Despite the disappointing outcome of Super Bowl XIII months before, the Cowboys entered the 1979 season with high hopes.
Despite his age (38) Roger Staubach appeared to be at the top of his game. But as the team prepared to play its 20th season there were some issues.
Jethro Pugh had retired. Charlie Waters would miss the year due to injury and Ed “Too Tall” Jones decided to become a boxer.
Thomas “Hollywood” Henderson would be cut in November, mostly because of his erratic play and behavior on and off the field.
Dallas picked up two key players for the future in the draft, tight end Doug Cosbie (3rd) and running back Ron Springs (5th).
All-in-all Dallas looked ready to make another Super Bowl run as the season began.
Smooth Sailing In The First Half
The Cowboys jumped out to a 7-1 start. Staubach was on his way to his best season ever statistically. Dorsett was on his way to another 1,000-yard season.
The defense, despite missing Jones and Waters, was treading water. While not the dominating unit it had been, its was still getting the job done.
Dallas edged St. Louis 22-21 to open the season then beat San Francisco 21-13. The Cowboys moved to 3-0 on the season with a 24-20 win over the Bears.
The unbeaten season died in Cleveland as the Browns thumped Dallas 26-7 despite a 300-yard passing game by Staubach.
Dallas rebounded with a four-game winning streak. A 38-13 win over the Bengals started the run, followed by a 36-20 win over the Vikings.
A 17-point third quarter fueled a 30-6 win at home over the Rams. Dallas closed the streak with a 22-13 victory at home over the Cardinals despite Roy Green’s 106-yard kickoff return.
Red Alert
The season nearly unraveled as Dallas would lose four of its next five games. A 14-3 loss at Pittsburgh was followed by a 16-14 win at the Giants.
But Dallas needed to score the last 10 points of the game in the final quarter to escape with the victory and move to 8-2.
Then came losses to the Eagles (31-21) and the Redskins (34-20) followed by a 30-24 loss to the Oilers at home.
Houston’s head coach Bum Phillips took a jab at the Cowboys, and their now famous “America’s Team” moniker, after the win.
He declared the Oilers to be “Texas’ Team”. It was the first time in three tries that the Oilers had beaten the Cowboys.
Dallas had fallen to 8-5 on the season and the playoffs were suddenly in doubt.
Saving The Season
Dallas would fall behind early against the Giants at home. But three consecutive Staubach touchdown passes to Drew Pearson led to a 27-7 victory to snap the losing skid.
The Cowboys got past the Eagles 24-17 in their final road game of the year, setting up a winner-take-all finale against the Redskins at Texas Stadium.
With the NFC East title, and the No. 1 seed in the NFC on the line, the Cowboys fell behind 17-0 in the second quarter.
Playing without Tony Dorsett, Dallas relied on Springs and the rookie delivered. Carrying 20 times for 79 yards and catching six passes for another 58, Springs helped lead the comeback.
Springs got Dallas on the board with a 1-yard scoring run. Then Staubach, who finished with 336 yards passing, hit Preston Pearson on a 26-yard scoring pass to close the half.
Robert Newhouse gave Dallas a 21-17 third quarter lead with a two-yard run. But a pair of John Riggins runs (1, 66) gave the Redskins a 34-21 lead in the fourth quarter.
Staubach answered with a 26-yard pass to Springs and an eight-yard pass to Tony Hill for a thrilling 35-34 victory.
The win gave Dallas an 11-5 mark and the best record in the NFC. They were playing winning football at the right time.
But no one knew that day, that Staubach had won his last home game, and last-ever NFL game that day.
The Not-So-Grand Finale
Dallas had easily defeated the Rams earlier in the season. So when Los Angeles arrived on Dec. 30th for the divisional round playoff game, few were concerned.
The Cowboys were favored by 8.5 points to host Tampa Bay in the NFC Championship game. Someone forgot to let the Rams know that.
Randy White sacked Vince Ferragamo for a safety to open the scoring. But the Rams quarterback responded with two touchdown passes for a 14-5 halftime lead.
The Cowboys’ offense finally got going in the second half. Springs scored from a yard out in the third quarter and Staubach hit Jay Saldi on a two-yard pass for a 19-14 lead late in the game.
But Ferragamo hit Billy Waddy on a 50-yard scoring pass with two minutes left for a 21-19 lead. The stage was set for one last miracle by Captain Comeback.
But Staubach couldn’t move the Cowboys downfield and the Rams were able to run out the clock for the win and ended the Cowboys’ season.
The End Of An Era
For Staubach, it was not the way he wanted to end his 11-year run. A career delayed by his five year Naval commitment saw two Super Bowl wins in four starts.
Staubach finished with an 85-29 record in 114 starts. He played in 131 games overall. He had 22,700 yards passing with 153 touchdowns and 109 interceptions.
His career QB rating was 83.4. But he was sacked 313 times and who knows how many concussions he suffered because of them.
He rushed for 2,264 yards and 20 touchdowns during his career and had one receptions for minus-13 yards.
In the playoffs he was 11-6 with 2,791 yards passing, 24 touchdowns and 19 interceptions. He went 4-2 in NFC Championship games in addition to his 2-2 record in the Super Bowl.
A couple of months later, Staubach announced his retirement from football.
A Successful Decade
For the 1970s, the Cowboys would go an amazing 105-39 (.784) in the regular season. They were 14-7 in the playoffs for the decade.
They would win seven NFC Divisional titles and five NFC Championships during the 10-year span.
Out of the five Super Bowls, they captured two championships by a combined 38 points. The three Super Bowl losses were by a combined 11 points.