IIRC, on the Romo fumble, the Seattle ballboys had just thrown in a brand new ball that was not rubbed down at all and it was particularly slippery, much moreso than the balls Romo had been using to QB to that point in the game. I believe that play led to the introduction of dedicated kicking balls going forward.
Yup. But much more importantly, Mike's point that QB1 shouldn't be the holder is unassailable. He continued to hold in 2007 as well. Ridiculous. I can see why McBriar wasn't the holder as he was from Australia and maybe had some difficulty picking up the skill (I don't, that's all I can think of as to why he wasn't part of the kicking battery), but Bledsoe or some ST Ace should have been the holder. Not QB1.
Romo had started the season as the backup and back then IIRC it was more common to have the backup be the holder. Once Romo became the starter Parcells didn't see the need to switch the holder. That was a tremendous mistake.
Pretty soon after this, the tactic of having the backup QB be the holder pretty much ended for good.
You're correct. Bledsoe started the season, and Romo replaced him on a week7 MNF game vs NYG (Cowboys lost). As Mike Tanier pointed out, if you're taking reps as QB, you're not taking reps as the holder and vice versa. Parcells had TEN WEEKS to get a new holder. TEN. Parcells as great as he was, rarely pointed the finger at himself ("I don't coach penalties.").
Eh, not quite. Mike Lynn made the call first, and Bob Ackles served as the middleman. Johnson and Ackles picked the veterans though it was Johnson who said ‘we aren’t keeping any of them and using the picks.
Bob tells a slightly different story in The Water Boy (his biography) which is a great read. His version of it starts on page 153. In his version he suggests it to Jimmy, with them first calling Cleveland after Kevin Mack was injured.
Little known fact. Ackles was Canadian and he cut his teeth as GM of the BC Lions leading them to a Grey Cup in 1985 before being hired by the Boys as Director of Player Personnel.
That is…not even close to the littlest known fact about Bob. How about he and his son Scott basically willing the original XFL into existence in a little over nine months in 1999/2000z
I’d argue the Thanksgiving Day Leon Lett muffed field goal block in the snow and the early 90’s free agent signing of Deion Sanders from the arch rival 49ers…. Seemed to be the signature moment of when Jerrah still had chutzpah, i recall him holding the press conferences draped in Texas Stadium sponsors that didn’t align with league sponsors.
I was going to mention Lett’s Thanksgiving fumble AND the SB return touchback against the Bills. BTW, IIRC the Dolphins lost out the rest of that season after Thanksgiving and missed the playoffs.
Per Wikipedia - The Dolphins had a record of 9–2 on Thanksgiving Day, but lost their final five games of the season, missing the playoffs altogether. As of the 2025 NFL season, the 1993 Miami Dolphins are the only team to start 9–2 and not reach the playoffs. 🤦♂️
Well this should be fun. I’m already in having PTSD for the Browns segment. Red Right 88, The Drive, The Fumble, Jump Art Jump. I’ll leave the fifth to you 😆
People forget two things about the Romo Fumble game:
1) Seattle got the ball back and Dallas had a chance to stop them on a 3 and out and would have had enough time to get back into FG territory, but Seattle converted a 3rd down and that was that. Not to mention perhaps Seattle would have made a GWD of their own. There was enough time (just like there was more than enough time for the Packers to drive for a win after Dez's non-catch had it been ruled a catch).
2) On the prior play, Jason Witten CLEARLY makes the line to gain for a first down, but Seattle inexplicably wins a ball-spot challenge forcing Dallas to kick a FG instead of having First and Goal. Which would have let them bleed the clock and/or score a TD to win.
Boy do I feel bad for Bills fans when they have to read their entry for Signature Moments. The Romo Fumble ain't got nothin' on The Music City Miracle or Scott Norwood's miss..
Thank you, yes. I rarely see the Witten spot mentioned. I would add that Romo only needed the line to gain, not a TD, and if little Gramatica just gets half a decent chip on the Seattle DB, Romo gets at least that first down. I believe that was the year of the awful Vanderjagt over Venatari free agent signing, which ultimately led to signing Gramatica.
