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Looking back at the Cowboys ties, OT records

Originally posted on Inside The Star
By Richard Paolinelli | Last updated Oct 1, 2025 9:52 AM ET

In 1974, the NFL finally adopted playing overtime when regular season games ended, hoping to rid the standings of ties.

Prior to that season, the Dallas Cowboys had seen a total of six regular season games ending in a tie and all of them came in the 1960s. The last time fell on Thanksgiving Day in 1969.

On that day, the Cowboys and San Francisco 49ers battled to a 24-24 draw.

The following season, the NFL and AFL merged.

From that time forward, Dallas had never ended a game in a tie. Until Sunday night against the Packers.

The Cowboys had been the last of the pre-merger NFL/AFL teams not to have had a game end in a tie.

Their seventh tie in history was the fifth time a home game ended without a winner.

Tom Landry had been the only head coach for the Cowboys to have a tie on his record. Brian Schottenheimer joined an exclusive club on Sunday night in that respect.

However, Schottenheimer is the only Cowboys’ head coach with an overtime tie on his resume.

The Cowboys’ OT Record

Since 1974, the Cowboys have seen 46 games go into overtime. They are 24-21-1 all-time in those games.

They have yet to take a playoff game into overtime.

The Cowboys record for most overtimes in one season stands at three.

They have done this in three different seasons and all in this century. In 2000, under Dave Campo, Dallas went 1-2 in overtime games.

They beat Carolina 16-13, but fell to Jacksonville (23-17) and the Eagles (15-13).

In 2011 and in 2012, under Jason Garrett, the Cowboys would win two of their three overtime games in each of the two seasons.

In 2011, Dallas beat the 49ers 27-24, downed the Redskins by the same score, and then lost to Arizona, 19-13. The following year, they beat the Browns, 23-20, the Steelers, 27-24, and then lost to the Saints, 34-31.

Garrett is the king of the Cowboys head coaches regarding overtime games.

He had 14 games go into an extra period, five more than Landry, and he has the most wins, eight, while Landry is second with six.

All 10 of Dallas’ head coaches have had at least one game go into overtime. Only two have losing records.

Dave Campo finished 1-4 all-time, while Mike McCarthy was 1-3.

Barry Switzer (2-2), Jimmy Johnson (1-1), Wade Phillips (1-1), and Schottenheimer (0-0-1) are at .500.

The other four all have winning records in overtime.