1980s
1980
Danny White became the Cowboys' starting quarterback in 1980. Without Staubach, not much was expected of the Cowboys, but they surprised everyone with a 12-4 regular season. Philadelphia also finished 12-4, but got the division title on a close tiebreaker. The Cowboys won the wildcard game at home against the Rams, then White engineered a late comeback to win the divisional playoff game in Atlanta. Dallas faced the Eagles the NFC Championship Game, but suffered a highly embarrassing 20-7 loss to their division rival in Veterans Stadium.
1981
Dallas started the 1981 season 4-0, and captured the NFC East crown with another 12-4 record. Dallas dismantled the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the divisional playoff 38-0. They then traveled to San Francisco to face the 49ers in the NFC Championship Game. It would be one of the most famous in NFL history. Dallas led 27-21 late in the fourth quarter and appeared headed to their sixth Super Bowl. However, a long 49er drive was capped by a Joe Montana touchdown pass to Dwight Clark in the final minute of play. Dallas was not finished yet. A White completion to Drew Pearson moved the ball into 49er territory and almost went for a touchdown. Two plays later, though, White fumbled after being hit, and San Francisco recovered to seal a 28-27 victory. Clark's leaping grab in the end zone would come to be famous as "The Catch," and represented a changing of the guard in the NFC from the dominant Cowboys teams of the 1970s to the dominant 49ers teams of the 1980s.
1982
Dallas finished the strike-shortened 1982 season with a record of 6-3. The Cowboys held a one game lead over the Redskins with two games to play in the regular season, but fell at home to Philadelphia, then lost a Monday night match in Minnesota (a game best known for Dorsett's NFL record 99-yard touchdown run). Dallas played two home games in the unusual postseason "Super Bowl Tournament," defeating Tampa Bay and Green Bay. In the NFC Championship Game, Washington defeated Dallas 31-17 at RFK Stadium. This finished a remarkable run that saw the Cowboys play in 10 of 13 conference championship games.
1983
The Cowboys opened the 1983 season in impressive fashion, erasing a 23-3 deficit at Washington to defeat the Super Bowl champion Redskins 31-30, then winning their next six games. When Dallas and Washington squared off again on Week 15 at Texas Stadium, both teams had 12-2 records. However, the Redskins beat the Cowboys handily in that game, and Dallas subsequently lost its next two games to end its season (a rout by the 49ers in the regular season finale and an upset home loss to the Rams in the wild card playoff game).
1984
Change and controversy marked the Cowboys' 1984 season (its 25th, which Schramm commemorated as the "Silver Season"). Despite leading Dallas to the playoffs in each of his four seasons as starting quarterback, Danny White began to draw criticism for "not being able to win the big game," and several players privately expressed their preference for backup quarterback Gary Hogeboom. Landry decided to start Hogeboom, and while Dallas started the season 4-1, Hogeboom's inconsistency eventually led to White regaining the starting job. It would not be enough, though. The Cowboys suffered an embarrassing Week 12 loss to the winless Bills in Buffalo, and needing a win in their final two games to secure a playoff spot, lost both. Dallas finished the 1984 season 9-7, and missed the postseason for the first time in a decade. An important off-field change also took place in 1984. Clint Murchison, in dire financial straits because of a collapse in oil prices, sold the Cowboys to Dallas oilman H.R. "Bum" Bright in May.
1985
Bright's ownership coincided with a decline in the Cowboys' fortunes. The 1985 season saw a somewhat uneven string of wins and losses, the worst being in Week 11 when they were annihilated 44-0 by the unstoppable Chicago Bears, the team's first shutout since 1970. With a 10-6 record, the Cowboys won the division, but were blanked by the Rams 20-0 in the playoffs. This was the final postseason appearance with Tom Landry as coach.
1986
The 1986 campaign started optimistically, with highly-regarded offensive coordinator Paul Hackett and Heisman Trophy-winning Herschel Walker having joined the team. The Cowboys ran their record to 6-2, but White's wrist was broken in a mid-season loss to the Giants, and the team only managed to win one of its final seven games. Dallas finished with a 7-9 record, ending its streak of 20 consecutive winning seasons.
1987
Dallas started the 1987 season 1-1 before NFL players went on strike and management responded by hiring replacement players. Schramm, having anticipated the strike, assembled one of the better replacement teams, which was soon bolstered by several starters who crossed the picket line (including Dorsett, Danny White, and Randy White). However, the "Counterfeit Cowboys" suffered an embarrassing home loss to a Redskins team composed entirely of replacement players, and once the strike ended, Dallas' regular squad lost six of its next eight games to finish 7-8.
