The Cowboys travel to the West Coast this weekend to take on a San Francisco 49ers team that has become a pain in their side.
San Francisco has eliminated the Cowboys from the playoffs each of the last two years, and the 49ers have become a sort of measuring stick for America’s Team.
Cowboys defensive tackle Johnathan Hankins told reporters on Monday that it "sucks to continue to lose to these guys.” It’s that sort of sentiment from Mike McCarthy’s players that has the Cowboys’ head coach acknowledging the gravity of this week 5 matchup.
“You live to play in these kinds of games, you dream about these kinds of games,” McCarthy said on Monday. “You don’t want to make it bigger than it is, but the reality is it’s not just another game.”
While the current makeup of these two rosters has only been at odds for two or three years, it’s just the latest revision to a rivalry that has seen several different generations of players battle it out.
Dallas and San Francisco are tied at 19-19-1 all-time against each other. They’ve faced off in the playoffs on nine different occasions, including six NFC Championship games. No other two teams in the NFL have combined for more than three Conference Championship game matchups. The two teams are tied for the most Super Bowl titles in NFC history at five.
Here are just a few of the notable moments between these two prestigious franchises over the years.
Captain America’s Heroics
The Cowboys played their first game in Candlestick Park on December 23rd, 1972. It was the divisional round of the playoffs, and marked the third consecutive year that the Cowboys and 49ers squared off in the postseason.
Dallas trailed by as many as 18 during the game, and they were down 28-13 late in the third quarter when Tom Landry made the decision to bench struggling quarterback Craig Morton in favor of Roger Staubach.
Staubach led the Cowboys on three scoring drives in the fourth quarter, making several big plays with his arm and legs en route to a shocking 30-28 comeback victory over the 49ers.
Morton would never start another game for the Cowboys.
Terrell Owens Becomes Public Enemy #1
Dallas was entering a painful period of rebuilding when the 49ers came to Texas Stadium on September 24, 2000. The Cowboys had been completely embarrassed by the Eagles in Week 1 and lost Joey Galloway in the same game, who the team had traded two first-round picks for in the offseason.
So there was already plenty of frustration building for the Cowboys and their fans when Terrell Owens caught a 3-yard touchdown pass from Jeff Garcia late in the second quarter. Owens sprinted to midfield, stood on the star, spread his arms, and tilted his head towards the sky to gaze through the famed hole in the roof.
The celebration drew heavy boos from the Cowboys crowd and angered future Hall of Fame running back Emmitt Smith. When Smith scored on the following drive, he removed his helmet, sprinted towards the 49ers sideline, slammed the ball down, and glared at the entire San Francisco bench.
Everything came to a head late in the fourth quarter when Owens scored a second touchdown that put the 49ers up more than 20 points. When Owens again sprinted out to midfield, he was stalked the entire way by Cowboys safety George Teague, who violently tackled him and started a brawl.
Owens became Cowboys fans’ biggest enemy, and Teague became a legend.
How ‘Bout Them Cowboys!?
Many analysts believed the Cowboys were still a year away from being ready to take down the 49ers when they met in the 1992 NFC Championship.
Dallas had built a well-rounded, incredibly talented team in Jimmy Johnson’s first four seasons with the team. The 49ers were equally talented, but they had a wealth of big game experience on their side, both with the roster and the coaching staff.
Perhaps it was youthful ignorance, but the Cowboys stepped onto the soggy Candlestick Park field with zero fear of league MVP Steve Young, and the team that had just dominated the previous decade. Thanks in large part to a 4-0 advantage in the turnover department, the Cowboys toppled San Francisco 30-20 to earn their first Super Bowl berth of the Jerry Jones era, and ultimately spur a dynasty.
Following the game, with the Cowboys celebrating inside a painfully cramped visitor’s locker room, CBS cameras captured Jimmy Johnson’s speech to the team, and broadcasted what would become the most famous quote in the history of the franchise: “How ‘bout them Cowboys!?”
