Coming off the tough loss to the Steelers in Super Bowl X in January, the Cowboys went right to work on getting back to the title game.
The way Lynn Swann had carved up the secondary put Wyoming defensive back Aaron Kyle on the Cowboys' radar. He was selected 27th in the first round.
The Cowboys would also add wide receiver Butch Johnson (3rd) and guard Tom Rafferty (4th). While the rest of the country celebrated the Bicentennial, they went to work.
Perfect Start
Roger Staubach threw for over 200 yards and a pair of touchdowns while Scott Laidlaw ran for 104 yards in a season-opening 27-7 win over the Eagles.
This was followed by a 24-6 win at New Orleans. For the second straight week the defense held the opponent scoreless until late in the game.
The Cowboys found themselves having to come from behind at home in the third week against the Colts. Baltimore got three rushing touchdowns, the last for a 24-20 lead in the fourth quarter.
Drew Pearson had connected with Golden Richards for a 39-yard touchdown earlier in the game. Staubach added two more touchdown passes – 31 yards to Richards and 38 yards to Billy Joe Dupree — for a 27-24 Dallas lead.
The Colts tied the game before Effren Herrera nailed a 32-yard field goal for a 30-27 Dallas win.
Dallas traveled to the northwest and fell behind 13-0 early to the Seahawks. But a pair of Staubach touchdown passes rallied the team to a 28-13 win.
The Cowboys made it 5-0 on the season with an easy 24-14 win over New York at Giants Stadium. Whispers of a perfect season started to spread.
A Gray Day In St. Louis
Dallas played its third straight road game of the season when they took the field in St. Louis. Jim Hart and Mel Gray turned out to be rude hosts.
Hart threw for 346 yards and three touchdowns. Gray caught seven passes for 152 yards and two scores. The Cowboys win streak, and perfect season hopes, died on the field in a 21-17 loss.
The Cowboys rebounded with four straight wins – 31-21 over Chicago, 20-7 over the Redskins, 9-3 over the Giants, and 17-10 over the Bills – to go to 9-1 on the season.
Dallas was tied with Oakland for the best record in the NFL. It seemed likely that the two teams would meet in Super Bowl XI.
Hold That Thought
The Cowboys would take a 10-0 lead into the fourth quarter at Atlanta the following week. When they boarded the bus for home, they had lost 17-10.
Dallas rebounded with a 19-14 win over the Cardinals and a 26-7 win over the Eagles. But with a chance to secure the NFC's #1 seed they dropped the season finale 27-14 to the Redskins.
At 11-3 Dallas was a half-game behind the Vikings in the NFC. Instead of the Wild Card Redskins to open the playoffs, Dallas would host the Rams instead.
One And Done
The Vikings throttled the Redskins 35-20 on Saturday and everyone anticipated a Dallas win on Sunday and a Vikings-Cowboys NFC title tilt in Minneapolis the next week.
Someone forgot to tell the Rams about that. Staubach would throw three interceptions and the Cowboys run game was stagnant.
While Pat Haden fared little better for the Rams, also tossing three picks. But Haden rushed for one score and Lawrence McCutcheon scored the game winner as the Rams upset Dallas 14-12.
The Cowboys season had come up woefully short. The glaring weakness was its running game.
Doug Dennison was the team's leading rusher with 542 yards and just six touchdowns. Fullback Robert Newhouse was second with 450 and Laidlaw finished with 424 yards.
If the Cowboys wanted a second championship they needed help at running back. That help just a few weeks earlier had won the Heisman Trophy and led his team to the National Championship.
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