1997 Dallas Cowboys: The End Of An Era

The Dallas Cowboys were the NFL’s gold standard in the first half of the 1990s. From 1991 through 1996, they made the playoffs every year, won five NFC East titles and captured three Super Bowl trophies. But all runs come to an end eventually and 1997 was the year the Cowboys fell out of the postseason and officially ended an era.

Dallas was built around the Big Three of Troy Aikman, Emmitt Smith and Michael Irvin, each one destined for the Hall of Fame. The latter two had good years in ’97. Emmitt ran for 1,074 yards and caught 40 passes out of the backfield. Irvin had 75 receptions and at almost 16 yards a pop, he could still stretch the field.

But Aikman struggled. The great quarterback had a mediocre 56 percent completion rate and his 6.3 yards-per-attempt was paltry. With a 19-12 TD/INT ratio and a 2.3 percent interception rate, he was still above average at steering clear of mistakes. But that was not nearly enough to win.

There were other notable pieces offensively—Sherman Williams was a nice change-of-pace running back. Anthony Miller caught 46 passes and tight end Eric Bjornson added 47 more. The right side of the offensive line was still tough, with the great Hall of Fame guard Larry Allen making All-Pro and tackle Erik Williams going to the Pro Bowl. But with Aikman struggling and Emmitt and Irvin in the “good but no longer great” category, the Dallas offense finished just 22^nd in the NFL for points scored.

The Cowboy defense didn’t have anything notable in the front seven, but they did have the dynamic Deion Sanders at corner. Deion made All-Pro and steady strong safety Darren Woodson punched a Pro Bowl ticket. The Dallas defense was better as a unit than they looked on paper and they finished a respectable 13^th in the league for points allowed.

A road trip to face the Pittsburgh Steelers, the team the Cowboys had beaten to win the Super Bowl in 1995, started the season. Pittsburgh was headed for the AFC Championship Game this year. But after a scoreless first quarter, Dallas took them apart. Aikman threw a 12-yard TD pass to Miller and then hit Irvin with a 42-yard strike. It was 17-0 by halftime. Irvin caught seven balls for 153 yards. Aikman went 19/30 for 235 yards, four touchdowns and no mistakes. The final was 37-7 and all was right with the world.

The Cowboys went to Arizona to face the lowly Cardinals on Sunday Night Football. With Emmitt running for 132 yards, Dallas built a 22-7 lead by the third quarter and looked in control. But Aikman was erratic, just 21/40 for 171 yards. The Cowboy offense stopped scoring. The Cards rallied and handed Dallas an embarrassing 25-22 overtime loss.

Another prime-time date was on tap when the Philadelphia Eagles came in for the Monday Night home opener. The result was a reversal of the prior week. The Cowboys were outrushed and trailed 20-9 in the fourth quarter. A sustained rally produced two drives for field goals, and then Aikman hit Miller on a 14-yard TD toss to pull out the 21-20 win. Dallas was 2-1 going into an early bye week.

A bad Chicago Bears team awaited on the far side of the bye. Playing in the late afternoon at home, the Cowboys were slow out of the gate and trailed 3-0 after the first quarter. Then they got cooking. Irvin caught six passes for 105 yards. A defensive line led by Tony Tolbert unleashed for five sacks. Deion took a punt return 83 yards to the house. The rout was on and Dallas won 27-3.

The New York Giants were a contender, and the Cowboys went to the Meadowlands. They couldn’t run the ball, but the defense played well and Dallas led 9-6 in the third quarter. Aikman was throwing the ball constantly. His 317 yards came on 52 attempts. And there were a couple of interceptions mixed in there, including a Pick-6. Dallas faded late and lost 20-17.

An ancient rival, the Washington Redskins, would also be in contention this year and the Cowboys went to the nation’s capital for Monday Night Football. The offense was anemic and dug a 21-3 hole. Even though linebacker Dexter Coakley scored on a fumble return and the score tightened, the 21-16 loss dropped Dallas to .500.

There was now some urgency when a good Jacksonville Jaguars squad came to Big D. On an afternoon where no one could get a running game going, the Cowboys trailed 22-19 in the fourth quarter. Herschel Walker, one of the famous names in Dallas lore, for the haul he helped the franchise get when he was traded in 1989, was back as a fading 35-year-old running back. Today, he caught a 64-yard touchdown pass from Aikman that pulled out a big 26-22 win.

