SUPER BOWL XXVII : THE DALLAS COWBOYS : Dallas Cowboys: A Review of the Season

SEPT. 7

Cowboys 23, Washington Redskins 10--Dallas would get an early barometer of how it stacked up in the NFC, playing each of its division rivals in the first four games. Against the defending Super Bowl champions, the Cowboys scored the first nine points, then broke open the game in the third quarter on a 79-yard punt return by Kelvin Martin. SEPT. 13

Cowboys 34, New York Giants 28--Dallas raced to a 34-0 lead in the third quarter and it looked to good to be true. It was. The Giants rallied for 28 points in 17 minutes and the Cowboys narrowly avoided becoming the victim of one of the greatest comebacks in NFL history. Troy Aikman passed for two touchdowns before Phil Simms led the Giants on touchdown drives of 80, 80, 62 and 55 yards. SEPT. 20

Cowboys 31, Phoenix Cardinals 20--Michael Irvin missed training camp in a salary dispute but he didn’t miss a step. He caught three touchdown passes and had a career-best 210 receiving yards as the Cowboys got off to their first 3-0 start since 1983. Emmitt Smith rushed for 112 yards and scored a touchdown as the Cardinals went down to their 11th consecutive defeat. SEPT. 27

Cowboys had a bye. OCT. 5

Philadelphia Eagles 31, Cowboys 7--Dallas traveled to Philadelphia for a Monday night showdown and got shown up on national television. Former Cowboy Herschel Walker, whose enabled Dallas to build the nucleus of its team, scored touchdowns on runs of nine and 16 yards. The Cowboys managed only 80 yards rushing and scored the last 24 points of the game. OCT. 11

Cowboys 27, Seattle Seahawks 0--Nursing their wounds from a sobering loss to Philadelphia, the Cowboys found a quick remedy in the lowly Seahawks. The Cowboy defense produced seven sacks and limited the Seahawks to 62 yards in total offense to record their first regular-season shutout in 14 years. Emmitt Smith scored on two short runs and Ray Horton returned an interception 15 yards for a score for the Cowboys. OCT. 18

Cowboys 17, Kansas City Chiefs 10--Safety Ray Horton lost his starting job, and then saved the victory with an interception with 3:27 remaining as the Cowboys moved back into first place. And the seeds of a Super Bowl were sewn. “I think we have a Super Bowl-calibre team,” said Cowboy fullback Dave Johnson. “We beat Kansas City and they beat Philadelphia” OCT. 25

Cowboys 28, Raiders 13--Emmitt Smith put on a show before 91,505 at the Coliseum--many of them Cowboy fans--by gaining 152 yards and scoring three touchdowns. The Raiders, who hadn’t allowed a touchdown in 10 quarters entering the game, held a 13-7 lead in the third quarter before Troy Aikman teamed with Alvin Harper for a 52-yard touchdown pass play to send the Cowboys on their way. NOV. 1

Cowboys 20, Philadelphia Eagles 10--In the much-anticipated rematch, the Cowboys ran away from the injured and dispirited Eagles in the second half after sending an ineffective Randall Cunningham to the bench. Emmitt Smith broke loose for 163 yards rushing and Troy Aikman directed scoring drives of 80 and 78 yards against the vaunted Eagle defense. The victory gave the Cowboys a two-game lead in the NFC East. NOV. 8

Cowboys 37, Detroit Lions 3--The difference a year made was considerable. In 1991, the Lions beat the Cowboys twice--27-10 in the regular season and 38-6 in the NFC championship game. This time, Emmitt Smith scored three touchdowns and the Cowboys handed the Lions their worst home loss in 28 years. NOV. 15

Rams 27, Cowboys 23--Stumbling along at 3-5, the Rams turned out to be just the kind of team to bring out the worst in the NFC East front-runners. After the Rams scored twice before halftime to take a 21-10 lead, the Cowboys regained the advantage when Kelvin Martin returned a punt 74 yards for a touchdown. After the Rams drove for two field goals in the fourth quarter, the Cowboys ran out of chances on the Ram 14 when time expired and Troy Aikman’s pass into the end zone skidded across the Texas Stadium carpet. NOV. 22

