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GRAND FINALE
Ten times in the history of the Cowboys, they have entered their final game of the regular season with playoff hopes on the line.
by Jeff Sullivan
Three of this decade's Super Bowl winners, the 2000 Baltimore Ravens, the 2005 Pittsburgh Steelers and the 2007 New York Giants, were wild card entries to, as Bill Parcells calls it, "The Tournament."
Not to say that's the direction of choice for NFL teams looking to land the Lombardi Trophy, just that many have found postseason success following less than stellar campaigns. And, the majority of these circumstances stem from earning playoff berths or higher seedings via victories in their regular-season finale, a position in which the Dallas Cowboys have found themselves on many an occasion.
Alas, there have also been times when the Cowboys spent an entire week preparing for just such a contest, only to never have the opportunity, such as New Year's Day 2006, when minutes before their own Texas Stadium kickoff with the St. Louis Rams, "America's Team" was eliminated from the playoffs because of the Washington Commanders' defeat of the Philadelphia Eagles. Obviously deflated, the Cowboys fell to the previously 5-10 Rams, 20-10.
Here are 10 memorable instances in franchise history, taken in chronological order, when the Cowboys entered their regular-season finale in need of a win for their postseason aspirations:
1965
First off, following a three-point road loss to the Washington Commanders on Nov. 28, Tom Landry's career record with the Cowboys was 22-53-4. After back-to-back wins, though, Dallas faced the host New York Giants with a chance to finish the year 7-7 and in the process, earn the franchise's first postseason berth.
Quarterback Don Meredith was only 8-of-18, but he threw for 200 yards and three touchdowns as Dallas won 38-20. The reward was the Baltimore Colts, who were 10-3-1, in something called a Playoff Bowl Game in Miami three weeks later that featured each conference's second-place finisher. The Cowboys lost 35-3. Asked what went wrong, Landry said, "It was a team effort."
1970
After falling to 5-4 via the first shutout in franchise history, at home to St. Louis no less, not to mention 38-0, Dallas was left for the land of the football dead. But led by quarterback Craig Morton and rookie running back Duane Thomas, the Cowboys won four straight while the Cardinals went in the tank, losing three consecutive contests.
The NFC East was a three-way tango entering the final week, with Dallas and the Giants 9-4 and St. Louis at 8-4-1. New York was pasted, 31-3, by the Rams while the Cardinals lost to Washington, 28-27, leaving the Cowboys more than willing and able to knock down the division championship door with a 52-10 dismantling of the Houston Oilers on Dec. 20 at the Cotton Bowl. In the win, Morton posted video game-like numbers, completing 13-of-17 passes for 349 yards and five touchdowns, four of which landed in the hands of Bob Hayes.
The Cowboys advanced to their first Super Bowl four weeks later, where they lost an ugly game, 16-13, to Baltimore.
1973
A frantic rush at season's end saw the Cowboys win five-of-six games entering the finale at St. Louis on Dec. 16, a run that culminated a week earlier with a 27-7 home defeat of the first-place Washington Commanders. George Allen's men arrived in Dallas with command of the NFC East; they left deadlocked with the Cowboys, each at 9-4.
The Cowboys struggled in the early going amid frigid temperatures in St. Louis, the teams tied at 3-3 entering the second quarter. Thereafter, Dallas rolled and then some, with rookie wideout Drew Pearson hauling in five Roger Staubach passes for 140 yards and two scores in a 30-3 win. The Commanders also won, defeating Philadelphia, 38-20.
As for the tiebreaker, the season series was split and both Dallas and Washington finished 6-2 in the division. Next up was point-differential in the two games the teams played, with the Cowboys holding the edge by 13 points. Thus, the NFC East crown, and more importantly the home game in the divisional playoff round, was theirs.
1979
Hard to fathom that 30 years have passed since this implausible football game took place. When compiling our Top-10 games in Texas Stadium history last year, this was the easiest of selections at No. 1, that being the Cowboys thrilling-beyond-descriptive-words 35-34 defeat of the Washington Commanders on Dec. 16 in what would be Roger Staubach's final regular-season game.
First off, the Cowboys were basically finished, sleeping with the fishes following three straight losses to end November at 8-5. However, they beat the New York Giants and Philadelphia and stood a win shy of claiming the division. Chances were both Washington and Dallas would make the playoffs regardless of the outcome via the wild card, but that changed when the Chicago Bears won by more than 33 points to earn a spot.
Washington led 34-21with less than four minutes remaining and the ball when the improbable chain of events began with Randy White recovering a fumble at Dallas' 41-yard line.
Staubach struck quickly, completing 14- and 19-yard passes to Tony Hill before connecting with rookie Ron Springs, who was at tailback in place of an injured Tony Dorsett, across the middle for a 26-yard touchdown.
