Standing in the Texas Stadium runway outside of the Dallas Cowboys locker room for perhaps the final time, Pro Football Hall of Famer Randy White smiled as the question was asked.
What was his most memorable game at Texas Stadium?
"I've been asked that question a few times the last month or so and I really don't have an answer," White said. "I really don't remember the specific games. I remember highlights, certain plays, moments."
At that thought, White paused, took a step back and turned toward the field. Along with a few dozen former Cowboys legends, the nine-time All-Pro defensive tackle had just concluded an hour-long, on-field autograph session despite downpours that would've made Noah blush. Upon walking through the tunnel's entrance after each and every John Hancock request was granted, a team official thanked White for enduring the rain while several other former players and current cheerleaders had understandably fled long before in favor of shelter. White smiled and said, "Like I've never played in the rain before."
However, at this juncture, while pondering his most memorable moment at Texas Stadium, it appeared as if White had lost himself in another place, another time.
Staring down the sloped runway, toward the field - following about 20 seconds of silence - White said, "You know what I remember more than the games themselves?
"I remember walking down this tunnel before games. And the emotions that would be running through me as I walked. I could feel every emotion that was inside of me. I never felt so alive my entire life.
"I was happy, I was mad, I was angry, nervous... I was invincible, I was scared, proud
I felt love and..and hate.
"Look, look at my arm
goose bumps. You can see the hair standing up. I haven't felt that in a long time. I love this game so much. I'm going to miss this place, but no one can ever take away those memories from me."
Indeed, and in this, the final season of Texas Stadium, it seems only fitting to revisit the most memorable games played under the hole in the roof.
10. September 8, 1986 * Cowboys 31, New York Giants 28
In one of the most iconic Monday Night Football games of the 1980s, Herschel Walker rushed for a 10-yard touchdown with 1:16 remaining and sent the Giants back to East Rutherford at 0-1. That loss would become more significant at season's end, as the Giants won 17 of their remaining 18 games en route to claiming Super Bowl XXI.
This game had it all and then some, from Walker - the former Heisman Trophy winner - making his NFL debut after three seasons in the USFL, to cornerback Everson Walls ending his holdout, which began the previous Thursday when he walked out of practice because of contract demands. Nonetheless, he started against the Giants and held Lionel Manuel to just one catch for 19 yards.
As for Walker, who signed with the Cowboys earlier in the summer for five years and $5 million, he was slated to share the carries with Tony Dorsett, who opened the game's scoring via a 36-yard screen pass from Danny White down the right sideline. However, in the second quarter, Dorsett sprained his ankle, not to return, leaving Walker as the man in the backfield.
Walker finished with 64 yards and two TDs on just 11 carries with the highlight being the stunning draw play that secured the victory. Walker, who wasn't touched on the run, said, "The hole was so big it scared me."
The rush capped a six-play, 72-yard drive that took 50 seconds and began with a 23-yard catch by Walker in which he broke at least five tackles.
"It was a great game. If you like football you like that," legendary head coach Tom Landry said. "(Herschel) played great
he's just a football player, that's all. When he gets the ball, he knows what to do with it."
The win marked the team's 21st victory in its last 22 openers.
9. October 25, 1981 * Cowboys 28, Miami Dolphins 27
The forgotten classic in the lexicon of Texas Stadium football games, Dallas overcame a 13-point deficit with just four minutes remaining behind one of the truly brilliant calls of Landry's 29-year run as head coach of the Cowboys.
In his three-plus years with the team, fullback Ron Springs had never swung wide out of the backfield and been sent downfield. However, with 3:30 remaining in the game, with the Cowboys trailing by six and having just regained possession via a Dennis Thurman interception return to the Miami 32-yard line, Landry decided the time had come. Sure enough, out of a split backfield, with Tony Dorsett to the left and Springs to the right, White tossed a precise ball to Springs down the right sideline and the fullback, who had surprised the Dolphins defense, did the rest in finding the end zone in stride.
"Well, sometimes you have hunches that work and sometimes they don't," Landry said. "I'd made some wrong calls earlier but this one worked."
