FYI, '95 NFC Championship game

[J_Allen]

Free agency robbed the team of a lot of players but our corp group was still together including the triplets which was just enough to squeeze out one more championship. The Cowboys were fortunate they were going up against a very average QB in O'Donnell who had a miserable SB with 3 INT's and a passer rating of 51.3. It was a wonder the Steelers ever reached the SB with him his playoff numbers were awful that season he had 6 INT's and a passer rating of 61.6.

It should have been 3 in a row...

 

[J_Allen]

They owe Atlanta a big thank you for beating San Francisco in the last game of the season, and to Green Bay for knocking the 49ers off the week before the Championship Game.

Yep, San Francisco had Barry's number. If they beat Green Bay we lose for a third time in a row against them.

 

[slick325]

Watching that game and seeing how much the Dallas running game dominated makes me want Zeke Elliott in Dallas even more. Emmitt was a beast the entire game (150 yds on over 30 carries with 3TDs). Moose and the OL were dominant. Troy was playing pitch and catch to Irv (over 100 yds receiving) and Novacek all day because of the single coverage.

Dallas' defense had no pass rush all game (Haley didn't play due to his back) and Favre was moving the ball up and down the field all game. It was bend but don't break then capitalize on turnovers when you get them.

 

[Plankton]

Me neither and that team was running on fumes BIG TIME!

What people forget is that they started December with a loss to the Commanders and then they lost the Philly game where Barry got torched for running the same play back to back.

Then they are about to lose their 3rd game in a row to the Giants at home. The offense sputtered all day and all they could get was field goals. Down 20-18 in the 4th quarter with under 2 minutes to play, its 3rd and 10 at the Giants 38 when Aikman completes a pass to Kevin Williams for 11 yards and a huge first down but Williams makes a spectacular diving catch in the process. Otherwise its 4th and 10 from the 38 and who knows if they make the first down or field goal. As it turned out, they drove to the 17 yard line and kicked a field goal at the end of regulation to seal the 21-20 win and avoid losing 3 in a row and virtually any chance of earning a bye week which was essential for this aging and tired group pf players.

The next week they played Arizona on Monday, Christmas day in what appeared to be a meaningless game as the 49ers have the tie breaker over the Cowboys for home field (because they beat the **** out of the Cowboys at Texas Stadium with friggin Elvis Grbac, it was over at halftime when SF lead 31-7 and coasted home for the 38-20 win) and all the Niners have to do to lock it up and force the Cowboys to play three games to get back to the Super Bowl is beat the Atlanta Falcons on christmas eve.

What a glorious christmas it was as the Falcons upset the Niners which seemed like a shot of steroids to a listless Dallas team that was lucky to avoid losing their last three games. Dallas flew into Arizona and stomped the Cardinals 37-13 (seems like it was the last time they won there) and came home for a much needed week off and rest for the second round of the playoffs.

The power had shifted back to the Niners but Dallas still held over Green Bay so when Green Bay beat the Niners in the Divisional round, the stars seemed to be aligning for yet another week because I'm not convinced the Cowboys would have beaten the Niners and I'm honestly glad we didn't get to find out.

To me that season hinged on two major events. Kevin Williams spectacular diving catch to save the Cowboys against the Giants and SF losing to Atlanta causing them to lose home field advantage to the Cowboys and securing Dallas the much needed week of rest via the bye.

The Super Bowl seemed to reflect how the season went where they started the season strong (8-1) and then faded (4-3), had to hang on for dear life and catch some luck to salvage the win/season.

I told my buddy we had to go to that Super Bowl because it was the last one we'd see as long as jerri is running the show. Glad we did but it was nerve racking as hell in that last quarter, losing the 3rd SB to the stealers would have been my worst nightmare.

A big thing in that Cowboy-Giant game was when the coaching staff finally figured out that they needed Leon Lett playing inside at DT instead of DE. They had kicked Lett out to DE in the absence of Charles Haley with a back injury. Rodney Hampton absolutely gashed the Cowboy defense with the soft middle, running for over 180 yards. Hampton singlehandedly drove the Giants into the redzone in the fourth quarter. Once in the red zone, the coaches moved Lett back inside, and put Shante Carver in at DE. Lett came up with a couple of big stops, including a sack, to force a FG. Then, after another defensive stop, Kevin Williams played one of the two best games of his life (he caught over 200 yards worth of passes against the Cardinals in the final week of the season).

It was interesting that Kevin Williams stepped up the way he did when the season was on the line, especially in light of the Troy Aikman-is-a-racist accusations that came to be in December. Aikman was deemed to be a "racist" by John Blake after yelling at Williams when he ran the wrong route against the Commanders. After all of that, Williams had his step up moment.