Following a three-and-out punt by Washington, Staubach hit Preston Pearson for 22- and 25-yard connections before finding Hill eight yards out for the winning score. The Cowboys won the game and the division while Washington's season was no more.
"I can't believe it," Staubach said after the game. "I'm still in shock. It's amazing. That was absolutely the most thrilling 60 minutes I've ever spent on a football field."
1980
The Cowboys put themselves in a tough spot following a Week 15 loss to the Los Angeles Rams, as they needed to beat Philadelphia at home by more than 24 points to win the division title. Dallas indeed won the game, defeating the Eagles, 35-27, and both teams finished 12-4, but Philly took the tiebreaker thanks to net points in divisional games, and three weeks later used that home-field advantage to beat the Cowboys, 20-7, in the NFC championship game.
1984
Having qualified for the postseason nine straight seasons, the Cowboys arrived at the Orange Bowl in need of a major upset on Monday Night Football to extend that streak to double-digits.
And they almost did just that, falling short, 28-21, on a late-fourth quarter touchdown pass from Dan Marino to Mark Clayton, the tandem's third scoring hookup of the game. Miami finished the season 14-2 behind Marino's record-setting campaign of 5,084 yards and 48 touchdown passes. A quarter century later, the passing-yards mark still stands.
After the teams combined for 21 points in the first three quarters, each scored two touchdowns in the fourth, with Dallas tying the score at 21-21 on a 66-yard scoring strike from Danny White to Tony Hill.
While the Cowboys fought valiantly on this night, they by no means were hard-luck losers, finishing at 9-7, as they scored 308 points and allowed 308 points on the season.
1991
Since Jerry Jones purchased the team and hired Jimmy Johnson, the Cowboys record was 14-29 following a 22-9 loss at the Giants on Nov. 17 that dropped this transformed version of "America's Team" to 6-5.
But for all intents and purposes, the dynasty that produced three Super Bowls in four seasons began at this single juncture, as the Cowboys won four straight, including road victories at Washington and Philadelphia, and returned home at 10-5 for a date with Atlanta on Dec. 22. Incidentally, Dallas could've earned a playoff berth the previous year, but lost at Atlanta, 26-7, in the season finale and finished 8-8.
Not this time, though, not at Texas Stadium and definitely not with Emmitt Smith vying for his first rushing title. He gained 160 yards, edged Barry Sanders for statistical supremacy, and the Cowboys won 31-27.
1993
The signature game of Emmitt Smith's career, which is saying a thing or two considering he's a Super Bowl MVP. But on this afternoon at Giants Stadium, he was so much more than a Hall of Fame running back.
The stakes were simple. Both teams came in 11-4, winner took the NFC East, and in the process, home-field advantage throughout the postseason; the loser, despite having the second-best record in the NFC, would play the following week in a wild-card game.
Leading 10-0 late in the second quarter, the Cowboys seemed willing to kill the clock before Smith busted free for a 46-yard run that concluded with him landing on his right shoulder on the frigid artificial turf. While the effort gave Smith 109 yards for the game and led to a Cowboys field goal, the league's leading rusher for a third year running had suffered a grade-one shoulder separation and was lost for at least a few weeks.
Well, except for the fact that he was Emmitt Smith. Returning in the second half, Smith led Dallas to an overtime victory, 16-13, behind 168 rushing yards and 10 receptions for 61 yards. And during the game-winning drive in the extra session—Eddie Murray booted a 41-yard field goal—Smith accounted for 41 of the team's 52 yards and nine of the 11 touches.
"I heard bones cracking around me all day long," Smith said afterwards. "I hear about guys playing hurt all the time. That's what I had to do today.
"I came in with the intention of doing whatever it took to win. At halftime, the injury was pretty rough. I had to make a decision whether to sit or play. I wanted to do everything to help us win. I wanted to play. I didn't care."
The Cowboys went on to capture their second straight Super Bowl.
1999
In the overwhelming majority of NFL seasons, the Cowboys regular-season finale with the Giants at Texas Stadium would've been a meaningless afterthought. However, 10 years ago both teams entered the game at 7-8 needing a win for a playoff berth.
In a sort of last stand for the holdovers of the trio of Super Bowl wins, Troy Aikman threw for 288 yards and two scores while Smith rushed for 122 yards in a 26-18 victory.
The depth of the mediocrity in the NFC this particular year included the Detroit Lions also earning a wild-card bid with an 8-8 record.
2008
No reason to rehash this one quite yet, if ever. Suffice to say, the Cowboys lost at Philadelphia and didn't make the playoffs.