White finished the game with his best numbers to date, including 354 yards, while Dorsett gained 122 yards, which marked his 25th game cracking the century mark with the Cowboys. When told after the win that thousands of fans had departed Texas Stadium when Dallas trailed by 13 points with five minutes remaining, Dorsett laughed and said, "This was one of the most emotional games I've been involved in here. The fans who stayed with us to the end were great. They got our adrenalin flowing. And those who left with four minutes remaining before the firecrackers aren't real fans. Cowboy fans have got to believe. We believe. To those who left, I say, 'Ha! Ha! Ha! See what you missed?'"
Following a picturesque 38-yard catch by Tony Hill, White found Doug Cosbie in the left corner of the end zone with 3:48 remaining to bring Dallas within 27-21.
Miami's 23-year old quarterback David Woodley threw for 408 yards in the losing effort while the teams combined for a then-Cowboys game record 1,006 yards of total offense.
The win improved Dallas to 6-2 on the season while the Fish headed to Miami with just their second loss of the season.
At halftime of the game, legendary defensive back Mel Renfro became the fifth player inducted into the Dallas Cowboys' Ring of Honor.
8. September 15, 2008 * Cowboys 41, Philadelphia Eagles 37
Yes, we had to rework the list after this instant classic. There's nothing more difficult than analyzing historical perspective in the present, but it's hard to fathom this game not withstanding the test of time.
First off, it was the most-watched cable television program ever with a 13.3 rating and approximately 18.6 million viewers. Secondly, many football historians rank games based on the number of marquee players on the field. That said, nearly two dozen of the participants have earned Pro Bowl status while the likes of Terrell Owens, Donovan McNabb and Zach Thomas appear headed to the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Not to mention that Brian Dawkins, Brian Westbrook, Jason Witten and a few others are certainly a few seasons away from consideration and then there's the long-term possibilities of Tony Romo and DeMarcus Ware.
Plus, the contest had sentimental implications as the 29th and final Monday Night Football game played at Texas Stadium.
On the field, the game offered all one could ask, with 54 first-half points - second-most ever in a Monday night game - lead change upon lead change, special teams sensations and big-time players making big-time plays. Owens even offered a little history in catching two touchdown passes, the first moving him into second place on the NFL's career receiving TDs list with 131. Only Jerry Rice has more.
In the end, Marion Barber rumbled across the goal line for the go-ahead one-yard score with 4:35 remaining and the defense - spurred by Ware and fellow linebacker Greg Ellis - made a valiant and dominant stand in stopping McNabb and company.
Told it was a good ol' fashion Western after the game, Romo smiled and said, "It's a good thing we were Clint Eastwood."
7. November 24, 1994 * Cowboys 42, Green Bay Packers 31
For all the accolades of Don Meredith, Roger Staubach, Troy Aikman and even Danny White, on this Thanksgiving Day, current Cowboys offensive coordinator Jason Garrett directed the most prolific second-half in franchise history with 36 points. Thing is, the former Princeton signal-caller, who entered the game with just one NFL start, led the Dallas offense to five touchdowns in the first 18 minutes, 40 seconds of the second half.
With Aikman and backup Rodney Peete sidelined by injuries, this was Garrett's game to win or lose. And on the 20th anniversary of another no-name quarterback's similar miraculous comeback, that being Clint Longley, Garrett did just that, win the football game. He completed 15-of-26 passes for 311 yards, two touchdowns and just one interception.
Dallas, which improved to 10-2 under first-year coach Barry Switzer, trailed Green Bay 17-3 late in the second quarter before Chris Boniol's 37-yard field goal cut the deficit as time expired before halftime. Still, no one expected much from the Cowboys offense in the final 30 minutes of play.
The momentum was kick-started in the third quarter via an 87-yard kickoff return by Kevin Williams. That led to touchdown drives of five, 76, 81, 77 and 47 yards that gave Dallas a 39-24 lead it wouldn't relinquish. As always seemed the case in big-game wins in the 1990s, Emmitt Smith was the catalyst, if not the headliner, with 228 yards from scrimmage and two touchdowns.
Still, the story was the 28-year old Garrett.
"If this is a fairy tale, so be it, but it was a fun thing to be a part of," Garrett said. "Guys played incredibly well around me. There's a lot of firepower on this team. I was one-eleventh of it today.