Correct on both points about the Romo fumble. The defense allowing Seattle to simply RUN THE BALL for a 1st down from the shadow of their own end zone when everyone knew they were going to run was....very disappointing for this Cowboys fan.
And yes, the Witten call is inexplicable bc the call on the field originally was ruled a 1st down and it was overturned despite lacking clear evidence. Just one of about a 20X Cowboys have been screwed by the refs in the playoffs but somehow the perception is the other way around.
Also....in today's NFL where coaches are afraid to go for it....Dallas would have gone for it on the 4th down play rather than kicking a FG....because as you point out Sea had time. If the Cowboys kick a FG Sea wins with a FG of their own, whereas a TD makes it much more difficult on Sea to come back. Parcells was arguably the most aggressive at going for it but like so many other coaches "took the points" and see how that worked out.
In the early 90's run for the Cowboys that is the single play that had the most impact on any one of their playoff games. They were trailing by a full TD after halftime (that didn't happen in any of their other playoff games) and it took one play to fix that AND put the Bills in panic mode.
Also, James Washington should have been MVP of that SB, rather than Emmitt Smith. Washington:
recovered a fumble
caused a fumble
recorded an INT
recorded 12 tackles
scored a TD
created the game's single biggest play
You'd be hard-pressed to find a defensive player who had more impact on a Super Bowl.
If we're picking a play from the Super Bowls, I'd pick Michael Irvin making a touchdown catch while shielding the ball from Nate Odomes with his leg in some Enter The Dragon type sh-t
One blunder occurred in a SB where they were up a million and the game was over. The other was brutal, but they still won the SB that year so in totality, it meant squat.
It's astounding. The 1992 Cowboys destruction of the Buffalo Bills was epic. The Cowboys scored 52 points and it should have been 59. Their defense forced 9(!) turnovers and (had Lett's TD counted) scored 3 TDs. The RB, TE, WR1 and WR2 all scored TDs.
It was the culmination of a year in which a team that was 1-15 only 3 years earlier was clearly and indisputably the best team in football despite also being the youngest team in football. I'd put the '92 Cowboys up against any team in NFL history, including the '85 Bears and the '89 49ers.
And yet because their games were so lopsided (as MIke alluded to) there's no one play or even one game that really captures their greatness and dominance.
By FAR the most played highlight of the team from that era....is Leon Lett having the ball swatted away from him on a meaningless play in an otherwise stellar performance.
It would be like the most notable highlight of the 80's 49ers' teams being Chris Carter torching them in Minnesota's 1987 upset in the division round.
The most played highlight for the 1992 Cowboys should be Alvin Harper's 70 yard reception in the 4th quarter of the NFC Championship Game.
It's only in hindsight that 90's Cowboys dominance is an inevitable consequence of the Herschel Walker trade. I didn't at the time think they were clearly and indisputably the best team in football. Weren't they underdogs on the road in San Francisco? I thought Steve Young was even better than Joe Montana and fully expected the 49ers to dominate the 90s as they had the 80s. I still expected it with 4:22 to play in the 4th when Rice pulled it back to 24-20. Harper's reception broke the back of that game and birthed the dynasty.
Also, the 49ers would have won Superbowl XXVII 53-17.
No, before the '92 NFCC game Dallas wasn't "clearly and indisputably" the best team in football. But after winning the NFCC and the SB by a combined 45 points they were.
And they backed it up by being the #1 seed and Super Bowl winning in '93 and again in '95. The AVERAGE margin of victory in the playoffs in those 3 SB years was 15 points, with no game closer than 10 points. Across all 9 games Dallas trailed for exactly 2.5 minutes in the 4th quarter - the opening of the 4th qtr vs GB in the '95 NFCC. Only one opponent enjoyed an offensive possession where they had a chance to take a 4th quarter lead (it ended in an INT).
FWIW I thought they were better in 94 too, but even those Cowboys couldn't spot the 49ers three TDs and still win. It was remarkable they gave themselves a chance.
I'll disagree here. The 1992 team combined all the athleticism and explosiveness on both sides of the ball with a sound, disciplined approach to football.
