A bunch of fans got to attend this game for free. Because the local business that bought the remainder of the tickets so the game wouldn't be blacked out. Gave all those tickets away first come first serve at the stadium. Pretty cool.
I was 12 years old when this game played and I remember this game being played on a Monday afternoon which is so weird. But I didn't mind cuz my friends and I thought it was so cool that we could watch it because school was out for Christmas vacation.
Drew Pearson was interviewed by NFL Report a day after this game, and spoke of the need for Dallas to figure out how to fix whatever went wrong, not realizing he had played his final game. A month of two later, he was in a terrible car crash which lacerated a major organ, forcing him to retire.
@80sFootballCards I saw that. I had been saying that Pearson and Charlie Waters should have been enshrined long ago. Glad that Drew got in. This '83 season was the year I was shown how extraordinary Pearson was. In the away game at Busch Stadium he was absolutely destroyed attempting to catch a pass over the middle. [Self Edit] Correction, catching a pass. He held on to it! Trainers had to come out and tend to him while he was "Rollin' Sevens" into a trash bag. A couple of plays later he's back on the field, and he catches that same pass, and weaves his way through 4 Cardinals and into the end zone!... What a football player! And that's coming from a Forty Niner Faithful (1970 - 2014)
That loss to the Redskins where they were both 12-2 literally crushed their spirits. The Cowboys got crushed by the 49ers and then went out played like shit in this game. Even though it was 1983 that was really the last time the Landry Cowboys would be that dominant in the NFL. Yes they did win the NFC East in 85 but when Danny White broke his wrist against the Giants in 1986 when both teams were 6-2 that was the death knell for the Landry Cowboys. The Cowboys would only win 1 game after that to 7-9, then 7-8 in 87, and 3-13 in 88 and that was it Landry.
I was at this game w/ my mom and a best friend of mine from my pee-wee football team. I was 11 yrs old at the time and I remember my mom went to get me and my friend some nachos and hot chocolate. She had to go to the other side of the stadium and when she got back the melted cheese on the nachos and the hot chocolate were frozen.
Actually it was three weeks earlier when Washington kicked their butts. They lost to the 49’ersthe next week in a blowout and the wild card loss to the Rams was inevitable.
For me, the downhill slide happened 15 days earlier on December 11th, 1983 vs the Washington Redskins. The 31-10 loss. Some mild success in 1985 and 1986 but the writing was on the wall. I see John and Pat also touch on it at 2:23:56
Actually after the 1978 season Super Bowl loss to Pittsburgh, the Cowboys began to gradually decline. No Super Bowl appearences thru the 80s. 3 NFC championship appearances in the 80s. All early 80s. Lost all 3. You could also say when Staubach retired they were never the same. They gradually declined for over those early 80s seasons.
@@jerrymcgeorge4117 You could even make an argument that their downfall began with that dumbfounding loss they had in San Diego to a Fouts-less Chargers team a few weeks prior to that game against Washington. Don Coryell was one of the rare head coaches that had more than his share of success against the Cowboys, and that shocking loss to the Chargers, who were going nowhere in '83, and the fact that Ed Luther had such a good game against what had typically been a defense that was tough for an inexperienced QB to crack, should have sent a warning signal to the Cowboys that they could be had, and two Cowboys nemeses, Joe Theismann and Vince Ferragamo, would finish them off.
@@nymike06 I'm not so certain that loss they had to a Chargers team without Dan Fouts didn't begin their downfall, because that loss a few weeks prior to that game vs. Washington, when Ed Luther had a big day and the Cowboys couldn't come all the way back, should have sent a warning of what could happen when they played Washington for the NFC East crown. Don Coryell's Chargers exposed the Cowboys, even without Fouts, Joe Gibbs' Redskins then beat them for the NFC East, and then another Cowboys nemesis, Vince Ferragamo, ultimately finished them off.
Thanks for posting this. I can remember exactly where I was this day, growing up in New England but my grandmother was a big Cowboys fan. I was sitting with her watching the game. Cowboys started out 7-0 and 12-2 that year, so even after the way the regular season ending, this was quite a surprising result. Good memories, anyway!
Danny White was very underrated and often times was unfairly criticized. He wasn't great in this game but Dorsett wasn't great in a few playoff games as well nor was the Cowboys offensive line. Landry made a huge mistake the next year starting Hogeboom for half a season until White regained the job. White was spectacular in 1986 until he got his wrist broken. Had that not happened Dallas had a Superbowl shot in 1986 and probably would have been decent in 1987 but unfortunately it was over for the Cowboys for years after Danny got hurt
The drafts sucked during this time and talent wasn't coming in Too many dudes started hating playing for Landry. Tony D, among others, hated how they were being used. Butch Johnson, as you mentioned..Danny White-:Hogeboom etc.
