The 50th season of Dallas Cowboys football would be an eventful one. The brand-new – and named at the time – Cowboys Stadium had completed construction.
The first ever football game in the building would be a 30-10 victory over the Titans in a pre-season game on August 21st.
The first official NFL regular season game in the building would be played a month later. The offseason leading up to those games was nothing short of stormy.
First, the bill for the Roy Williams trade came due in the spring. Arguably the worst trade in Cowboys' history was followed by arguably the second-worst draft ever.
Left without a first-rounder, the Cowboys would then trade out of the second round. The players they missed out on without getting anything of quality in return is staggering.
When they finally made their first pick – in the third round – they took linebacker Jason Williams. He would play in five games and make three tackles. He was not on the roster after the 2009 season.
Kicker Woes
Out of their 12 draft picks that year, the greatest contributor turned out to be kicker David Buehler who they selected in the fifth round.
Kicker Nick Folk had injured his hip during the offseason and required surgery in May. He would rush his recovery and struggled in 2009.
Dallas would go with Buehler after the 2009 season instead of Folk. Buehler would be cut by Dallas in 2012.
He was then cut by the Giants in camp in 2013 and has been out of the NFL ever since.
Folk is in camp with the Patriots as of this writing, attempting to play in his 16th NFL season.
Stormy Rookie Camp
Shortly after the draft, the Cowboys held a rookie camp at their facility in Texas. A severe microburst hit the tent-like structure with roughly 70 people inside.
A dozen people were hurt. Scouting assistant Rich Behm was left paralyzed from the waist down after his spine was severed.
What was left of the structure was torn down and never rebuilt. The companies involved in constructing it filed for bankruptcy after several issues were uncovered regarding its design and construction.
New Season, New Stadium
Once the season got underway, the Cowboys looked impressive in Tampa Bay. Tony Romo threw for 353 yards and three touchdowns in a 34-21 win over the Bucs.
The following week the new Cowboys Stadium debuted. While Romo struggled, throwing three interceptions, the running game shined for Dallas.
Marion Barber rushed for 124 yards and a score. Felix Jones added 96 yards and the go-ahead touchdown with 3:40 left in the game.
But the Giants' Eli Manning stole the show with 330 yards and two touchdown passes. Manning went 6-of-9 for 64 yards to drive New York to the Dallas 19.
Lawrence Tynes hit the game-winning field goal as time expired for a 33-31 Giants' win to spoil the Cowboys stadium opener.
The Cowboys would rebound with a 21-7 win over the Panthers for their first victory in their new home the next week. But fell 17-10 at Denver to go to 2-2 on the season.
Four-Game Win Streak
Romo hit Miles Austin for two long touchdowns, including a game-winning 60-yarder in overtime, to upend the Chiefs 26-20 in Kansas City.
After a bye week, Dallas returned home and handed the Falcons a 37-21 defeat. Romo and Austin hooked up for two more touchdowns, including a 59-yarder in the win.
The Cowboys handled the Seahawks at home, 38-17, before heading for Philadelphia. A 49-yard touchdown pass from Romo to Austin broke a 13-13 tie and led Dallas to a 20-16 win.
Dallas' four-game win streak would end at Lambeau Field with a 17-7 loss to the Packers.
The Redskins would shut out Dallas for 57 minutes before a 10-yard pass from Romo to Patrick Crayton with 2:41 remaining gave Dallas an ugly 7-6 victory at home.
The Cowboys looked much better on Thanksgiving Day, handing the Raiders a 24-7 loss. The victory moved Dallas to 8-3.
But back-to-back losses at the Giants (31-24) and a to the Chargers at home (20-17) were worrisome as the team's playoff bid was in jeopardy.
Another Winning Streak Begins
Dallas closed out the season by handing the Saints their first loss of the year, a 24-17 victory at the Superdome. The Saints would recover though, beating the Colts in the Super Bowl a few weeks later.
The Cowboys meanwhile blanked the Redskins 17-0 to set up a winner-takes-all meeting with the Eagles at home for the NFC East title.
Romo threw for 311 yards and two scores. Both Barber and Felix Jones rushed for over 90 yards and Jones added a 49-yard touchdown run for a 24-0 victory.
The Cowboys had won their first NFC East title since 1998.
The Playoff Drought Ends
The victory set up an immediate rematch with the Eagles in Arlington the very next week. The Eagles had qualified as wild cards and faced the No. 3 seeded Cowboys for the third time.
The Cowboys erupted for 27 points in the second quarter and easily cruised to a 34-14 victory. It was the first post-season win for the Cowboys since the 1996 season.
But the joy in Dallas did not last for long. Brett Favre (234 yards, four touchdowns) and Sidney Rice (141 yards, three touchdowns) destroyed the Cowboys in the divisional round in Minneapolis.
The Vikings cruised to a 34-3 victory. The Cowboys' season was over.
But at least the playoff monkey was off their back. For now.
Dismal Decade
The Cowboys went 82-78 during the first decade of the 21st Century. Their postseason record was a dismal 1-3.
They had three different head coaches in a decade for the second straight decade.
They started the decade with Troy Aikman at quarterback and ended with Tony Romo as the starter.
They had three different players start a season as the No. 1 quarterback in between Aikman and Romo.
A total of 10 players would start at quarterback during those 10 years.