Dallas Cowboys Star Magazine, January 2, 2010
Ten times in the history of the Cowboys, they have entered their final game of the regular season with playoff hopes on the line.
by Jeff Sullivan
Three of this decade's Super Bowl winners, the 2000 Baltimore Ravens, the 2005 Pittsburgh Steelers and the 2007 New York Giants, were wild card entries to, as Bill Parcells calls it, "The Tournament."
Not to say that's the direction of choice for NFL teams looking to land the Lombardi Trophy, just that many have found postseason success following less than stellar campaigns. And, the majority of these circumstances stem from earning playoff berths or higher seedings via victories in their regular-season finale, a position in which the Dallas Cowboys have found themselves on many an occasion.
Alas, there have also been times when the Cowboys spent an entire week preparing for just such a contest, only to never have the opportunity, such as New Year's Day 2006, when minutes before their own Texas Stadium kickoff with the St. Louis Rams, "America's Team" was eliminated from the playoffs because of the Washington Commanders' defeat of the Philadelphia Eagles. Obviously deflated, the Cowboys fell to the previously 5-10 Rams, 20-10.
Here are 10 memorable instances in franchise history, taken in chronological order, when the Cowboys entered their regular-season finale in need of a win for their postseason aspirations:
1965
First off, following a three-point road loss to the Washington Commanders on Nov. 28, Tom Landry's career record with the Cowboys was 22-53-4. After back-to-back wins, though, Dallas faced the host New York Giants with a chance to finish the year 7-7 and in the process, earn the franchise's first postseason berth.
Quarterback Don Meredith was only 8-of-18, but he threw for 200 yards and three touchdowns as Dallas won 38-20. The reward was the Baltimore Colts, who were 10-3-1, in something called a Playoff Bowl Game in Miami three weeks later that featured each conference's second-place finisher. The Cowboys lost 35-3. Asked what went wrong, Landry said, "It was a team effort."
1970
After falling to 5-4 via the first shutout in franchise history, at home to St. Louis no less, not to mention 38-0, Dallas was left for the land of the football dead. But led by quarterback Craig Morton and rookie running back Duane Thomas, the Cowboys won four straight while the Cardinals went in the tank, losing three consecutive contests.
The NFC East was a three-way tango entering the final week, with Dallas and the Giants 9-4 and St. Louis at 8-4-1. New York was pasted, 31-3, by the Rams while the Cardinals lost to Washington, 28-27, leaving the Cowboys more than willing and able to knock down the division championship door with a 52-10 dismantling of the Houston Oilers on Dec. 20 at the Cotton Bowl. In the win, Morton posted video game-like numbers, completing 13-of-17 passes for 349 yards and five touchdowns, four of which landed in the hands of Bob Hayes.
The Cowboys advanced to their first Super Bowl four weeks later, where they lost an ugly game, 16-13, to Baltimore.
1973
A frantic rush at season's end saw the Cowboys win five-of-six games entering the finale at St. Louis on Dec. 16, a run that culminated a week earlier with a 27-7 home defeat of the first-place Washington Commanders. George Allen's men arrived in Dallas with command of the NFC East; they left deadlocked with the Cowboys, each at 9-4.
The Cowboys struggled in the early going amid frigid temperatures in St. Louis, the teams tied at 3-3 entering the second quarter. Thereafter, Dallas rolled and then some, with rookie wideout Drew Pearson hauling in five Roger Staubach passes for 140 yards and two scores in a 30-3 win. The Commanders also won, defeating Philadelphia, 38-20.
As for the tiebreaker, the season series was split and both Dallas and Washington finished 6-2 in the division. Next up was point-differential in the two games the teams played, with the Cowboys holding the edge by 13 points. Thus, the NFC East crown, and more importantly the home game in the divisional playoff round, was theirs.
1979
Hard to fathom that 30 years have passed since this implausible football game took place. When compiling our Top-10 games in Texas Stadium history last year, this was the easiest of selections at No. 1, that being the Cowboys thrilling-beyond-descriptive-words 35-34 defeat of the Washington Commanders on Dec. 16 in what would be Roger Staubach's final regular-season game.
First off, the Cowboys were basically finished, sleeping with the fishes following three straight losses to end November at 8-5. However, they beat the New York Giants and Philadelphia and stood a win shy of claiming the division. Chances were both Washington and Dallas would make the playoffs regardless of the outcome via the wild card, but that changed when the Chicago Bears won by more than 33 points to earn a spot.
Washington led 34-21with less than four minutes remaining and the ball when the improbable chain of events began with Randy White recovering a fumble at Dallas' 41-yard line.
Staubach struck quickly, completing 14- and 19-yard passes to Tony Hill before connecting with rookie Ron Springs, who was at tailback in place of an injured Tony Dorsett, across the middle for a 26-yard touchdown.
