This marked -The first playoff win for the Arizona Cardinals since the 1947 NFL Championship Game (when the Cardinals played in Chicago) -The first Cardinals win at Texas Stadium since the 1989 regular season -The last Cardinals road win against the Cowboys until 2014 -The last Cardinals playoff win until 2008 -The first and final playoff win for Vince Tobin as a NFL head coach
The 98 Cardinals picked the best day to play their best game. For Dallas, despite their return to the playoffs, the star was continuing to fade, and that process would be unfortunately hastened in 1999.
I just heard an interview with Michael Irvin. He said they took the Cardinals for granted and the Cowboys didn't take them seriously. Michael Irvin thought the Cowboys would win just by showing up to the game. By the time they realized they could lose the game it was already too late. I had to look this one up after hearing that interview! Man I forgot about this upset!
For sure. Cardinals, Colts, Raiders - those are teams whose uniforms should be fairly simple and plain. Their look worked perfectly for them but they had so little success and sold so little gear with that plain look. They need to take that old look and tweak it a bit to make their next one.
The failed 4th down attempt and Cunningham's missed FG really ended up being the Dallas moments of truth. This could have been a closer game. Those 2 mistakes more than anything did in Dallas.
The Cowboys were never quite the same after this game. The Cardinals have won more playoff games then Dallas since this day, I wonder if the Cardinals somehow transferred their bad luck to Dallas.
Aeneas was the 3rd best CB of the nineties. Mark smith had a great year that year. 10 sacks playing DT. Eric swann when healthy was dominant. Ronald McKinnon was unheralded but made a lot of tackles and had a bunch of ints at inside LB. Lassiter led the nfc in interceptions.
The early Richie Cunningham missed FG was an omen. If he makes it and Dallas gets an early lead, who knows? And if they kick a FG at 7-0 instead of going for it..... Game might have had a different feel at 10-6 or 10-3 instead of 10-0. The FG that wasn't and the FG they never attempted.