With Green Bay putting eight defensive players in the box early in the second-half, Dallas had no choice but to throw the ball deep, with Garrett launching a 45-yard score to Alvin Harper and a 35-yard TD to Michael Irvin. After the Packers were forced to respect the pass, Smith took over, finishing with 133 rushing yards on 32 carries.
"It was a wild game, the wildest I've been around," said Jim Jeffcoat, the Cowboys then 12-year veteran defensive tackle.
Guard Nate Newton added, "Today, Jason had a fairy godmother and a fairy godfather."
6. January 2, 1972 * Cowboys 14, San Francisco 49ers 3
The Cowboys first postseason win at Texas Stadium also catapulted them to their first Super Bowl win, a 24-3 decision over Miami on Jan. 16 in New Orleans.
A defensive battle in which Dallas induced a trio of interceptions from San Francisco quarterback John Brodie, the Cowboys scored their touchdowns in the second and fourth quarters. The first came via a one-yard plunge by Calvin Hill while Duane Thomas capped the scoring with a two-yard run. The 49ers avoided the shutout with a 28-yard field goal in the third quarter.
Ring of Honor linebacker Lee Roy Jordan recalled the game this past August.
"It was a battle, lot of great defensive plays, it wasn't as if the offenses were just having bad days," Jordan said. "We really had a terrific defensive plan coming in. (Defensive end) George Andrie set up our first touchdown with an interception on a screen pass and later, John Brodie was nice enough to throw me one. I saw him that offseason and thanked him."
At this, sitting beyond the end zone adjacent to the Cowboys tunnel at Texas Stadium, Jordan points toward the opposite side of the field.
"It was right there, on that side of the field, I was actually out of position, but I was watching John the entire play, I never took my eyes off him. He had locked in on his receiver and never took his eyes off him. I ran back as he was about to throw the ball.
"We really felt like we could shut them down, they had some great wide receivers, Gene Washington was a good one, Ted Kwalik, too. But I had been taking home film every night for two weeks and the more I viewed the tape and absorbed it, I became more and more convinced we could shut them down."
Dallas held San Francisco to just 61 rushing yards and nine first downs. A 14-play, 80-yard drive in the fourth quarter, capped by Thomas' two-yard score, all but sealed the verdict.
5. January 14, 1996 * Cowboys 38, Green Bay Packers 27
The last NFC championship title tilt the Cowboys took part in was for many that participated nothing less than the most intense football game they ever played.
Emmitt Smith rushed for 150 yards and three TDs in the win while the intensity of the crowd and the slugfest in the trenches remain vivid to this day.
"This was the loudest that I've ever heard Texas Stadium," Smith said.
For football purists, the highlight of the afternoon, if not the ever-lasting images of the game, did not come via an electrifying scoring play. Rather it came over the course of three-plus hours on the line of scrimmage. To say the late, legendary Hall of Fame defensive end Reggie White and Cowboys offensive tackle Erik Williams beat the living, breathing snot out of each other would be akin to saying Tom Landry liked fedoras.
"It was as nasty a football game as you ever want to see," Williams said. "This was a mean, violent war, and we made up our minds that we were going to win the war at all costs."
Said Dallas guard Nate Newton, "Was it nasty? You damn well bet it was. They brought it to us first, and we took it back to them. When you're looking for a ring, baby, you do what you gotta do."
While Smith was without question the game's MVP, as so often was the case in the big games of this mini-dynasty, Michael Irvin was the difference-maker. Early in the game, he noticed that one Green Bay safety was guarding against the run while the second was locked in on tight end Jay Novacek.
"I said, 'Get me the ball. We've got single coverage. Get me the ball,'" Irvin said.
Of course, Troy Aikman answered, connecting with his Hall of Fame receiver seven times for 100 yards and two scores. Said Deion Sanders after the game, "I don't know what film they were watching, but they should have doubled him."
Aikman finished the game completing 21-of-33 attempts for 255 yards and the two Irvin TD passes. More than 12 years later, in the summer of 2008, he said, "Arguably my best game as a pro considering the stakes and nature of the game."
Green Bay took a 27-24 lead on a Brett Favre touchdown pass with 5:19 remaining in the third quarter. However, the Cowboys responded with a Smith-anchored 14-play, 90-yard go-ahead touchdown drive that culminated with his five-yard scoring plunge behind Newton with 12:24 remaining. Smith, who finished with 35 carries, added an insurance touchdown later in the quarter following a Larry Brown interception.
