After finishing sixth in the NFL’s East Division the year before, the Cowboys set out to make themselves better in 1962. They succeeded. By one victory and one position.
But it was still progress.
And the improvement was fueled by Dallas bringing in a load of veterans to help shore up their weakest areas.
But the Cowboys also looked long-term for help, as 14 rookies would make the 1962 squad.
Among them were George Andrie, Amos Bullocks, Dave Edwards, and Cornell Green.
Dick Nolan, hired as an assistant coach, even suited up and played in 11 games.
Tom Landry also instituted an alternating quarterbacks system, with Don Meredith and Eddie LeBaron taking alternating snaps.
New Offense, Same Results
The new system paid off stats-wise as the Cowboys scored 35 points in the season-opener at the Cotton Bowl against the Redskins.
Meredith threw for 175 yards and two touchdowns and LeBaron added 176 yards and a touchdown.
Frank Clarke had 10 catches for 241 yards and all three touchdowns.
Amos Marsh ran for two scores and 55 yards with Don Perkins adding 83 rushing yards.
But the Cowboys defense couldn’t hold a 35-21 lead as the Redskins scored 14 unanswered for a 35-35 tie.
The offense sputtered the following week against Pittsburgh and couldn’t rally from a 21-7 deficit, falling to the Steelers 30-28.
Getting On Track
The Cowboys finally found their stride, winning four of their next six games to get to 4-3-1.
Dallas beat the Rams 27-17 in Los Angeles in the third game of the year before falling to the Browns 19-10.
Dallas got its first-ever two-game win streak with a 41-19 win over the Eagles and a 42-27 win over the Steelers.
A tough 28-24 loss to the Cardinals followed before the Cowboys handed the Redskins a 38-10 thrashing in D.C.
Once again the Cowboys were above .500 in the middle of the season and thinking playoffs.
A Familiar Pattern
As good as the Cowboys offense had become it couldn’t keep pace with their defense, which couldn’t keep pace with their opponents’ offense during the second half of the season.
Dallas would win only one of its final six games of the year.
In Week 12 at the Cotton Bowl, the Cowboys held Jim Brown to just 29 rushing yards and rolled to a 45-21 win over the Browns.
The victory snapped a three-game losing streak for the Cowboys, who had suffered blowout losses to the Giants and Eagles.
But the second loss of that streak was the toughest of the year.
Hosting the Bears in Week 10, Dallas took a 33-24 lead in the fourth quarter on Amos Bullocks’ 73-yard touchdown run.
But the Dallas defense folded, allowing a 45-yard touchdown pass and a 15-yard field goal in a 34-33 loss.
The Cowboys hit the road for the final two games of the year, a 52-20 loss to the Cardinals and a 41-31 loss to the Giants.
At 5-8-1 on the season, the Cowboys finished fifth in the division.
Adding salt to the wound, the Dallas Texans would capture the 1962 AFL Championship after an 11-3 season, beating the Houston Oilers 20-17.
The Cowboys would eventually have the last laugh over the Texans.
The AFL team would pack up and move to Kansas City prior to the 1963 season and become the Chiefs.
By The Numbers
The Cowboys’ offense had a solid campaign in 1962. Meredith started two more games than LeBaron and the duo combined for over 3,100 passing yards.
More importantly, the sacks were down and the two combined for a 31-to-17 touchdown-to-interception ratio.
A marked improvement for both quarterbacks over their 1961 numbers. The three-headed monster in the backfield also put up solid numbers.
Don Perkins had 945 yards and seven touchdowns, Marsh added 802 yards and six rushing scores along with 467 yards and two touchdowns on 35 receptions.
Bullocks had 196 yards and two scores.
Frank Clarke cracked a thousand yards receiving, finishing with 1,043 yards and 14 touchdowns.
Lee Folkins had taken over at tight end and posted 536 yards and six touchdowns on 39 receptions.
Don Bishop remained a ball hawk on defense. Bishop had six interceptions for 134 yards and two fumble recoveries, scoring the defense’s lone touchdown of the year against the Bears.
Bob Lilly made the Pro Bowl, adding nine sacks and a fumble recovery.
Chuck Howley had two interceptions, a fumble recovery, and two sacks.
But the defense leaked like a sieve in 1962, giving up over 500 yards in two games and over 400 yards passing in the loss to the Bears.
While the Cowboys offense ranked second in the NFL — with 4,912 yards — the defense ranked 13th out of 14 teams and yielded 5,184 yards.
Something had to change.
And in 1963 it did. Only, not for the better.
Tomorrow: 1963