Following a three-and-out punt by Washington, Staubach hit Preston Pearson for 22- and 25-yard connections before finding Hill eight yards out for the winning score. The Cowboys won the game and the division while Washington's season was no more.
"I can't believe it," Staubach said after the game. "I'm still in shock. It's amazing. That was absolutely the most thrilling 60 minutes I've ever spent on a football field."
1980
The Cowboys put themselves in a tough spot following a Week 15 loss to the Los Angeles Rams, as they needed to beat Philadelphia at home by more than 24 points to win the division title. Dallas indeed won the game, defeating the Eagles, 35-27, and both teams finished 12-4, but Philly took the tiebreaker thanks to net points in divisional games, and three weeks later used that home-field advantage to beat the Cowboys, 20-7, in the NFC championship game.
1984
Having qualified for the postseason nine straight seasons, the Cowboys arrived at the Orange Bowl in need of a major upset on Monday Night Football to extend that streak to double-digits.
And they almost did just that, falling short, 28-21, on a late-fourth quarter touchdown pass from Dan Marino to Mark Clayton, the tandem's third scoring hookup of the game. Miami finished the season 14-2 behind Marino's record-setting campaign of 5,084 yards and 48 touchdown passes. A quarter century later, the passing-yards mark still stands.
After the teams combined for 21 points in the first three quarters, each scored two touchdowns in the fourth, with Dallas tying the score at 21-21 on a 66-yard scoring strike from Danny White to Tony Hill.
While the Cowboys fought valiantly on this night, they by no means were hard-luck losers, finishing at 9-7, as they scored 308 points and allowed 308 points on the season.
1991
Since Jerry Jones purchased the team and hired Jimmy Johnson, the Cowboys record was 14-29 following a 22-9 loss at the Giants on Nov. 17 that dropped this transformed version of "America's Team" to 6-5.
But for all intents and purposes, the dynasty that produced three Super Bowls in four seasons began at this single juncture, as the Cowboys won four straight, including road victories at Washington and Philadelphia, and returned home at 10-5 for a date with Atlanta on Dec. 22. Incidentally, Dallas could've earned a playoff berth the previous year, but lost at Atlanta, 26-7, in the season finale and finished 8-8.
Not this time, though, not at Texas Stadium and definitely not with Emmitt Smith vying for his first rushing title. He gained 160 yards, edged Barry Sanders for statistical supremacy, and the Cowboys won 31-27.
1993
The signature game of Emmitt Smith's career, which is saying a thing or two considering he's a Super Bowl MVP. But on this afternoon at Giants Stadium, he was so much more than a Hall of Fame running back.
The stakes were simple. Both teams came in 11-4, winner took the NFC East, and in the process, home-field advantage throughout the postseason; the loser, despite having the second-best record in the NFC, would play the following week in a wild-card game.
Leading 10-0 late in the second quarter, the Cowboys seemed willing to kill the clock before Smith busted free for a 46-yard run that concluded with him landing on his right shoulder on the frigid artificial turf. While the effort gave Smith 109 yards for the game and led to a Cowboys field goal, the league's leading rusher for a third year running had suffered a grade-one shoulder separation and was lost for at least a few weeks.
Well, except for the fact that he was Emmitt Smith. Returning in the second half, Smith led Dallas to an overtime victory, 16-13, behind 168 rushing yards and 10 receptions for 61 yards. And during the game-winning drive in the extra session—Eddie Murray booted a 41-yard field goal—Smith accounted for 41 of the team's 52 yards and nine of the 11 touches.
"I heard bones cracking around me all day long," Smith said afterwards. "I hear about guys playing hurt all the time. That's what I had to do today.
"I came in with the intention of doing whatever it took to win. At halftime, the injury was pretty rough. I had to make a decision whether to sit or play. I wanted to do everything to help us win. I wanted to play. I didn't care."
The Cowboys went on to capture their second straight Super Bowl.
1999
In the overwhelming majority of NFL seasons, the Cowboys regular-season finale with the Giants at Texas Stadium would've been a meaningless afterthought. However, 10 years ago both teams entered the game at 7-8 needing a win for a playoff berth.
In a sort of last stand for the holdovers of the trio of Super Bowl wins, Troy Aikman threw for 288 yards and two scores while Smith rushed for 122 yards in a 26-18 victory.
The depth of the mediocrity in the NFC this particular year included the Detroit Lions also earning a wild-card bid with an 8-8 record.
2008
No reason to rehash this one quite yet, if ever. Suffice to say, the Cowboys lost at Philadelphia and didn't make the playoffs.
Dallas Cowboys Star Magazine, January 2, 2010