The 1994 had lost talent but more importantly they had lost much of the discipline. With Switzer instead of JJohnson as coach they were prone to turnovers and penalties, often at the worst times. Not only the opening 7 minutes of the NFCC game (3 turnovers) but the reason Dallas was in SF for that game was the 4 turnovers they committed in their reg. season loss when they scored only 14 point despite racking up over 400 yds offense.
The '94 team committed 7 turnovers in two playoff games compared to the '92-'93 teams committing 6 TOs in six playoff games.
The '94 team was also badly banged up by the playoffs with Erik Williams out and both Emmitt Smith and Larry Allen reduced to half of themselves.
This was such a great column, I can't stop commenting.
Surprised Romo's drop prevailed over The Catch by Dwight Clark, and Danny White's subsequent fumble while getting sandwiched on the following drive as Dallas moved into SF territory for a potential game-winning FG. But I guess The Catch is too obvious and has been done to death. Plus, they lost the NFC Championship 3 years in a row with White (Philly, SF, then Wash).
Another Honorable Mention Signature Moment was the supplemental drafting and trading of Steve Walsh. For terrible Steve Walsh, they got a first-round pick in 1991, a second-round pick in 1991, and a third-round pick in 1991, plus a second-round pick in 1992 that could become a first-round pick based on performance. These picks turned into Russell Maryland and Erik Williams. Two other cornerstones of the Dynasty.
The 70's had 3 great great teams in both conferences that took turns beating the crap out of each other in the playoffs.
In the NFC Dallas, Minnesota and the LAR combined to make the playoffs 24 of a possible 30 times; they would reach 9 of 10 Super Bowls. Seven of 10 times, including every year from 1973 to 1978, two of the 3 faced off in the NFCChampionship game. They would face each other a combined 13 times in the playoffs.
But they would win only 2 Super Bowls (both by Dallas).
In the AFC you had Miami, Pittsburgh and Oakland.
Those three combined to make the playoffs 21 of a possible 30 times; they would reach 8 of 10 SBs. Six of 10 times, including every year from 1973 to 1978, two of the 3 faced off in the AFChampionship game. They would face each other a combined 10 times in the playoffs.
The three would combine to win 8(!) of 10 Super Bowls from 1970 to 1979.
You had three games known by their name (Immaculate Reception, Hail Mary, Sea of Hands). You had Landry, Bud Grant, Knoll, Shula, Madden, Chuck Knox and John Robinson. You had Staubauch, Tarkenton, Bradshaw, Griese and Stabler.
It was a different time when a team that was good one year could reasonably expected to be good again the next year due to lack of player movement. Players stayed with teams most of their careers. Fans could recognize names and faces even though there was little coverage other than 3 games on Sunday and one on MNF.
These were glorious match-ups featuring long-lived, highly accomplished dynasties and it seems like every playoff bracket had 4 to 6 of these teams (only 4 teams from each conf at this time) every year - because that's exactly what happened.
You remember the Rams always losing the Cowboys...I remember 1976 and 1979, when great Cowboys teams somehow lost home playoff games to LAR teams QBed by Pat Haden and Vince Ferragamo.
I was like 7 years old when it happened...but I still suffer PTSD from Harold Carmichael torching Charlie Waters for 4 TD in a game. He was the Cowboys kryptonite.
You had a LOT of franchises back then which were not professionally run at all: half of the AFC holdovers, plus the rapid-expansion Saints and Falcons. Etc. The teams that were competently run could count on years and years of success, helped by the fact that there was no free agency to break up the mega-teams.
Mid-20s me was convinced that O'Donnell and Brown had some sort of agreement in place, because Pegram was right: dude just STOOD THERE and had two balls placed in his hands.
I was looking forward to every teams 5 best punters of all time.
I’m pretty sure the only thing that any Steeler fan my age remembers about Neil O’Donnell is that he threw away the Super Bowl to the stupid Dallas Cowboys.
Great stuff Mike! I’m old enough to have watched all 4 of these games LIVE on TV. My only minor quibble with the list would be “The Catch” in the NFCC game vs the 9ers but obviously that play will be on another list. I’m convinced NFL history is different if the Boys win that game.