"I was used up at 25 carries," Smith said. "After that, I was running on 'E.'"
Dallas defensive tackle Leon Lett led the effort on the other side of the ball with three tackles, one sack and an interception.
"We keep coming down here and getting lessons," Green Bay coach Mike Holmgren said. "I'm tired of lessons. I felt that this was a close game
it was a heck of a game to watch. It was entertaining."
This game witnessed so many subplots that it was difficult to keep track, from Jerry Jones and Jimmy Johnson shaking hands two hours before kickoff for the first time since the latter's departure two years previous, to unseasonable mid-January temperatures in the high-70s, to Green Bay wide receivers coach Gil Haskell being taken off the field on a stretcher with a head injury after his head violently struck the artificial turf when Cowboys safety Darren Woodson blocked Green Bay wideout Robert Brooks out of bounds and accidentally into Haskell.
Two Sundays later, at Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Ariz., Dallas defeated Pittsburgh, 27-17, in Super Bowl XXX, as Aikman improved his postseason record to 10-1. Behind a pair of interceptions, Brown was named the game's MVP.
4. November 25, 1993 * Miami Dolphins 16, Cowboys 14
Remember, this isn't a ranking of the greatest Dallas Cowboys wins at Texas Stadium. It's the most memorable games, and in that context, not even the most ardent of hometown supporters can deny this epic Thanksgiving Day contest's inclusion on this list.
"Of course, the Leon Lett game on Thanksgiving against the Dolphins in the snow. You always think about that," Bill Bates said in August.
Perhaps, perhaps, if this game took place on a random Sunday afternoon against the Cardinals, and perhaps, if Lett hadn't gained national attention less than 10 months earlier in Super Bowl XXVII by prematurely celebrating an apparent touchdown before Buffalo's Don Beebe knocked the ball from his hands at the goal line, perhaps then it wouldn't have become simply one of the most easily-recalled regular-season games in NFL history.
Perhaps... but not likely. Alas, for Lett, an immensely-talented defensive tackle, the image of his sliding across the ice, slush and artificial turf of Texas Stadium is forever engrained in not only the faithful of the Cowboys but sports fans nationwide.
A quick recap: With 15 seconds remaining and the Cowboys ahead by a point, Dallas defensive tackle Jimmie Jones blocked Pete Stoyanovich's 41-yard field goal attempt, seemingly ending the game and improving the Cowboys to 8-3 on the year. In fact, several Dallas players headed to the locker room as the pigskin harmlessly trickled to the seven-yard line. As long as no Dallas player touched it, the ball would be ruled dead within seconds. Game over, Cowboys win.
The story the next day would be not only about the game's bizarre ending, but also the weather, as temperatures dropped to the mid-20s in the second half while the field was covered in ice and slush, a regular Winter Wonderland. Said Bates, "Those were the worst conditions I could ever imagine. It wasn't really snow, it was slush. I'm amazed we could even play a game out there. It was amazing."
However, almost in slow motion, as the ball rolled to a peaceful resting place while every defensive player on the field screamed "Peter! Peter!" the code word for do not touch the football under any circumstances, Lett, after initially hesitating, came full bore at the ball, deflecting multiple Miami players in his wake, before descending into a baseball slide. Sliding across the field like a rubber tube down a steep mountain of wet snow, Lett's left foot sent the football toward the end zone and sure enough, the Dolphins recovered at the two-yard line.
Moments later, Stoyanovich booted a 19-yard field goal with a second left for the win.
"I don't know if I've ever had a loss that hurts like this one right now," Cowboys coach Jimmy Johnson said afterward. "Leon made a mistake. It was a big mistake that was the difference in the end. But we are a team and we made a lot of mistakes today.
"Leon went into the training room and cried his eyes out. Ah, he's such a good kid."
Said longtime Cowboys special teams coach Joe Avezzano, "Today, 10 of us got away from the ball and one didn't. I'm not sure anybody, anytime, can explain why."
Legendary Dolphins coach Don Shula, who to this day has coached more NFL games than any man past or present, said, "I've been around a lot of football games, but I never saw a game end like this before."