A road trip to Philly didn’t go well for Aikman, who was knocked out early. Even though Emmitt ran for 125 yards, the Cowboys couldn’t get into the end zone and lost a 13-12 decision. They were 4-4 at the midway point and the flaws were showing.

The San Francisco 49ers were the primary foil for Dallas throughout the dynasty era. The Cowboys beat the 49ers in the NFC Championship Game en route to their titles in 1992 and 1993. They lost a third battle in the conference championship game in 1994. The two teams were seen as head-and-shoulders above the rest of the league. That era was gone, but San Francisco was still part of the league’s elite as Dallas traveled west.

In a tough defensive battle, the Cowboys were leading 10-7 after three quarters. The problem is that their offensive line was getting manhandled—no running game and Aikman getting sacked four times. He also threw two interceptions and the game ended up a 17-10 loss.

Urgency was the order of the day in a home rematch with Arizona (the Cardinals were an NFC East team prior to the realignment of 2002). In a 3-3 tie in the second quarter, Aikman tossed an 11-yard touchdown pass to Walker and finished 15/22 for 216 yards. And the Cowboy defense? Can I interest you in nine sacks, two apiece from Tolbert and Shante Carver? Dallas rolled to a badly needed 24-6 win.

The Redskins’ return visit was in the late afternoon TV window and it was a defensive battle. The Cowboys trailed 14-6 in the fourth quarter. Then the stars woke up. Irvin finished with seven catches for 91 yards and caught a short TD pass that pulled Dallas even. Emmitt ran for 99 yards and the Cowboys got the last word with a big 17-14 win.

That set up a trip to Green Bay. The Packers were the defending champs and would return to the Super Bowl this season. They had also been knocked out of the playoffs by Dallas each year from 1993-95, and felt robbed by not getting to play the Cowboys on their ’96 title run. So Dallas was playing a team that had pent-up revenge still on its mind. Even though Deion got a Pick-6 that gave the Cowboys a 10-7 lead, they were outrushed 220-93 and Aikman couldn’t get anything going. Dallas took a 45-17 beating.

At 6-6, the Cowboys still had a shot going into the stretch drive. The Giants, at 7-4-1 led the division, with the Redskins at 6-5-1. In the race for wild-cards, Washington held the last spot. So, Dallas was only a half-game back, joining the Detroit Lions and Carolina Panthers in giving chase.

The traditional Thanksgiving Day game was a great chance to kick off a playoff push. The Houston Oilers had just relocated to Tennessee this year, where they retained the Oilers name for a couple of years before becoming the Titans. They were a .500 team and were the Thanksgiving opponent.

It was a disastrous day. Dallas was pounded on the ground, losing rush yardage 164-46. They turned the ball over five times. While Aikman went 27/42 for 356 yards, he threw three interceptions. Irvin’s five catches for 118 yards were a bright spot, but the result was a 27-14 loss.

Of the contenders on the playoff fringe though, only Detroit had won. So, a Monday Night home date with Carolina offered a chance to turn things around. But the Cowboys were again pounded in the trenches, losing rush yardage 155-78 and Aikman was sacked four times. They lost 23-13.

At 6-8, they were barely hanging on. They went to mediocre Cincinnati and played horribly. The secondary was beaten for big plays and Dallas dug themselves a 31-10 hole before making the final score respectable, at 31-24.

With the season on the line, the Cowboys had lost three straight games to teams that would finish .500 or worse, two of them at home. The mighty had fallen.

The season finale was at home with the Giants, who had clinched the NFC East and were locked into the 3-seed. Even with nothing to play for, New York still outrushed Dallas 147-49, and the Cowboy pass protection kept struggling, allowing four sacks. A 20-7 loss ended a dismal December and the season closed with a 6-10 record.

That spelled the end for head coach Barry Switzer, who had taken over in 1994. Chan Gailey was hired as the new boss. While Gailey got the Cowboys back into the postseason in 1998 and again in 1999, they weren’t dominant and they made early exits. Professional football in Dallas has never been the same as it was in the 1990s—an era that came crashing down in 1997.