I was looking for, and saw, that orange item (apparently an orange!) fly across the screen on the Hail Mary. I was still a Cowboys fan then, and man, did that bring back memories! Now, as a Bills fan, I am thankful that our time in the spotlight is still a few articles away!
I’m going to see if I can share this here because it’s one of the best ‘fan videos’ I’ve seen. He gets the score and pertinent details, a great view and the crowd sounds. From loud during pre snap, to the extra roar during the fumble, then the out burst when Romo gets tackled short. Gets me pumped every time! Go Hawks!!
Oh man, can't wait until you get to the Vikings chapter of this series. Vikings fans are going to need to take several shots before reading that one...
The Dan Campbell kneecaps and the split reaction to it, would definitely qualify, though. It’s made for some great material for the “Freezing Cold Takes” social media accounts.
They’re kind of paired together. It was during the same season, and remains the signature moment for that year. Whenever the 2008 Lions are mentioned on TV, they invariably cut to the Orlovsky play.
IIRC, on the Romo fumble, the Seattle ballboys had just thrown in a brand new ball that was not rubbed down at all and it was particularly slippery, much moreso than the balls Romo had been using to QB to that point in the game. I believe that play led to the introduction of dedicated kicking balls going forward.
Yup. But much more importantly, Mike's point that QB1 shouldn't be the holder is unassailable. He continued to hold in 2007 as well. Ridiculous. I can see why McBriar wasn't the holder as he was from Australia and maybe had some difficulty picking up the skill (I don't, that's all I can think of as to why he wasn't part of the kicking battery), but Bledsoe or some ST Ace should have been the holder. Not QB1.
All that being said, Romo very nearly got the TD to win the game! So close! The PT probably leads to a loss in any event!
Romo had started the season as the backup and back then IIRC it was more common to have the backup be the holder. Once Romo became the starter Parcells didn't see the need to switch the holder. That was a tremendous mistake.
Pretty soon after this, the tactic of having the backup QB be the holder pretty much ended for good.
You're correct. Bledsoe started the season, and Romo replaced him on a week7 MNF game vs NYG (Cowboys lost). As Mike Tanier pointed out, if you're taking reps as QB, you're not taking reps as the holder and vice versa. Parcells had TEN WEEKS to get a new holder. TEN. Parcells as great as he was, rarely pointed the finger at himself ("I don't coach penalties.").
This series sounds fantastic! I am excited to relive some of those moments of glory/insanity/heartbreak!
‘The trade was Johnson’s idea.’
Eh, not quite. Mike Lynn made the call first, and Bob Ackles served as the middleman. Johnson and Ackles picked the veterans though it was Johnson who said ‘we aren’t keeping any of them and using the picks.
Johnson claimed that he had the idea to trade Herschel while jogging, after he was talked out of the possibility of trading Irvin.
Bob tells a slightly different story in The Water Boy (his biography) which is a great read. His version of it starts on page 153. In his version he suggests it to Jimmy, with them first calling Cleveland after Kevin Mack was injured.
Little known fact. Ackles was Canadian and he cut his teeth as GM of the BC Lions leading them to a Grey Cup in 1985 before being hired by the Boys as Director of Player Personnel.
That is…not even close to the littlest known fact about Bob. How about he and his son Scott basically willing the original XFL into existence in a little over nine months in 1999/2000z
I’d argue the Thanksgiving Day Leon Lett muffed field goal block in the snow and the early 90’s free agent signing of Deion Sanders from the arch rival 49ers…. Seemed to be the signature moment of when Jerrah still had chutzpah, i recall him holding the press conferences draped in Texas Stadium sponsors that didn’t align with league sponsors.
I tried to capture the chutzpah in the Walker trade.
I was going to mention Lett’s Thanksgiving fumble AND the SB return touchback against the Bills. BTW, IIRC the Dolphins lost out the rest of that season after Thanksgiving and missed the playoffs.
Didn't they have the best record in the AFC after that game?
Per Wikipedia - The Dolphins had a record of 9–2 on Thanksgiving Day, but lost their final five games of the season, missing the playoffs altogether. As of the 2025 NFL season, the 1993 Miami Dolphins are the only team to start 9–2 and not reach the playoffs. 🤦♂️
The Fins were 9-2 after that game and then lost 5 straight to end the season out of the playoffs.
