With the last of the Triplets gone with the departure of Emmitt Smith to the Cardinals, the era of Bill Parcells began in Dallas in 2003.
The Cowboys' sixth head coach quickly went to work rebuilding the team. While he kept most of the defensive coaches, he cleaned house on offense.
Maurice Carthon was the Cowboys' new offensive coordinator and Sean Payton was brought in to serve as assistant head coach and quarterbacks coach.
Parcells brought in players he was familiar with to bolster the roster like running back Richie Anderson and wide receiver Terry Glenn.
Parcells In Charge
Although Jerry Jones retained the title of General Manager, it became apparent that part of the agreement to get Parcells to coach in Dallas was control of player personnel.
This included the draft. Dallas had its best draft since Jimmy Johnson's departure in 2003.
Dallas selected defensive back Terence Newman in the first round with the firth overall pick. Center Al Johnson followed in the second round.
The Cowboys took tight end Jason Witten in the third round and linebacker Bradie James in the fourth. The also signed undrafted free agent quarterback Tony Romo.
And So It Begins…
The Parcells era got off to a rocky start as Dallas gave up 24 second half points in a 27-13 loss to the Falcons at home.
In Parcells return to New York to face his old team, the Giants scored 18 unanswered points in the fourth quarter for a 32-29 lead. But a Billy Cundiff 52-yard field goal as time expired sent the game into overtime.
Cundiff won the game in overtime with a 25-yard field goal. The victory put Dallas at 1-1 as they went into their early bye week. It also seemed to ignite the team.
Back in New York to face the Jets – another former Parcells team — Troy Hambrick had 127 yards and a rushing touchdown.
Quincy Carter added a 13-yard touchdown pass to Antonio Bryant. Joey Galloway had five catches for 100 yards as Dallas got a 17-6 win over the Jets.
Emmitt Comes Home
Carter added two touchdown passes in a 24-7 home win over the Cardinals in Emmitt Smith's return to Texas Stadium.
Smith was held to minus-1 yard rushing on six carries and two yards on two receptions before exiting the game with a shoulder injury.
A 28-yard field goal by Cundiff with 70 seconds left in the game gave Dallas a 23-21 win at home over the Eagles. Tex Schramm was posthumously inducted into the Ring of Honor at halftime.
Carter and Glenn connected for three touchdowns in a 38-7 rout of the Lions in Detroit the following week to go 5-1 on the season.
Tampa Bay blanked Dallas 16-0 in Florida to snap the five-game winning streak, but the Cowboys rebounded with wins over the Redskins (21-14) and Buffalo (10-6).
The Battle Of The Bills
The Cowboys faced the third of Parcells' former teams in New England with Bill Belichick as the Patriots' coach.
Dallas' defense held the Patriots to 12 points on a touchdown and two field goals. But for the second time in 2003 the Cowboys' offense was shut out as Carter threw three interceptions.
The Cowboys rebounded to beat Carolina 24-20 at home only to get routed by Miami 40-21. The Dolphins were being coached by former Cowboys' assistant coach Dave Wannstedt.
Another blowout loss followed, this time a 36-10 loss at Philadelphia. But Dallas answered with back-to-back wins over the Redskins (27-0) and Giants (19-3).
Parcells had gone 3-1 in 2003 against his former teams and the season finale against the Saints meant nothing to the Cowboys playoff-wise as they lost 13-7.
At 10-6, Dallas had finished second in the NFC East with their first winning season since 1998. They earned their first playoff berth since 1999.
One And Done
The Cowboys had outdueled the Panthers earlier in the year at Texas Stadium. But their wild card playoff game was being played in Carolina.
Dallas would fall behind 13-0 before a Cundiff field goal got them on the board late in the second quarter. The Panthers went on another 13-point run to seal a 29-10 victory.
While Dallas was disappointed by the early exit, at least there was hope for the future. It would be a false hope as far as 2004 was concerned.
For 34-year-old Darren Woodson it would be his last game appearance in the NFL, although he didn't know it at the time.
The safety would have three tackles in the game, one for a loss and a pass defended.
He would undergo surgery for a herniated disc in July 2004 and spent the entire season on the inactive list. He retired after the season ended.
Woodson was the last active player on a Cowboys' roster to have played for Johnson when he coached the Cowboys.