@@rgtunderworldrgt7773 Agreed. Landry is an iconic coach and very much respected including by me but many people don't realize that a lot of players didn't like him or playing for him. Landry knew football and off the field was a good man but he was cold and stoic when it came to coaching and often rubbed players wrong. His coaching style would not work at all in the modern game. Good post!
@@jdmcd3873 Thank you. Is hard for me to admit because of the high esteem I hold Landry in. Loved him. Your points are Sad but True. I was too young to understand anything about drafting, scouting,etc But the drafts after 1980 started to suck Only getting 1-3 decent players? And it was what? 12-17 rds back then. They started the decline. The death knell, in my opinion? Was Landry and co, thought only they knew about some young WR in the deep South, small school, they thought no one else knew about. #1 player on their board And 2 picks before we get him? Bill Walsh and SF traded up ahead of us and took him ......... Jerry Rice. That was it... lol... Football World landscape changed towards them over us a 2nd time
this game was the same day on monday the 26th. when bob backlund lost to the iron sheik in madison square garden after being champion for almost 6 years
This would be Drew Pearson, Harvey Martin, Robert Newhouse, Pat Donovan and Billy Joe Dupree's final games as well as the final game for Clint Murchison, Jr. as owner. This would also be Butch Johnson's final game as a Cowboy as he would be traded to the Houston Oilers in the offseason.
Butch Johnson requested the trade. He would've been starting since Drew Pearson got messed up in that car accident and had to retire. He requested the trade anyway
I remember watching this game in total disbelief. It never dawned on me the Cowboys would do anything but win until midway through the 4th quarter. The Cowboys were a very good team that year. They had lost a couple of very close games earlier in the year and lost the last 2 of the regular season when Landry did what he usually did -- took out some starters and injury ridden players to save them for the playoffs when a playoff birth was in the bag. They were clearly a better team than the Rams -- heck, they were probably the second or third best team in the NFL, but they weren't prepared for this game and came out flat. The Rams were prepared, played well, and all but ended Danny White's career. White lost his starting job the next year (in large part due to this game), won it back in 1985, but the Cowboys lost again to the Rams in the division round -- once again, they weren't competitive, but the Rams were the better team that year. In '86, the Cowboys were probably the best team in the NFL and White was having a great year until...Carl Banks broke White's wrist in the second game against the Giants. The Cowboys had already beaten the Giants once and were on pace to win again. I think the Cowboys would have at least gotten to the Super Bowl and probably won it in '86, but White was out for the season, they lost most of the rest of their games, and White never really returned. Sad to think about it, but this game started that decline.
The week 15 game vs the Redskins put them in a state of shock that they never recovered from. Remember, they just beat a very good team @ Seattle in week 14 pretty handily. I think the downward spiral began after that Washington beat down.
Giants would have destroyed Dallas in the playoffs. Head and shoulders above the entire league in 86. They crushed Washington 3 times that year. Plus Danny White always SUCKED in the playoffs vs top teams (had he stayed healthy).
@@davidkopec9442 Destroyed? That's laughable. The Giants had already lost to the Cowboys once and were about to lose again had White not gone out of that second game. Even with White out, the Giants only won by 3. The Cowboys beat the Redskins 30-6 earlier in the year when White was healthy, a far bigger margin than the 10 and 7 point margins the Giants beat them by in the regular season. Look at those wins after Dallas: an average margin of 3 points until the last 2 games when they beat soundly 2 bad teams. The Giants got REALLY lucky in the playoffs -- Montana got hurt; the Redskins weren't that great of a team that year; and Denver was a good AFC team but not ready for good NFC teams. The Giants were extremely lucky the Bears lost, because 1) Simms couldn't handle the Bears pass rush and 2) it is unlikely either team could score a lot, so a defensive struggle probably favored the Bears -- better offensive tools in Payton and their receivers (though Simms was playing better than McMahon at the time, regardless of who was overall the better QB). The Giants were good, maybe real good. But I think Dallas beats them and wins the Division. As far as White, the only bad playoff game he had was in '83 against the Rams. (The '85 game in LA, Dallas wasn't a very good team at all). White had some good playoff games -- Atlanta in '80 for one. The other times, like against the Redskins, he got hurt. Had Drew Pearson not been tackled late in the '81 NFC Champ. game, we might never have heard of "The Catch." That's not on White. But either way, the Giants were hardly "head and shoulders" above the league. They did finish strong, however. I will give you that. The Bears didn't; the Redskins didn't; the 49ers didn't; obviously, the Cowboys didn't. Take the SB win and be happy, but be damn glad the injuries happened because had they not happened, '86 would have been just another 10 or 11 win season for the Giants.