Well this should be fun. I’m already in having PTSD for the Browns segment. Red Right 88, The Drive, The Fumble, Jump Art Jump. I’ll leave the fifth to you 😆
Jim Brown Retires. The end.
Great stuff, Mike.
People forget two things about the Romo Fumble game:
1) Seattle got the ball back and Dallas had a chance to stop them on a 3 and out and would have had enough time to get back into FG territory, but Seattle converted a 3rd down and that was that. Not to mention perhaps Seattle would have made a GWD of their own. There was enough time (just like there was more than enough time for the Packers to drive for a win after Dez's non-catch had it been ruled a catch).
2) On the prior play, Jason Witten CLEARLY makes the line to gain for a first down, but Seattle inexplicably wins a ball-spot challenge forcing Dallas to kick a FG instead of having First and Goal. Which would have let them bleed the clock and/or score a TD to win.
Boy do I feel bad for Bills fans when they have to read their entry for Signature Moments. The Romo Fumble ain't got nothin' on The Music City Miracle or Scott Norwood's miss..
Thank you, yes. I rarely see the Witten spot mentioned. I would add that Romo only needed the line to gain, not a TD, and if little Gramatica just gets half a decent chip on the Seattle DB, Romo gets at least that first down. I believe that was the year of the awful Vanderjagt over Venatari free agent signing, which ultimately led to signing Gramatica.
Correct on both points about the Romo fumble. The defense allowing Seattle to simply RUN THE BALL for a 1st down from the shadow of their own end zone when everyone knew they were going to run was....very disappointing for this Cowboys fan.
And yes, the Witten call is inexplicable bc the call on the field originally was ruled a 1st down and it was overturned despite lacking clear evidence. Just one of about a 20X Cowboys have been screwed by the refs in the playoffs but somehow the perception is the other way around.
Also....in today's NFL where coaches are afraid to go for it....Dallas would have gone for it on the 4th down play rather than kicking a FG....because as you point out Sea had time. If the Cowboys kick a FG Sea wins with a FG of their own, whereas a TD makes it much more difficult on Sea to come back. Parcells was arguably the most aggressive at going for it but like so many other coaches "took the points" and see how that worked out.
Or the Thurman Thomas fumble return TD in Super Bowl XXVIII, to tie in a Cowboys moment.
Seldom has a random event felt more utterly predictable.
That would have been a very good choice. I was considering it. One thing I do not want to do is expand these out to 10.
Agree on this.
In the early 90's run for the Cowboys that is the single play that had the most impact on any one of their playoff games. They were trailing by a full TD after halftime (that didn't happen in any of their other playoff games) and it took one play to fix that AND put the Bills in panic mode.
Also, James Washington should have been MVP of that SB, rather than Emmitt Smith. Washington:
recovered a fumble
caused a fumble
recorded an INT
recorded 12 tackles
scored a TD
created the game's single biggest play
You'd be hard-pressed to find a defensive player who had more impact on a Super Bowl.
If we're picking a play from the Super Bowls, I'd pick Michael Irvin making a touchdown catch while shielding the ball from Nate Odomes with his leg in some Enter The Dragon type sh-t
LET’S GOOOOO!! So pumped this series is getting off the ground. Eagerly awaiting Leon Lett’s blunders!
One blunder occurred in a SB where they were up a million and the game was over. The other was brutal, but they still won the SB that year so in totality, it meant squat.
It's astounding. The 1992 Cowboys destruction of the Buffalo Bills was epic. The Cowboys scored 52 points and it should have been 59. Their defense forced 9(!) turnovers and (had Lett's TD counted) scored 3 TDs. The RB, TE, WR1 and WR2 all scored TDs.
It was the culmination of a year in which a team that was 1-15 only 3 years earlier was clearly and indisputably the best team in football despite also being the youngest team in football. I'd put the '92 Cowboys up against any team in NFL history, including the '85 Bears and the '89 49ers.
And yet because their games were so lopsided (as MIke alluded to) there's no one play or even one game that really captures their greatness and dominance.
