Walker had success the Cowboys had too many issues on defense and a poor QB situation. As for Hennings yes he was part of that 88 draft class.

I agree it was bad drafting. Dallas no longer had enough top level personnel. It wasn't about Landry being stuck in his ways. Landry was still innovative as evidence by his usage of Walker. They just didn't have enough overall talent to win. The 90s Cowboys won because of talent. Their schemes were rather simple on both sides of the ball, but they had the better players.

 

[scottsp]

I was lucky enough to be invited to this game by some friends from church. Parents of a friend rounded up a few of us in Sunday School. And being that this was a noon game in Irving, we were made to promise that if we attended the 6pm service, we could tag along. And so, we did.

It's amusing now that I was so furious with Tony Hill for not getting out of bounds to give Septien a shot at the game winner. Of course, looking at it now, he really didn't have much of a chance to do anything except what he did. Though, fifteen year-old me didn't see it that way, and, to be fair, this is the first I've seen this footage since witnessing the event in person.

That '86 season began with such promise. Huge Monday night win against the Giants to open. I remember watching the Lions game with my sister in her hospital room like it was yesterday. The Falcons at TS? That was supposed to be a layup! And then the Pozderac game at The Meadowlands killed everything. Not just that season, but when Carl Banks blew up Danny White that day, it was the beginning of the end for Landry. Dallas started 6-2 and won only once again, in San Diego.

In 1984, I recall everyone in the city feeling so let down with a 9-7 record. Unacceptable! Such entitlement, huh? I felt 1985 was one of Landry's best coaching jobs, holding off both Washington and New York. The East was absolutely brutal at this time, too. Then came '86 and '87, when every week looked almost the same: An aging core playing out the string.

Then, 1988, which I still feel is the worst season in franchise history. There didn't seem to be a bottom in sight. At that time, no one could have foretold the events of the following February.

 

[KJJ]

I agree it was bad drafting. Dallas no longer had enough top level personnel. It wasn't about Landry being stuck in his ways. Landry was still innovative as evidence by his usage of Walker. They just didn't have enough overall talent to win. The 90s Cowboys won because of talent. Their schemes were rather simple on both sides of the ball, but they had the better players.

It was bad drafting and Landry not being able to break away from the only defense he knew. The Flex Defense had long been outdated by the time Landry dropped it and his Doomsday Defense was no more by the mid to late 80's. The younger coaches like Vermeil, Walsh and Gibbs were out coaching Landry keeping his defense off balance. The Flex Defense was designed to stop the run and it failed miserably in the Cowboys 3 consecutive title game losses in 80, 81 and 82. The game passed Landry by but to his credit it took over 2 decades.

There wasn't anything innovative by the way Landry used Walker he was used the way a lot of versatile backs including Dorsett had been used for years. The Cowboys shaky QB situation with Pulluer taking over for White forced Landry to have to lean on Walker but there certainly wasn't anything "innovative" with the way Walker was used. The passing game wasn't what it had been so the plan was to get the ball in Walkers hands anyway the Cowboys could. Landry used Walker very similarly to the way the Vikings used Chuck Foreman during the early to mid 70's.

 

[joseephuss]

I don't recall Dorsett being split out wide too often. Most of his receptions were on screens and the occasional wheel route. No one ever talked about Walker as a receiving threat at Georgia where he caught 26 passes in three seasons. It was very innovative to get him 76 receptions(a Cowboy record at the time) in 1986 in a multitude of ways. If Landry was set in his ways then it doesn't happen.

 

[KJJ]

I don't recall Dorsett being split out wide too often. Most of his receptions were on screens and the occasional wheel route. No one ever talked about Walker as a receiving threat at Georgia where he caught 26 passes in three seasons. It was very innovative to get him 76 receptions(a Cowboy record at the time) in 1986 in a multitude of ways. If Landry was set in his ways then it doesn't happen.

The Cowboys never had to spilt Dorsett out wide very often with the receivers they had during his prime years. The most receptions Dorsett had with the Cowboys was during the 84 and 85 season when the team was in decline. Walker was never talked about as a receiving threat at Georgia but he was a big receiving threat in the USFL with the New Jersey Generals. You must have forgot about that. In his 3 seasons in the USFL Walker had 130 receptions for 1484 yards and 7 TD's so the Cowboys were well aware of what he could do in the passing game. By the time Walker came to Dallas there was no Drew Pearson and Tony Hill was in his final season so the Cowboys planned on using Walkers speed as a runner and a receiver.