Neither had anyone else, not then, and not since. Lett went on to earn multiple Pro Bowl nods in 10 seasons with Dallas. Still, while grossly unfair in the realm of Bill Buckner being remembered for the ground ball between his legs in Game 6 of the World Series rather than his 2,715 career hits, for the most part Lett is remembered for two plays rather than as one of the defensive anchors of the Cowboys three Super Bowl wins of the 1990s.
3. November 28, 1974 * Cowboys 24, Washington Redskins 23
This Thanksgiving Classic wasn't even televised locally, as 2,500 tickets still remained as of the NFL-mandated 72-hour deadline Monday afternoon. It's a shame considering what transpired on the Texas Stadium turf that Thursday afternoon is by the majority of accounts the most memorable Turkey Day game of them all.
Howard Clinton Longley, Jr.
To this day, some 34 years after the fact, the name is as recognizable to Cowboys fans as those who reside in the Ring of Honor. Strange, considering he started just one game for Dallas and was out of the league for good at 24 years old. But for one afternoon, if not just an hour or so, his right arm was magical.
Two weeks previous to kickoff, Washington defensive tackle Diron Talbert said the Redskins were going to try and knock Roger Staubach out of the game because Dallas didn't have an experienced backup. Longley had never even attempted an NFL pass.
Sure enough, already leading 16-3 with 9:58 remaining in the third quarter, Washington linebacker Dave Robinson sent Staubach to the sidelines with a concussion. Enter Longley, a 22-year-old rookie from Abilene Christian who was nicknamed "The Mad Bomber" in training camp after throwing several passes off Landry's coaching tower.
"I don't think any of us believed we could win the game at that point. Nothing against Clint, we just weren't real confident in him," former Cowboys linebacker Lee Roy Jordan recently recalled. "After that first touchdown, though, our attitude changed to, 'We can do this.' That was a heck of a comeback. You should have seen us on the sidelines before that first touchdown. We were like lost puppies and then all of a sudden, we're back in the game."
That first touchdown of which Jordan spoke came via a 35-yard pass from Longley to tight end Billy Joe DuPree. The Cowboys scored again, on a one-yard run by Walt Garrison, before the third quarter ended and Dallas led, 17-16.
Washington took back the advantage on a 19-yard rush by Duane Thomas and seemingly had the game in hand with Dallas taking over at its own 38-yard line with 1:45 remaining and no timeouts. After converting a fourth-and-six, Longley led the Cowboys to midfield with 35 seconds left. In the huddle, following an incomplete pass on first down, wide receiver Drew Pearson told Longley, "Clint, we gotta go deep," to which Longley replied, "Fine, go deep."
The pass traveled some 56 yards, with Pearson catching the pigskin in full stride at the four-yard line and crossing the goal line untouched.
After the game, Washington coach George Allen cried.
"I don't have much to say," he said. "It was probably the toughest loss we ever had."
Of course, Longley - who finished the game 11-of-20 for 203 yards and two TDs - gained national notoriety of another kind in the summer of 1976 when he sucker-punched Staubach in the locker room of training camp in hopes of forcing a trade. His bizarre ploy worked, but after three games and one start with San Diego, he was released, never to play in the NFL again.
Perhaps former Cowboys guard Blaine Nye summed up Longley's legacy best, saying, "It was the triumph of the uncluttered mind."
January 23, 1994 * Cowboys 38, San Francisco 49ers 21
Amazingly, the game itself was secondary.
The pregame hype/buildup was another story. Looking back, while it's by no means ancient history at 14-plus years old, this is one of those happenstances that simply couldn't carry the same significance in this era of instant reaction and 24-hour news cycles. That's not to say it wouldn't be talked about until there were no words remaining in Webster's dictionary, it's just that the guaranteed victories of Joe Namath and Mark Messier have lost most of their luster since it's done every other week.
The Thursday night before what was already arguably the most-anticipated non-Super Bowl in NFL history, Jimmy Johnson called Randy Galloway's local radio program and proclaimed, "We will win the ballgame. And you can put it in three-inch headlines. We will win the ballgame.
"We're going to beat their rear ends, and then we're going to the Super Bowl."
Thing is, as transcendent as Johnson's comments were, San Francisco coach George Seifert nearly matched him, responding, "The man's got (guts), I'll say that."
