Greatest Eagles-Cowboys moments

Share

The Eagles and Dallas Cowboys will meet for the 105th time on Sunday night at Lincoln Financial Field. This is one of the NFLs best rivalries, steeped in the history of the NFC East where some of the leagues greatest coaches and players competed twice a year and sometimes more (when they met in the post-season).

The series has produced many memorable moments, so many that it is hard to pick a top 10. No two lists would be the same. If you are a younger fan, you probably never heard about Dallas linebacker Lee Roy Jordan cheap-shotting the Eagles Timmy Brown and knocking out four of his teeth. That happened in 1967 and turned the rivalry into a blood feud.

Ive been around long enough to see the whole series evolvethe teams first played in 1960so Ive seen everything from the Cowboys merciless 56-7 drubbing of the Eagles in 1966 to the Thanksgiving Day game in 1989 when the Eagles flattened Luis Zendejas and he claimed it was because Buddy Ryan put a bounty on him. A bounty? On a kicker? This rivalry has a little bit of everything.

So here is my top 10 counting 10 to 1 seen (admittedly) from a Philadelphia perspective.

10. Bill Bergeys first regular season home game as an Eagle (Sept. 23, 1974) was against the Cowboys on Monday Night Football. Bergey introduced himself to the Philly fans in a big way, recording 18 tackles and forcing a fumble that cornerback Joe Lavender scooped off the Vet Stadium carpet and returned 96 yards for a touchdown as the Eagles upset Dallas, 13-10. I still remember the sign hanging in the end zone: You Just Hit an Ice-Bergey.
9. Buddy Ryan got his revenge on Tom Landry (Oct. 25, 1987) at the Vet. Two weeks earlier, during the NFL players strike, the Cowboys had a team reinforced by veterans who crossed the picket line and they crushed the hapless Eagles replacements, 41-22. When the teams met again, Ryan had his full compliment of players and he rolled up the score, ordering Randall Cunningham to fake a kneel-down and throw a pass in the final seconds to tack on another touchdown. Its always good to take it and shove it, Ryan said.

8. Terrell Owens had six catches for 134 yards and three touchdowns as the Eagles blew away the Cowboys, 49-21, but that wasnt what anyone was talking about after the Nov. 15, 2004 game. That was the Monday Night Game that opened with a skit involving the Eagles receiver and Nicollette Sheridan, the blonde bombshell from the ABC-TV series Desperate Housewives. It was a risqu bit that ended with the actress dropping the towel she was wearing and leaping into T.O.s arms. There was an immediate backlash, which included more than 50,000 complaints filed to the Federal Communications Commission. The network acknowledged the content was inappropriate and issued an apology.

7. Texas native Tony Franklin kicked the longest field goal in Eagles history, 59 yards, to help the Eagles win their first-ever game at Texas Stadium, 31-21, on Nov. 12, 1979. The Eagles were on a three-game losing skid when they went to Dallas for the Monday Night Game and things didnt look too promising when quarterback Ron Jaworski was knocked out, but backup John Walton threw a touchdown pass to Charlie Smith and Franklin bare-footed the monster field goal that Landry said really took the juice out right before the half.

6. James Willis made the most memorable play in a relatively unmemorable career as an Eagles linebacker when he intercepted a Troy Aikman pass in the end zone and lateraled the ball to Troy Vincent who took it the distance to complete a 104-yard touchdown. The interception iced a 31-21 win but it incurred the wrath of coach Ray Rhodes who couldnt believe Willis (a) ran the ball out of the end zone and (b) made the decision to lateral the ball and risk a fumble that could have blown the game. You have to be smarter than that, Rhodes said.

5. Timmy Brown (the same Timmy Brown who lost his teeth in Dallas) became the first player in NFL history to return two kickoffs for touchdowns in the same game (Nov. 6, 1966). The Eagles third touchdown also came on special teams as Aaron Martin broke a punt return for an 87-yard score. The Eagles won, 24-23, even though the offense could manage only five first downs and five pass completions. The game ended with safety Joe Scarpati stealing the ball from Dallas halfback Dan Reeves at the 13-yard line. It was one of those games the old Franklin Field crowd never tires of reliving.
4. Emmitt Smith had some huge games against the Eagles, including a 237-yard game in 1993 that is the most rushing yards ever gained against the Eagles defense. But the future Hall of Famer could not gain an inch with the game on the line on Dec. 10, 1995 when he was stopped cold twice on fourth down plunges. The score was tied, 17-17, with just over two minutes left and Dallas had the ball at its own 29-yard line. Coach Barry Switzer ran Smith off left tackle on consecutive plays and the Eagles stopped him both times. Kicker Gary Anderson kicked a field goal to win it, 20-17.

3. Ill never forget the sight of Troy Aikman standing by his locker, dabbing his bloody chin with a towel, saying: They had guys all over the place. It felt like there was 20 guys out there, all chasing me. Thats how it looked, too, as the Eagles set a team record with 11 sacks of Aikman in a 24-0 victory (Sept. 15, 1991). Clyde Simmons had 4.5 sacks, Jerome Brown had 2.5, Mike Golic had two and Reggie White and Mike Pitts each had one. That was the year when the Eagles defense finished first in the league against both the run and the pass and led with 55 sacks and 48 takeaways.
2. The hottest game in NFL history (Sept. 3, 2000) is better known as The Pickle Juice Game. The temperature was 109 degrees at kickoff, but the thermometer on the field at Texas Stadium read 150 degrees. The Eagles rolled over the Cowboys, 41-14, thanks in part to trainer Rick Burkholder who had the players drink pickle juice to prevent dehydration. Duce Staley ran for 201 yards and Jeremiah Trotter returned an interception for a touchdown as the one-sided victory signaled a shift in power in the NFC East. The Eagles established themselves as a team on the rise under Andy Reid while the Cowboys were exposed as an aging dynasty at the end of its run.
1. In my mind, this is still the best game in the seriesthe NFC Championship game at the Vet (Jan. 11, 1981). The weather was frigid. Nine below zero temperatures with 30 mile an hour winds. The crowd was roaring. Walking down the tunnel to the field, Bill Bergey recalls thinking: There is no way were going to lose this game. On their first offensive series, Wilbert Montgomery broke loose for a 42-yard touchdown run, just the start of a career day (194 yards) for the great running back. The Eagles defense held the Cowboys to just 11 first downs and forced four turnovers in a 20-7 victory. The Eagles won 20-7 but as Bergey said later: In terms of physical play, the hitting part of the game, it was more like 42-0.

Contact Us