@@scott1564 I'm neither a Dallas nor a Giant fan but you make some interesting points. The Giants won a number of close games in '86 coming back against New Orleans, Minnesota and San Francisco, before really hitting their stride late in beating Washington in a pivotal game at RFK for 1st place and then killing both St. Louis and Green Bay as they tuned up for the playoffs. The second Dallas game you speak of also featured about 38 penalties against Dallas, some of them pivotal at the end. They played a very tough schedule and by the time the playoffs came around were battle tested. But it all came down to matchups. The Giants struggled with Dallas, even during Landry's final year in '88 when they really fell off. Philadelphia sort of assumed that mantle from Dallas in beating the Giants 9 out of 10 between 1988 and 1992, even beating the Giants in their 1990 Super Bowl year. They also struggled with the L.A. Rams. On the other hand the Giants had Washington's number, and were really the only team that could beat San Francisco during those years. I do agree with you that Chicago would have given the Giants problems in '86 but were without McMahon in the playoff game with Washington. There's just something odd about the Giants. Sure, they've won their four Super Bowls which puts them among the elite, but they don't consistently win like the others at the top of that list. They do make the most of their limited opportunities, usually in stunning fashion. It's hard to question 1986, but who stops San Francisco's bid for a three-peat in their house without even scoring a touchdown? Or vanquishing New England's perfect season when a guy traps a ball against his helmet? Has that ever happened in NFL history? I can't speak to their 2011 Super Bowl win over New England because it's the only Super Bowl I didn't watch, but they beat a very good San Francisco team at their place largely because of two muffed punts with their regular returner (Ted Ginn) out. Just very strange...
Landry wore that same brown winter coat in '80 against Philadelphia in the NFC Championship, then again against Washington in the '82 NFCCG. You'd think he would have burned that coat rather than wear it in yet another playoff game. (Well, it was a gift from his wife, I guess. "Hey honey, where's that winter coat I got you?" "Sorry, dear. I burned it."
This is when I realized the slide was beginning. They'd miss the playoffs in 84, back into the NFC East in 85 knowing they couldn't compete, and then the wheels totally fell off the apple cart by midway through 86. They were 6-2, Danny White broke his wrist against the Giants, and they went 1-7 the rest of the way. The next two years were 7-8 and 3-13.
This was the last time the playoff game was played on a Monday. 39 years later in 2022 a playoff game was played on a Monday night between the Cardinals and Rams.
Glad you enjoyed it. For a Cowboy fan, it was torture (LOL!). Just like 1979, it was like seeing a Corvette lose a race to a Prius. Even worse, this Rams team the following week lost 51-7 to the Skins. Like the 1968 and 1969 Browns beating Dallas in the playoffs then getting curb stomped by the Colts and Vikings the following week.
@@sportshistorybuff319 Then in the end, the LA Raiders badly beat the Redskins in the Super Bowl. The two best teams ended up in the Super Bowl that year. I'm a big Cowboys fan and this l83 Wild Card loss to the Rams hurt. Nevertheless, if they had moved on to play Washington or San Francisco, it would be been the same results. 83 started off great for Dallas but the second half of the season ended badly.
One interesting thing about this game is that, for the fifth time in seven post-season meetings between the Rams and Cowboys since the 1973 season, the visiting team wound up victorious. the Cowboys had won both post-season match-ups at the L.A. Coliseum (which were in the NFC Championship Game), and this marked the third time in five post-season meetings in Dallas (actually, Irving, TX) that the Rams would walk out of Texas Stadium with a win. Two years later, the Rams finally beat the Cowboys in the post-season in front of their own fans.
The Cowboys were never the same after that “No Danny No” game 2 weeks earlier, and it showed how the Los Angeles Rams came to Dallas and defeated them in this game.
Not to mention the downright sin of getting beat a few weeks earlier in San Diego by a Fouts-less Chargers team. That was probably the game that foreshadowed their downfall, both later that season against the Redskins (followed by this loss to the Rams), as well as for that particular iteration of the Cowboys, because they were mediocre (by their standards) in 1984, managed to eke out a division title in 1985, despite some horrendous blowout losses, and then collapsed entirely when Danny White broke his passing hand after a 6-2 start in '86.