Dallas was the defending Super Bowl champs, having upset host San Francisco, 30-20, a season previous in the NFC championship game en route to its first of three Super Bowl crowns in four seasons. The Cowboys had also defeated the 49ers earlier in the 1993 regular season and entered this game 13-2 since Emmitt Smith had returned from his early-season holdout. As for San Francisco, it finished the year just 10-6, but had dominated the New York Giants in the divisional round, 44-3, a week earlier.
Johnson's players immediately came to the support of their coach, with linebacker Ken Norton Jr. saying, "It's true. He took the words right out of my mouth," while guard Kevin Gogan said what many were thinking, "We plan on winning, so it's not that big of an issue to us. I think you know as well as I do that he planned this. He's got his own motives."
The game itself, despite a gallant second-half comeback by the 49ers, was all but finished by halftime, as Dallas led 28-7 at intermission. Looking back, under the circumstances, that first half may have been the climactic 30 minutes of football under Johnson. The Cowboys outgained San Francisco, 273-110 yards, and found the end zone in four of their first five offensive drives. It would've been a perfect five-for-five if wide receiver Alvin Harper - who finished with four grabs for 78 yards including a 42-yard TD catch - didn't drop what would've been a 39-yard scoring pass in the first quarter. With 58 ticks remaining in the second quarter, Aikman concluded the first-half barrage with a 19-yard TD pass to Jay Novacek that ended a 72-yard drive that didn't include a single third-down conversion.
"When we're rolling early, we're going to kill you," guard Nate Newton said.
Aikman gave way to Bernie Kosar in the third quarter after he sustained a concussion. Before departing, the Hall of Fame signal caller completed 14-of-18 passes for 177 yards and two scores.
When asked his most memorable Texas Stadium game this summer, Aikman said, "I would say the 1993 NFC championship game against San Francisco, but I still don't have any recollection of that game. I was told I played my tail off before being sent to the hospital."
Kosar completed five-of-nine passes for 83 yards and led the Cowboys to 10 points in four possessions, including a touchdown pass to Harper. Meanwhile, Smith carried 23 times for 88 yards and caught seven balls for 85 more.
"We got behind... they did a great job of putting points on the board early... we... I'm trying to give you my stiff upper lip here," San Francisco quarterback Steve Young said. "Football is a strange game. I would have never believed we would have come down here and got beat this way. Never would have believed it."
Of course, Dallas went onto win Super Bowl XXVIII, defeating Buffalo, 30-13, and in the process, concluded the season with eight consecutive victories. The Cowboys also became the first team to win the Super Bowl after starting the season 0-2 while Johnson became the first NFC coach to win back-to-back league titles.
As for the guaranteed victory, Harper said, "You can't get away with talking like that unless you're Coach Johnson."
1. December 16, 1979 * Cowboys 35, Washington Redskins 34
Honestly, this was the easiest selection of the bunch. While we went back and forth with the specific rankings of virtually every other pick, this game never moved from the top slot.
At 37 years old, this marked Roger Staubach's final regular-season game. And in a performance worthy of his transcendent Hall of Fame career, the original "Captain Comeback" went out as he arrived 11 seasons earlier, that of the never-stop-slinging and scrambling swashbuckler who invoked implausible belief from both his teammates and the fan base no matter what the situation. Heck, the "Hail Mary" pass itself derived from Staubach's last-second heroics against the Vikings in the 1975 playoffs.
This was something different, though. This was the mother, father and great aunt of all comebacks. As legendary sports writer Red Smith once wrote of the 1951 National League playoff game that ended with Bobby Thompson's "Shot Heard 'Round the World":
"Now it is done. Now the story ends. And there is no way to tell it. The art of fiction is dead. Reality has strangled invention. Only the utterly impossible, the inexpressibly fantastic, can ever be plausible again."
With nothing less than the NFC East title on the line, this was the apex of the Cowboys-Redskins rivalry. On the Friday before the game, a wreath was delivered to Harvey Martin at the team's practice. It read, "With Deepest Sympathy, For the Sympathy you will need on Sunday."
Washington jumped ahead early 17-0, only to watch the Cowboys score the game's next 21 points. Sure enough, the Redskins responded with another 17 unanswered points and led 34-21 midway through the fourth quarter following an electrifying 66-yard run by John Riggins. On its ensuing possession, Dallas was forced to punt and many fans were seen fleeing toward the Texas Stadium exits as the Washington media made hotel reservations for the following week in Philadelphia, the Redskins' projected first-round playoff opponent.