1988
The Cowboys went into a free-fall in 1988. After starting the season 2-2, a last-second loss in New Orleans started a 10-game Cowboy losing streak. Among the few bright spots in the season were the team's first-round draft pick, wide receiver Michael Irvin (whom Schramm had predicted would spur the team's "return from the dead"), and a Week 15 victory against the Redskins in Washington, Tom Landry's last.
1989
Bright sold the Cowboys to Arkansas businessman Jerry Jones on February 25, 1989. Jones' first act as owner was to fire the only head coach the franchise had ever known. Tom Landry's abrupt termination attracted considerable criticism. He admitted to becoming more forgetful with play calling and clock management as he passed his 60th birthday, and to being a bit unwilling to adapt his offense for the NFL of the 1980s, although he was not totally to blame for the Cowboys' problems, which included years of poor drafts. Schramm, Brandt, and other longtime personnel were soon gone as well. Jones replaced Landry with University of Miami head coach Jimmy Johnson. With the worst record of 1988, Dallas gained the #1 draft pick for 1989, UCLA QB Troy Aikman (Tom Landry had expressed interest in Aikman just before being fired). After Dallas opened the 1989 season 0-5, Johnson traded away Herschel Walker to the Minnesota Vikings for five veteran players and eight draft choices. (A total of 18 players or draft choices were involved in what was the largest trade in NFL history at the time.) The Cowboys finished the 1989 season with a 1-15 record, their worst record since the team's inception. Rookie quarterback Steve Walsh, starting in place of an injured Aikman, led the team to its lone victory in a midseason Sunday night game in Washington.
The two games with Philadelphia in 1989 (which became known as the Bounty Bowls) were marked by particularly strong hostility between the staff and fans of both teams. Eagles coach Buddy Ryan insulted Jimmy Johnson, saying that he did nothing in his tenure at the University of Miami except run the score up on bad teams and also made fun of his weight. Ryan reputedly wanted his players to injure Cowboys kicker Roger Ruzek, who had been cut from the Eagles early in the season and on the season ender in Philadelphia, the Cowboys were pelted with snowballs.
Danny White became the Cowboys' starting quarterback in 1980. Without Staubach, not much was expected of the Cowboys, but they surprised everyone with a 12-4 regular season. Philadelphia also finished 12-4, but got the division title on a close tiebreaker. The Cowboys won the wildcard game at home against the Rams, then White engineered a late comeback to win the divisional playoff game in Atlanta. Dallas faced the Eagles the NFC Championship Game, but suffered a highly embarrassing 20-7 loss to their division rival in Veterans Stadium.
1981
Dallas started the 1981 season 4-0, and captured the NFC East crown with another 12-4 record. Dallas dismantled the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the divisional playoff 38-0. They then traveled to San Francisco to face the 49ers in the NFC Championship Game. It would be one of the most famous in NFL history. Dallas led 27-21 late in the fourth quarter and appeared headed to their sixth Super Bowl. However, a long 49er drive was capped by a Joe Montana touchdown pass to Dwight Clark in the final minute of play. Dallas was not finished yet. A White completion to Drew Pearson moved the ball into 49er territory and almost went for a touchdown. Two plays later, though, White fumbled after being hit, and San Francisco recovered to seal a 28-27 victory. Clark's leaping grab in the end zone would come to be famous as "The Catch," and represented a changing of the guard in the NFC from the dominant Cowboys teams of the 1970s to the dominant 49ers teams of the 1980s.
1982
Dallas finished the strike-shortened 1982 season with a record of 6-3. The Cowboys held a one game lead over the Redskins with two games to play in the regular season, but fell at home to Philadelphia, then lost a Monday night match in Minnesota (a game best known for Dorsett's NFL record 99-yard touchdown run). Dallas played two home games in the unusual postseason "Super Bowl Tournament," defeating Tampa Bay and Green Bay. In the NFC Championship Game, Washington defeated Dallas 31-17 at RFK Stadium. This finished a remarkable run that saw the Cowboys play in 10 of 13 conference championship games.
1983
The Cowboys opened the 1983 season in impressive fashion, erasing a 23-3 deficit at Washington to defeat the Super Bowl champion Redskins 31-30, then winning their next six games. When Dallas and Washington squared off again on Week 15 at Texas Stadium, both teams had 12-2 records. However, the Redskins beat the Cowboys handily in that game, and Dallas subsequently lost its next two games to end its season (a rout by the 49ers in the regular season finale and an upset home loss to the Rams in the wild card playoff game).