By FAR the most played highlight of the team from that era....is Leon Lett having the ball swatted away from him on a meaningless play in an otherwise stellar performance.
It would be like the most notable highlight of the 80's 49ers' teams being Chris Carter torching them in Minnesota's 1987 upset in the division round.
One thing I don't want to do in this series is to pick a great team's one big blunder or upset. We will certainly see Lett on at least one other list.
I honestly thought we’d see more “infamous” plays for the Cowboys than “famous” plays.
Will be a challenge for a few franchises like Browns, Panthers, Jaguars, Texans, Falcons.
The most played highlight for the 1992 Cowboys should be Alvin Harper's 70 yard reception in the 4th quarter of the NFC Championship Game.
It's only in hindsight that 90's Cowboys dominance is an inevitable consequence of the Herschel Walker trade. I didn't at the time think they were clearly and indisputably the best team in football. Weren't they underdogs on the road in San Francisco? I thought Steve Young was even better than Joe Montana and fully expected the 49ers to dominate the 90s as they had the 80s. I still expected it with 4:22 to play in the 4th when Rice pulled it back to 24-20. Harper's reception broke the back of that game and birthed the dynasty.
Also, the 49ers would have won Superbowl XXVII 53-17.
No, before the '92 NFCC game Dallas wasn't "clearly and indisputably" the best team in football. But after winning the NFCC and the SB by a combined 45 points they were.
And they backed it up by being the #1 seed and Super Bowl winning in '93 and again in '95. The AVERAGE margin of victory in the playoffs in those 3 SB years was 15 points, with no game closer than 10 points. Across all 9 games Dallas trailed for exactly 2.5 minutes in the 4th quarter - the opening of the 4th qtr vs GB in the '95 NFCC. Only one opponent enjoyed an offensive possession where they had a chance to take a 4th quarter lead (it ended in an INT).
Clearly and indisputably better.
FWIW I thought they were better in 94 too, but even those Cowboys couldn't spot the 49ers three TDs and still win. It was remarkable they gave themselves a chance.
I'll disagree here. The 1992 team combined all the athleticism and explosiveness on both sides of the ball with a sound, disciplined approach to football.
The 1994 had lost talent but more importantly they had lost much of the discipline. With Switzer instead of JJohnson as coach they were prone to turnovers and penalties, often at the worst times. Not only the opening 7 minutes of the NFCC game (3 turnovers) but the reason Dallas was in SF for that game was the 4 turnovers they committed in their reg. season loss when they scored only 14 point despite racking up over 400 yds offense.
The '94 team committed 7 turnovers in two playoff games compared to the '92-'93 teams committing 6 TOs in six playoff games.
The '94 team was also badly banged up by the playoffs with Erik Williams out and both Emmitt Smith and Larry Allen reduced to half of themselves.
I thought the game was in Dallas?
92 was Candlestick, 93 in Dallas, 94 back at Candlestick. Like a mini World Series.
This was such a great column, I can't stop commenting.
Surprised Romo's drop prevailed over The Catch by Dwight Clark, and Danny White's subsequent fumble while getting sandwiched on the following drive as Dallas moved into SF territory for a potential game-winning FG. But I guess The Catch is too obvious and has been done to death. Plus, they lost the NFC Championship 3 years in a row with White (Philly, SF, then Wash).
Another Honorable Mention Signature Moment was the supplemental drafting and trading of Steve Walsh. For terrible Steve Walsh, they got a first-round pick in 1991, a second-round pick in 1991, and a third-round pick in 1991, plus a second-round pick in 1992 that could become a first-round pick based on performance. These picks turned into Russell Maryland and Erik Williams. Two other cornerstones of the Dynasty.
Growing up a Rams fan in the 70s, I still despise both the Cowboys and Vikings. Dallas and Minnesota ended our season every year.
The 70's had 3 great great teams in both conferences that took turns beating the crap out of each other in the playoffs.
In the NFC Dallas, Minnesota and the LAR combined to make the playoffs 24 of a possible 30 times; they would reach 9 of 10 Super Bowls. Seven of 10 times, including every year from 1973 to 1978, two of the 3 faced off in the NFCChampionship game. They would face each other a combined 13 times in the playoffs.