The miracle of football miracles began with 3:49 remaining on the clock when Washington's Clarence Harmon fumbled and Randy White recovered at the Dallas 41-yard line.
"That was the key play right there," Cowboys coach Tom Landry said.
Added White, "The ball rolled right to me."
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.
Still, with 2:20 on the clock, the Cowboys needed the football back. After the two-minute warning, on third down-and-two, defensive lineman Larry Cole launched himself into the Washington backfield and stopped Riggins for a loss of two. To many, it remains the most important tackle in franchise history.
After a 44-yard punt, Dallas took over at its 25 with 1:46 remaining. Staubach quickly found Hill for 20 yards and after an incompletion, he avoided an outside blitz before launching a frozen rope to Drew Pearson for 22 yards. Two plays later, it was Pearson again for 25 yards down to the Washington eight. He finished the game with five grabs for 108 yards.
"That was a special game, it really typified who Staubach was as both a quarterback and a person," Pearson said in August, nearly 29 years after the game was played. "A lot of people remember me for that game, but Roger was hitting me with perfect passes, it wasn't like I was making diving catches at the end.
"In my years with the Cowboys, that was as locked in as I've ever seen him. That was as locked in as I've ever seen any quarterback, every pass was right there, in stride, right where the receiver wanted the football. There was one play, I stopped my route a few yards early because there was a soft spot in the defense and sure enough, as I turned, the ball was coming at me.
"I've never seen anything like it, before or since."
On second-and-goal, the former Heisman Trophy winner from Navy threw his final NFL regular-season pass, an eight-yard touchdown placed precisely on Hill's fingertips.
Washington's last-ditch effort fell short when referee Bob Frederick failed to grant the Redskins a timeout that would've allowed Mark Moseley to attempt a 59-yard field goal with a second remaining.
"The Lord giveth and He can take it away in a hurry; that's the only way to understand what took place here," Washington coach Jack Pardee said. "This was the most disappointing loss I've had as a player or a coach. It hurts and it hurts deeply. To have the division title won with 40 seconds to go and then to be eliminated completely, well, it's tough."
Staubach finished the game 24-of-42 for 336 yards and three touchdowns. It marked the first time a Dallas team had come back from a 17-0 deficit.
"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.
"You never think about coming back or anything like that. You only think about the play you have called and how to execute it."
After the game, Martin opened Washington's locker room door and threw the wreath in, saying shortly thereafter, "The Redskins deserved what they got. Nothing. Now they can shop tomorrow for Christmas."
Staubach's career ended the following week with a 21-19 playoff loss to the Los Angeles Rams. Still, that outcome did nothing to damper the fitting farewell of Dec. 19, 1979.
"That's one game I remember pretty well, Roger playing quarterback, two great teams. I just remember having that mentality of if the defense got the ball back for the offense that there was always a chance in any game with Roger out there," White said last August. "We always believed that if any game was tight at the end and the defense could hold, that Roger would get the points we needed to win.
"That game against Washington, I remember once we gave him the ball, I knew what was going to happen. I knew we were going to win. And we did."
The next day, in the Roanoke Times, Dennis Latta wrote:
"If the Washington Monument fell down today or the Potomac dried up tomorrow, it wouldn't upset Washingtonians as much as Sunday's Redskin football game did."
HONORABLE MENTION
October 27, 2002 * Seattle Seahawks 17, Cowboys 14
While the game itself certainly doesn't merit mention on this list, the ultimate team player broke the sport's most respected individual record on this otherwise mundane afternoon of football at Texas Stadium.
On a play called "15 lead," Emmitt Smith ran 11 yards in the fourth quarter and in the process, broke Walter Payton's career rushing record of 16,726 yards. Payton had held the record since 1984. Before that, Jim Brown had been the standard bearer since 1963. To this day, and 45 years previous, that's the list of career rushing leaders: Brown, Payton and Smith.
Following the 2004 campaign, Smith retired with 18,355 yards.