1984
Change and controversy marked the Cowboys' 1984 season (its 25th, which Schramm commemorated as the "Silver Season"). Despite leading Dallas to the playoffs in each of his four seasons as starting quarterback, Danny White began to draw criticism for "not being able to win the big game," and several players privately expressed their preference for backup quarterback Gary Hogeboom. Landry decided to start Hogeboom, and while Dallas started the season 4-1, Hogeboom's inconsistency eventually led to White regaining the starting job. It would not be enough, though. The Cowboys suffered an embarrassing Week 12 loss to the winless Bills in Buffalo, and needing a win in their final two games to secure a playoff spot, lost both. Dallas finished the 1984 season 9-7, and missed the postseason for the first time in a decade. An important off-field change also took place in 1984. Clint Murchison, in dire financial straits because of a collapse in oil prices, sold the Cowboys to Dallas oilman H.R. "Bum" Bright in May.
1985
Bright's ownership coincided with a decline in the Cowboys' fortunes. The 1985 season saw a somewhat uneven string of wins and losses, the worst being in Week 11 when they were annihilated 44-0 by the unstoppable Chicago Bears, the team's first shutout since 1970. With a 10-6 record, the Cowboys won the division, but were blanked by the Rams 20-0 in the playoffs. This was the final postseason appearance with Tom Landry as coach.
1986
The 1986 campaign started optimistically, with highly-regarded offensive coordinator Paul Hackett and Heisman Trophy-winning Herschel Walker having joined the team. The Cowboys ran their record to 6-2, but White's wrist was broken in a mid-season loss to the Giants, and the team only managed to win one of its final seven games. Dallas finished with a 7-9 record, ending its streak of 20 consecutive winning seasons.
1987
Dallas started the 1987 season 1-1 before NFL players went on strike and management responded by hiring replacement players. Schramm, having anticipated the strike, assembled one of the better replacement teams, which was soon bolstered by several starters who crossed the picket line (including Dorsett, Danny White, and Randy White). However, the "Counterfeit Cowboys" suffered an embarrassing home loss to a Redskins team composed entirely of replacement players, and once the strike ended, Dallas' regular squad lost six of its next eight games to finish 7-8.
1988
The Cowboys went into a free-fall in 1988. After starting the season 2-2, a last-second loss in New Orleans started a 10-game Cowboy losing streak. Among the few bright spots in the season were the team's first-round draft pick, wide receiver Michael Irvin (whom Schramm had predicted would spur the team's "return from the dead"), and a Week 15 victory against the Redskins in Washington, Tom Landry's last.
1989
Bright sold the Cowboys to Arkansas businessman Jerry Jones on February 25, 1989. Jones' first act as owner was to fire the only head coach the franchise had ever known. Tom Landry's abrupt termination attracted considerable criticism. He admitted to becoming more forgetful with play calling and clock management as he passed his 60th birthday, and to being a bit unwilling to adapt his offense for the NFL of the 1980s, although he was not totally to blame for the Cowboys' problems, which included years of poor drafts. Schramm, Brandt, and other longtime personnel were soon gone as well. Jones replaced Landry with University of Miami head coach Jimmy Johnson. With the worst record of 1988, Dallas gained the #1 draft pick for 1989, UCLA QB Troy Aikman (Tom Landry had expressed interest in Aikman just before being fired). After Dallas opened the 1989 season 0-5, Johnson traded away Herschel Walker to the Minnesota Vikings for five veteran players and eight draft choices. (A total of 18 players or draft choices were involved in what was the largest trade in NFL history at the time.) The Cowboys finished the 1989 season with a 1-15 record, their worst record since the team's inception. Rookie quarterback Steve Walsh, starting in place of an injured Aikman, led the team to its lone victory in a midseason Sunday night game in Washington.
The two games with Philadelphia in 1989 (which became known as the Bounty Bowls) were marked by particularly strong hostility between the staff and fans of both teams. Eagles coach Buddy Ryan insulted Jimmy Johnson, saying that he did nothing in his tenure at the University of Miami except run the score up on bad teams and also made fun of his weight. Ryan reputedly wanted his players to injure Cowboys kicker Roger Ruzek, who had been cut from the Eagles early in the season and on the season ender in Philadelphia, the Cowboys were pelted with snowballs.