But they would win only 2 Super Bowls (both by Dallas).
In the AFC you had Miami, Pittsburgh and Oakland.
Those three combined to make the playoffs 21 of a possible 30 times; they would reach 8 of 10 SBs. Six of 10 times, including every year from 1973 to 1978, two of the 3 faced off in the AFChampionship game. They would face each other a combined 10 times in the playoffs.
The three would combine to win 8(!) of 10 Super Bowls from 1970 to 1979.
You had three games known by their name (Immaculate Reception, Hail Mary, Sea of Hands). You had Landry, Bud Grant, Knoll, Shula, Madden, Chuck Knox and John Robinson. You had Staubauch, Tarkenton, Bradshaw, Griese and Stabler.
It was a different time when a team that was good one year could reasonably expected to be good again the next year due to lack of player movement. Players stayed with teams most of their careers. Fans could recognize names and faces even though there was little coverage other than 3 games on Sunday and one on MNF.
These were glorious match-ups featuring long-lived, highly accomplished dynasties and it seems like every playoff bracket had 4 to 6 of these teams (only 4 teams from each conf at this time) every year - because that's exactly what happened.
You remember the Rams always losing the Cowboys...I remember 1976 and 1979, when great Cowboys teams somehow lost home playoff games to LAR teams QBed by Pat Haden and Vince Ferragamo.
Ground Chuck…along with Harold Jackson, Ron Jessie, great defense…good times!
I was like 7 years old when it happened...but I still suffer PTSD from Harold Carmichael torching Charlie Waters for 4 TD in a game. He was the Cowboys kryptonite.
You had a LOT of franchises back then which were not professionally run at all: half of the AFC holdovers, plus the rapid-expansion Saints and Falcons. Etc. The teams that were competently run could count on years and years of success, helped by the fact that there was no free agency to break up the mega-teams.
It's almost as if some franchises had better, smarter management and enjoyed success as a result.
Some would say some things have never changed.
Mid-20s me was convinced that O'Donnell and Brown had some sort of agreement in place, because Pegram was right: dude just STOOD THERE and had two balls placed in his hands.
I was looking forward to every teams 5 best punters of all time.
I’m pretty sure the only thing that any Steeler fan my age remembers about Neil O’Donnell is that he threw away the Super Bowl to the stupid Dallas Cowboys.
Great stuff Mike! I’m old enough to have watched all 4 of these games LIVE on TV. My only minor quibble with the list would be “The Catch” in the NFCC game vs the 9ers but obviously that play will be on another list. I’m convinced NFL history is different if the Boys win that game.
I was looking for, and saw, that orange item (apparently an orange!) fly across the screen on the Hail Mary. I was still a Cowboys fan then, and man, did that bring back memories! Now, as a Bills fan, I am thankful that our time in the spotlight is still a few articles away!
I’m going to see if I can share this here because it’s one of the best ‘fan videos’ I’ve seen. He gets the score and pertinent details, a great view and the crowd sounds. From loud during pre snap, to the extra roar during the fumble, then the out burst when Romo gets tackled short. Gets me pumped every time! Go Hawks!!
https://youtu.be/QVuQ5aw0HAQ?feature=shared
Oh man, can't wait until you get to the Vikings chapter of this series. Vikings fans are going to need to take several shots before reading that one...
As a Lions fan, I'm already dreading the Orlovsky self-safety being ranked #1
Man, doesn’t it have to be hiring (and sticking with) Holmes & Campbell?
The Sanders/Moore Lions were must-watch, but even they weren’t as good or as fun as this bunch.
The Dan Campbell kneecaps and the split reaction to it, would definitely qualify, though. It’s made for some great material for the “Freezing Cold Takes” social media accounts.
That’s a franchise-changing event, but not a “moment”, per se.
Ahead of 0-16?
They’re kind of paired together. It was during the same season, and remains the signature moment for that year. Whenever the 2008 Lions are mentioned on TV, they invariably cut to the Orlovsky play.
Didn't realize it was the same year. That's freakin' poetic.
OTOH you're likely to have some very recent moments make the list which is not true for my team.
I’m really excited for this series!
I’m absolutely dreading the Lions one.