Honestly, you could kind of see this coming. The Cowboys had a great season for 14 weeks. They were 12-2 and tied with Washington in the NFC East. Then they lost to the Redskins 31-10 at Texas Stadium and 42-17 at San Francisco. They just looked terrible. I still thought they'd beat the Rams, but Dickerson exposed them. They were never the same after this one.
Question: at 2:01:35 the Rams running back #44 goes in motion before the ball is snapped. Isn't that illegal motion? Not sure, but aren't the running backs supposed to be set for one second before the ball is snapped? Thanks in advance for any clarification of the rule.
Jeff Rohrer from Yale was the poster child for Landry’s defensive coaching slippage. You can’t start him when the Giants had Carl Banks and Lawrence Taylor and the Bears had Otis Wilson And Wilber Marshall. True, the game had passed Landry by.
Since 79 season without charlie waters who had retired the doomsday defense was loosing members. What was left of it here had aged. Life long Rams fan since about 71 and hate Dallas but must say if Landry had a couple of LT's, Carl Banks or Wilson or Marshall type players he wouldnt of looked like the game had passed him by as much.
There were a few reasons for that. Other teams caught up to the Cowboys’ computerized draft analysis and mining of small colleges and HBCUs for hidden talent. They also had very low draft picks because they won so many games. And of course the game changed and the Cowboys didn’t keep up too well.
The clock never stopped after the Cowboys final timeout at 2:44:44 , the Cowboys should have go the ball back after a Rams punt with around :20 seconds left
That was not pass interference at 1:54:25 on third down. That keeps the Rams drive alive and they go score a TD which was the difference in the game............
Crazy thing about this very underrated rivalry was that in the eight playoff games these teams had from 1973-'85, each team fared better on the other's home field than their own. The Cowboys won 2 of the 3 encounters in Los Angeles, including the 1975 and '78 NFC Championship Games, and the Rams won 3 of the 5 played in Dallas.
@@cjs83172 The Rams are 2 of 4 in Los Angeles/Anaheim (85). Although the Rams now hold the edge 5-4, as a Rams fan it still pains me that our losses have mostly been blow-outs with the '75 Championship at home being the worst (I was 8 years old). They also got humiliated 28-0 (all 2nd half points) in the '78 Championship in LA.
Then a week later the Rams ran into the Washington Redskins. They had no answer for John Riggins who plowed through the Rams defense. He looked like a bulldozer!!
Sad that this playoff game couldn't sell out..( until a business man bought the rest of the remaining tickets. ). Was it too cold?? Ha lol come on. Im a huge huge Cowboy fan but I live in NY.
Actually yes. This was in the middle of the all time cold snap in Dallas history. It stayed below freezing for 13 straight days. Summerall said it was 27 degrees at the beginning of the game, and that was practically a heat wave compared to the previous two days.
Vince Ferragamo upset the Cowboys in 1979, cost them home field with shellacking on the second to last game of 1980, and then put the nail in the coffin here….
You have to love Jimmy the Greek... Because he would lie his ass off, on TV .. Then bet opposite in Vegas... Got to change those betting lines to make mafia happy....
The 1976 loss to LA was understandable, given Staubach's broken digit. But the losses in 1979 and here were inexcusable, the Rams playing near their peak but Dallas practically lay down and quit. It's like they were suffocating under the burden of being the Cowboys, their reputation and persona so inflated they were almost destined to lose against a hungrier underdog. Like Craig Morton, Danny White takes a mountain of unfair criticism but he was one of many Cowboys who didn't step up to the plate. I still remember this game ending and it felt like a hangover after a party had been promoted for months, but wasn't even worth it. Dallas appeared soft, entitled, emotionally fragile and complacent. From 12-2 to one and done in the Wild Card Round. This must have been how Dallas fans felt going 11-2-1 in 1969, then choking against the Browns, 38-14. The Rams who won clearly were 51-7 losers the following week to the Skins. Landry's drafting had become average at best and he didn't seem to coach any better on this day then his players performed. Eighteen trips to the playoffs should have produced 4-5 Super Bowls, not two.
A Cowboy later admitted that the rah-rah high fiving in pregame introductions was superficial, worthless when the game began because Dallas was already the team they were, not a hungry, motivated playoff team. They, to me, were an aging team carrying the burden of high expectations, the suffocating corporate ethos of Landry and a bloated personna making them targets for every opponent. A coach wearing a fur-lined coat on the sideline doesn't scream intensity, it shouts here's a target on our backs. After starting 7-0, they only split their last ten games, 5-5, including this disaster.
those are all things things that make them the Cowboys. besides, at least Landry had style, compared to the track suite only crap that coaches (corporate) wear today.
