The Cowboys title defense in 1996 was literally doomed before it even started. Two years of poor drafts by Jerry Jones left the Cowboys without depth.
The 1996 draft was better than the previous two, but that was a low bar to clear. So when suspensions and injuries began piling up, the Cowboys were ill-prepared.
Michael Irvin would be suspended for the first five games. Leon Lett would be suspended for the last three games and the first 13 of 1997.
Jay Novacek would miss the entire year with an injury. Charles Haley would only play in five games.
Emmitt Smith would be injured in the season-opener and the injury would impact him for the entire year.
Yet, somehow, with the wheels literally falling off at every turn, the Cowboys managed to win their fifth-straight division title and qualified for the playoffs for the sixth-straight year.
Terrible Start
Chris Boniol opened the scoring with a field goal and ended the scoring with a field goal. Unfortunately for the Cowboys, those were the only points they’d generate.
The Bears scored 22 points in between the two kicks, Smith would leave the game with an injury, and Dallas would have four turnovers in a sloppy season-opener.
Aikman and the Cowboys bounced back the next week with a 27-0 win over the Giants. Aikman had three touchdown passes, including one to Smith.
Dallas would let a 21-3 lead slip away in a 25-25 loss at home to the Colts, then dropped an ugly 10-7 decision to the Bills in Buffalo.
The Cowboys 23-19 win over the Eagles in Philadelphia wasn’t much prettier, but it got the team to 2-3 going into their bye week.
Dallas would win five of its next seven games after the break. Wins over the Cardinals (17-3) and Falcons (32-28) got them back over the .500 mark.
Hello Old Friend
The Cowboys hit the road for Miami where a familiar face was waiting to greet them. Jimmy Johnson had replaced the legendary Don Shula who retired before the season.
Dallas had never beaten the Dolphins in Miami, nor had the Cowboys ever won a game in South Florida.
Previously, the Cowboys lost to the Dolphins in two regular season games (1978, 1984). All three of their Super Bowl losses had also occurred in Miami.
But all five of those defeats had come in the old Orange Bowl. This would be the first time Dallas would play in the newer Joe Robbie Stadium.
The Dolphins took a 10-9 lead at halftime on a Dan Marino touchdown pass to Stanley Pritchett.
But Aikman countered with scoring passes to Eric Bjornson, Irvin, and Smith for a 29-10 victory to end the Miami drought.
After their struggles in the old Orange Bowl, Dallas has played at Joe Robbie twice more since 1996 and has won both games.
A 31-21 loss to the Eagles followed before Dallas earned a 20-17 overtime win over the 49ers and a 21-6 victory over the Packers.
But the win streak ended with a 20-6 loss at the Giants. At 7-5 the Cowboys were in jeopardy of missing the playoffs.
Playoff Drive
Smith carried for 155 yards and three touchdowns for a 21-10 Thanksgiving Day victory over the Redskins. A 50-yard touchdown pass from Aikman to Irvin carried Dallas to a 10-6 win over Arizona.
The Cowboys won a field goal battle over the Patriots for a 12-6 victory. Boniol kicked four straight to erase a 6-0 deficit after the first quarter.
The victory gave Dallas wins over the two teams (Packers and Patriots) that would eventually meet in the Super Bowl six weeks later.
A season-ending 37-10 loss at the Redskins dropped Dallas to 10-6 on the season and into a first-place tie with the Eagles. But Dallas had the tie-breaker and took the division title.
Who Are These Guys?
The Cowboys shot out of the gate in the Wild Card game against the Vikings at Texas Stadium.
Rushing touchdowns by Aikman and Smith, and a George Teague 29-yard interception return, put the Cowboys up 30-0 at halftime.
Dallas would win 40-15. It would be Aikman’s last playoff victory and the Cowboys would not win their next postseason game until 2009.
The Cowboys traveled to Charlotte to face the Carolina Panthers in the Divisional round. The Panthers, in just their second season, had stormed to the NFC West title.
It was the first time the two teams had ever met. It was a meeting Dallas would like to forget.
After a Boniol field goal, Carolina jumped out to a 14-3 lead on two Kerry Collins’ scoring passes.
The Cowboys got back to within three points twice in each half but never regained the lead. Dallas’ season ended with a 26-17 defeat.