"To say you've rushed for more yards than anyone else, in a sport that is as brutal as this one, that speaks for itself," former Cowboys Pro Bowl safety Darren Woodson said at the time. "To say you did it at such a high level, and for so many years, well, that's remarkable. Then again, that's Emmitt."
Smith finished the game with 109 yards on 24 carries. Alas, Payton wasn't at Texas Stadium to congratulate Smith, as he died of liver cancer on Nov. 1, 1999 at 45 years of age. His mother, Alynel, and brother, Eddie, were on hand.
"(Walter) meant so much to me in terms of the person that he was," Smith said after breaking the record. "I wish I could embrace him today. I probably would have had even more tears. I probably wouldn't have been able to finish the game."
Through the first half of the 2008 season, no active player was within 6,000 yards of Smith's seemingly unbreakable record.
December 17, 1995 * Cowboys 21, New York Giants 20
For all his greatness, Tory Aikman wasn't exactly John Elway with the last-minute, game-winning drives. Thing is, he simply didn't have many chances as the Cowboys were usually winning big come the fourth quarter. This win was among the exceptions.
Following a 14-play, 58-yard drive that ate up the game's final 2:59 of clock, kicker Chris Boniol converted a 35-yard game-winning field goal as time expired. For Boniol, it was his 22nd straight field goal.
"We needed to win this game to stay in the playoff picture on our way to Super Bowl XXX. There was a Kevin Williams fourth-down catch to keep a touchdown drive alive at the end, that one really stands out for me," former Cowboys head coach and current secondary coach Dave Campo said this past summer.
The win improved Dallas to 11-4 on the season. Coming off back-to-back division losses to Washington and Philadelphia, the Cowboys wouldn't lose the remainder of the season, winning five straight en route to capturing the franchise's fifth and last Super Bowl.
Aikman completed 6-of-10 passes for 53 yards including a trio of third-down conversions during the final drive.
"As a quarterback, it's satisfying to direct a winning last-minute drive," Aikman said at the time. "I haven't had a lot of opportunities to do that because we're used to being ahead. So it was nice for me, and it was nice for a number of guys."
November 19, 2006 * Cowboys 21, Indianapolis Colts 14
Peyton Manning and the Colts arrived at DFW Airport at 9-0 and the national media was rampant with talk of the first undefeated regular season since the 1972 Miami Dolphins. As for the Cowboys, they were 5-4 overall and 2-1 since Tony Romo inherited the reins from Drew Bledsoe. While the fan base was optimistic, the jury was still out on the new quarterback.
At least until late Sunday afternoon after Romo completed 19-of-23 passes for 226 yards and re-energized the Cowboys seemingly fading postseason hopes. And while Marion Barber was the fourth-quarter hero with two TDs, it was Romo who somewhat announced himself as the quarterback of the present and future.
After the game, Manning told Romo, "You're a good player."
September 29, 1991 * Cowboys 21, New York Giants 16
This summer, when asked about his most memorable games at Texas Stadium, Aikman ranked this one third, saying, "This win was the stepping stone to becoming a great team."
Entering this game, Dallas was 10-26 during the Jimmy Johnson Era, and 2-2 on the season. The Giants were defending Super Bowl champions, although Bill Parcells had stepped down in the offseason.
Trailing 16-14 in the fourth quarter, Aikman connected with Michael Irvin for a 23-yard game-winning touchdown. The win catapulted the Cowboys to the team's first postseason berth since 1985 at 11-5.
November 23, 1989 * Philadelphia Eagles 27, Cowboys 0
Yes, it's the "Bounty Bowl," one of the most ridiculous, if not entertaining sideshows the league has witnessed in the last 20 years.
For those who might have missed it, allegedly, Eagles coach Buddy Ryan offered $500 for any player who knocked Troy Aikman out of the game and $200 for kicker Luis Zendejas. Whether it was true or not, who knows, as the claim came via Zendejas and was never proven. If nothing else, it added some further spice to the rivalry that was already brewing following Ryan's comments when Johnson was hired from the University of Miami.
"Tell Jimmy there won't be any East Carolinas or Cincinnatis on his schedule," Ryan said.
After the 27-0 setback, Johnson raced to midfield in hopes of finding Ryan, but to no avail.
"I would have said something to Buddy, but he wouldn't stand on the field long enough," Johnson said. "He got his fat rear end into the dressing room."
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