It didn't take any innovative skills to get the ball in Walkers hands as a receiver all Landry had to do was watch his USFL tape. Landry was set in his ways on defense that's the side of the ball that was killing the Cowboys. As I mentioned most of their failed #1 picks were on the defensive side of the ball from 77 to 87. The slow transition away from the Flex Defense added to the problem. The Cowboys were having great difficulty stopping the run which killed them in their title game losses to Philly, SF and Washington. The Cowboys were being abused upfront and that was the #1 area Landry wanted to fix at the time of his firing. The Cowboys maintained having some good offensive teams through the mid 80's but the defense couldn't stop anyone.

 

[lane]

I was lucky enough to be invited to this game by some friends from church. Parents of a friend rounded up a few of us in Sunday School. And being that this was a noon game in Irving, we were made to promise that if we attended the 6pm service, we could tag along. And so, we did.

It's amusing now that I was so furious with Tony Hill for not getting out of bounds to give Septien a shot at the game winner. Of course, looking at it now, he really didn't have much of a chance to do anything except what he did. Though, fifteen year-old me didn't see it that way, and, to be fair, this is the first I've seen this footage since witnessing the event in person.

That '86 season began with such promise. Huge Monday night win against the Giants to open. I remember watching the Lions game with my sister in her hospital room like it was yesterday. The Falcons at TS? That was supposed to be a layup! And then the Pozderac game at The Meadowlands killed everything. Not just that season, but when Carl Banks blew up Danny White that day, it was the beginning of the end for Landry. Dallas started 6-2 and won only once again, in San Diego.

In 1984, I recall everyone in the city feeling so let down with a 9-7 record. Unacceptable! Such entitlement, huh? I felt 1985 was one of Landry's best coaching jobs, holding off both Washington and New York. The East was absolutely brutal at this time, too. Then came '86 and '87, when every week looked almost the same: An aging core playing out the string.

Then, 1988, which I still feel is the worst season in franchise history. There didn't seem to be a bottom in sight. At that time, no one could have foretold the events of the following February.

Hey scottsp..even though only one speaker works on this audio..it sounded very loud in Texas Stadium... especially when Michael blocked the field goal.

 

[mrmojo]

Man that defensive front was old and the linebackers not very good....all Hitting Machines tackles were 5...6..yard s passed the los...there were no young randy whites or too tall jones to replace this group.

 

[NickZepp]

I disagree on Landry not learning new tricks. Dallas did drop the flex defense. On offense Landry got a lot of use out of Herschel Walker with mostly poor QB play at the time. No one would have envisioned Walker catching 76 passes in a season when he made it to the NFL, but that is what Dallas did.

Chad Hennings was also part of that 1988 draft class.

The 88 class was our best class and it wasn't all that great either. Hennings wouldn't play for 4 years after he was drafted. Ken Norton and Michael Irvin at the top of that draft were home runs though.

 

[Plankton]

There was also that blowout in Cincinnati right after Thanksgiving. Cowboys were obliterated, 50-24.

And the 44-0 shellacking at the hands of the Bears.

 

[windward]

And the 44-0 shellacking at the hands of the Bears.

A few years back I rewatched that game. Whoosh.

 

[Plankton]

A few years back I rewatched that game. Whoosh.

Only saw it the first time. I remember Tony Dorsett gaining 22 yards on the Cowboys' first run of the game. He gained 22 more the rest of the day. IIRC, Danny White got knocked out of the game TWICE with injuries. He had to come back in when Gary Hogeboom got concussed.

 

[KJJ]

The 88 class was our best class and it wasn't all that great either. Hennings wouldn't play for 4 years after he was drafted. Ken Norton and Michael Irvin at the top of that draft were home runs though.

Irvin and Norton being home runs made that draft a good draft. You're not going to hit on every pick no one does but when you end up with a future HOF player and an impact player like Norton who ended up making one of the best plays in SB history it makes your draft. The careers of both players didn't start off that great. Norton missed most of his rookie year with a broken thumb and didn't become a full time starter until 1990. Although Irvin showed promise as a rookie in 88 he tore his ACL in 89 missing most of that season. In 1990 he only produced 20 catches for just over 400 yards and it started looking like he may end up a bust but he exploded in 91 with 93 catches for over 1500 yards.