Here’s one EVERYONE should see. One of the most underrated great plays in Cowboys playoff history. It’s 2 plays before Hail Mary play.
It’s 4th and 17 from Cowboys own 33 yard line, no timeouts, trailing 14-10 with less than a minute left. Staubach hits Pearson with a beautiful 20 yard out pass where Drew tightropes the sideline for a 20 yd completion.
Two plays later, the Hail Mary play and Cowboys win. Most underrated play I can remember.
I got one!
We'll call it, "The day Haevey Martin buried the "Over the Hill Gang......""
In 1979 bragging rights were on the line when the Cowboys met the Commanders in their final game of the season. And there was a lot on the line. The winner got the Divison crown; the loser was going home.Going into that final week, the NFC East was a three-way tie at 10-5. And the way the tiebreakers fell, the division title was simple — Dallas’ home game with Washington was for first place. Each team had tiebreakers on Philadelphia. And the Cowboys’ victory over the Bears at least ensured them a wild-card spot.
Dallas trailed 17-0 before a Ron Springs 1 yard run and a 26 yard pass from Staubach to Drew Pearson closed to gap to 17-14 at halftime.In the only score of the third, Robert Newhouse's 1 yard plunge made it 21-17 Cowboys.
A wild fourth quarter followed. The Commanders came back with a Moseley FG and two TDs by John Riggins. The longest being 66 yards and leaving the Cowboy faithful with little hope.
Then Roger took over. He first threw a 26 yard TD to Ron Springs and to top that, he tossed an 8 yarder to Tony Hill. All told he went 24 of 42 for 336 yards, 3 tds, 1 pick, all the while being sacked 4 times in a Division deciding game where the Cowboys came out 35-34 victors!
Yes, the Cowboys were division champs! The Eagles and Bears were wild-cards. The Commanders were out.
To add insult to injury, Cowboys defensive end Harvey Martin threw a funeral wreath at the Commanders players!
Now one might wonder, "Where did Harvey Martin get a funeral wreath at a football game?"
The story of the wreath is it was ordered by a Dallas fan and sent to the Cowboys as motivation. Dallas players thought it was the Commanders taunting them since the 'Skins had won the first game 34-20, kicking a meaningless FG to close out the scoring.
“I got to thinking, ‘Man, that means I’m dead or something. They sent me a wreath,’ ” Martin told the Associated Press. “I just kept looking at it. So on the way to the stadium, I told [the equipment manager] bring that thing with us.”
After the game, Martin grabbed the wreath and threw it at Washington players, who were too stunned and tired to quickly retaliate. The wreath hit kicker Mark Moseley’s knee who needed three stitches.
Today players don’t buy into the rivalry. It’s for fans. But back when, the Cowboys were the division’s best. Beat the Cowboys and you've beat the best.
Now, when the Cowboys square off with the WFT, don't forget to send a wreath!