Cowboys 16, Phoenix 10--With Emmitt Smith and Michael Irvin held in check, Troy Aikman passed for 237 yards and two touchdowns to lead a victory before a crowd of 72,439--the largest ever to watch a Cardinal home game--more than half of which was wearing Dallas blue and white. The Cowboys, at 9-2, had their best record since 1983. NOV. 26

Cowboys 30, New York Giants 3--The Giants used an eight-man front to combat Emmitt Smith, and it worked. For a half. Smith scored twice in a span of 2:50 in the third quarter to break open the game. Smith took a swing pass 26 yards for a touchdown, then ran untouched 68 yards for another score the next time he touched the ball. Smith finished with 120 yards rushing as Dallas improved to 14-7-1 on Thanksgiving Day. DEC. 6

Cowboys 31, Denver Broncos 27--One Troy Aikman proved to be better than the two quarterbacks the Broncos were forced to employ in the absence of the injured John Elways. After the Broncos, led alternately by rookies Tommy Maddox and Shawn Moore, took a 27-24 lead with 9:05 remaining, Aikman took over. He led the Cowboys on a 77-yard scoring drive and finished with 285 yards passing as the Cowboys clinched a playoff berth. DEC. 13

Washington Redskins 20, Cowboys 17--On a bizarre play, Danny Copeland recovered a fumble in the end zone to keep the Redskins’ playoff hopes alive and keep the Cowboys from clinching their first NFC East title in seven years. After a goal-line stand by Dallas, Cowboys quarterback Troy Aikman lost the ball when sacked in the end zone by Jason Buck. There was some controversy over whether Aikman was in the process of throwing when he lost the ball, but in the age of no instant replay, the ball bounced the Redskins’ way. DEC. 21

Cowboys 41, Atlanta Falcons 17--The franchise’s 14th division title was seven years coming. Troy Aikman passed for three touchdowns and Emmitt Smith rushed for 174 yards and scored twice punctuated their rise from the ashes of a 1-15 season in 1989. DEC. 27

Cowboys 27, Chicago Bears 14--Emmitt Smith rushed for 130 yards and a touchdown to win the NFL rushing crown and establish a new Cowboys record with 1,713 yards, better Tony Dorsett’s mark of 1,646 set in 1981. Smith, who gained 160 yards in the 1991 season finale, bcame only the ninth player in history to win consecutive NFL rushing titles. The Cowboys established a team record for victories with 13. JAN. 10

Cowboys 34, Philadelphia Eagles 10--From the beginning of the second quarter until the end of the third, the Dallas defense forced two turnovers and allowed only 10 total yards. In the meantime, the Cowboy offense rolled up 226 yards, including a 23-yard touchdown run by emmitt Smith. Afterward, Cowboy Coach Jimmy Johnson didn’t mince words in his assessment. “We had he best team,” he said. Philadelphia provided little in the way of an argument. Troy Aikman, starting his first playoff game, passes for 200 yards and two touchdowns. Emmitt Smith rushed for 114 yards and a touchdowns. And the Cowboys headed for their first NFC Championship gam,e since the 1982-83 season. JAN. 17

Cowboys 30, San Francisco 49ers 20--These two franchises went passing in the dusk of Candlestick Park in 1982, the 49ers on their way to a dynasty that won four Super Bowls in eight years and the Cowboys toward an oblivion that resulted in new ownership and a new coach. Eleven years later, against another Candlestick backdrop, the teams met in the playoffsa once again. And all directions pointed toward Dallas. After playing to a 10-10 tie in the first half, Dallas scored on its first two possessions of the second half, then had an answer when San Francisco mounted a rally. Trailing 24-13 and given new life when Dallas failed to convert on fourth down at the 49er 7, quarterback Steve Young led the 49ers on a nine-play, 93-yard touchdown drive to narrow the margin to 24-20. Faced with a momentum switch, Dallas struck boldly, opening its ensuing drive with a pass play to Kelvin Martin that resulted in a 70-yard gain. Moments later, Troy Aikman and Martin hooked up on a six-yard touchdown pass play, and the star was again shining bright for youngest team in the NFL.