What a bizarre season, in retrospect.

 

[KJJ]

It should have been 3 in a row...

More like it "could" have been 3 in a row. The 49ers had a great team in 94 and we committed several turnovers early that helped cost us that game. They had a team very comparable to the Cowboys with HOF players at some skill positions. In the 92 NFC title game Jerry Rice caught a long TD pass on the 49ers first possession that was called back due to a penalty that score could have changed the complexion of that game. Those are the breaks and that one happened to go in our favor which impacted the game. It was going to be very difficult to beat SF a 3rd straight year in a title game especially on the road but the Cowboys did make a valiant effort to come back after spotting them a big lead.

 

[rynochop]

[quote="SwensonDC, post: 6626673, member:. There was just no fire in that team and we had lost too many pieces. It was not an enjoyable Super Bowl.[/quote]

Are you serious?

 

[DandyDon52]

[quote="SwensonDC, post: 6626673, member:. There was just no fire in that team and we had lost too many pieces. It was not an enjoyable Super Bowl.

Are you serious?[/quote]

I think he is ! lol some find faults even in a SB win !

 

[CanadianCowboysFan]

who cares how we won, we won

 

[DandyDon52]

I will say this, winning or even getting to a SB a team needs to have some good luck.
Not only in the games, but in who they have to play.
That year the AFC was weak, so the NFC team was going to win whether it was the cowboys or one of the other contenders.
Just like Carolina, they should have won a SB, but they had bad luck going the year that Denver shows up with their all star defense.
If Carolina plays any other AFC team they win, but they had bad luck .

 

[big dog cowboy]

It should have been 3 in a row...

4

 

[DandyDon52]

anyone interested in 2008 cowboy games?

 

[DandyDon52]

It should have been 3 in a row...

4

yes 4 in a row was there for the taking, but jerry and jimmy let their ego's derail it.
It would have been a awesome record to have, would never be duplicated, but neither guy
could control their temper or ego, so it did not happen.

 

[KJJ]

anyone interested in 2008 cowboy games?

Can't imagine why anyone would a disappointing season that ended in a 44-6 debacle at Philly.

 

[Fla Cowpoke]

Larry Brown cashed in as much as just about any player alive....big int in the game against the Packers in the 4th quarter and then the two against O'Donnell.

 

[Gameover]

Still don't know how Dallas won the Super Bowl that year. Running on Jimmy's fumes. A month after the season, it all fell apart for good.

Not true on any of this.

 

[Gameover]

No kidding. Remember 4th-and-1? There was some ugly football that year.

Remember losing to a garbage Atlanta team in 1993?

I believe they started that season 7-1! Not good enough for whining Cowboys fans. Switzer was right!

 

[Gameover]

Your right. That DC team was hanging on a thread from losing that game and from then on sent to "average" hell for the next 21 years and counting.
I heard that team was a mess preparing for the SB. Most players and even coaches were showing up late to practice, riding around in Limos all night, no focus on the game at all.
The only reason we won was O'Donnell's mishaps and our offensive line had one last drive in them to put Emmit in the EZ. I was more relieved, than excited after that game.
That game was won on talent and repetition alone and they had no coaching or leadership help at all.

Average? With the right moves the Cowboys could've repeated in 1996.

1. Instead of the Deion signing in 95, use some of that money on Troy Vincent instead. Better player 96- on, no locker room headache and much cheaper.

2. Sign Irving Fryar.

3. Keep Irvin out of all local, statewide and national hotel rooms!

That 96 offseason would've given us a strong chance in 96 and kept us solid years beyond

 

[JoeKing]

My TiVo already added this to the "To Do" list, but thanks for the heads up none the less.

 

[windward]

Yep, we barely even got to the game. Erik Williams was able to put his hand inside Reggie Whites face mask all day long. Had that not happened Aikman is on his back all day. Their pick six at the start was also overturned.

In the Super Bowl Pittsburgh outplayed us in the 2nd half. Without the two INTs we lose the game. There was just no fire in that team and we had lost too many pieces. It was not an enjoyable Super Bowl.

This is emblematic of the entitled fan.

You. Win. The. Super. Bowl. Yet you want to complain about how we did it?

Absolutely astounding.

 

[Ultra Warrior]

It was not an enjoyable Super Bowl.

Getting a Super Bowl Win over the Steelers, NOT enjoyable?
Don't care how ugly that game was, so long as we came out on top, that was ALL that mattered.