Professional Football Researchers Association Forum

As 'weak' of a playof team they very much seemed to be in '85, they did sweep Giants & Skins who both were also 10-6. As just mentioned in the other post, they did bounce back after that 0-44 debacle with two straight wins. As I mentioned before, Dallas' 12-2 start in '83 was their 'last hurrah' as far as championship/SB-caliber ball goes. I'd say their 6-2 start in '86 (acquiring Hershel, beat G-Men MNF-opener) was their final breath of merely PLAYOFF-caliber. Then it all suddenly went real bad and real fast. Thoughts?

74_75_78_79_ wrote:As 'weak' of a playof team they very much seemed to be in '85, they did sweep Giants & Skins who both were also 10-6. As just mentioned in the other post, they did bounce back after that 0-44 debacle with two straight wins. As I mentioned before, Dallas' 12-2 start in '83 was their 'last hurrah' as far as championship/SB-caliber ball goes. I'd say their 6-2 start in '86 (acquiring Hershel, beat G-Men MNF-opener) was their final breath of merely PLAYOFF-caliber. Then it all suddenly went real bad and real fast. Thoughts?

I think that in 1985 they were, or very good (the 4 victories against Washington and NY Giants that you mentioned, plus beating Pittsburgh for the first time since 1972) or very bad (losing to Detroit, Philadelphia and St. Louis, plus the debacles against Chicago, Cincinnati and San Francisco, and the shutout in the playoffs against the LA Rams). The Cowboys WRs that year (Tony Hill and Mike Renfro) had very good seasons, plus TE Doug Cosbie (alongside Hill) went to the Pro Bowl. Tony Dorsett ran for 1,300 yards and Everson Walls led the NFl in interceptions for the third time in his career.

The following year, I remember that they were projected as a Wild Card before the season, and many wondered how thay would pair Dorsett and Walker together. The defense played better than in 1985, but I think even with Danny White healthy they would have missed the playoffs (mainly because the NFC East was so strong, and both San Francisco and the LA Rams were playoff-calibre teams), albeit with a winning record. They had a very good 1st-round selection in Mike Sherrard (who unfortunely got injured the following preseason and never played with Dallas again), but Hill, Renfro and Cosbie all dropped their production. I think the key was when they let Gary Hogeboom to sign with Indianápolis, and they kept Steve Pelluer, who was a failure subbing for the injured Danny White.

The game I most remember for 1986 was a home game in week 10 against the Raiders, which the Cowboys lost 17-13. Dallas should have won that game, but they had two touchdowns called back by penalty (one in an interception return by Everson Walls, the penalty was after the interception and Walls would've scored anyway, as the penalty was far from the action; the other penalty was on a Pelluer's run), something very rare in a Tom Landry coached team.

Teo wrote:The game I most remember for 1986 was a home game in week 10 against the Raiders, which the Cowboys lost 17-13. Dallas should have won that game, but they had two touchdowns called back by penalty (one in an interception return by Everson Walls, the penalty was after the interception and Walls would've scored anyway, as the penalty was far from the action; the other penalty was on a Pelluer's run), something very rare in a Tom Landry coached team.

The week before was the turning point, not only because of White's broken wrist (after getting sacked by Carl Banks), but the fact that the Cowboys blew a chance to possibly win at the Meadowlands, losing a 17-14 game in the final minutes, primarily due to a horrible stretch by tackle Phil Pozderac:

*Dorsett caught a 30-yard pass that got him down to the Giant 6, but Pozderac was called for holding.
*Tim Newsome caught another 30-yard pass that got him down to the Giant 11, but Pozderac was called for motion.
*He then allowed George Martin to sack Pelluer for a 14-yard loss and effectively took them out of FG range that would have sent the game to OT.

Rafael Septien ended up having to try a 63-yard FG, which obviously came up short, but Septien also missed two first half FG attempts of 33 and 42 yards--though both were against the wind. Finally, the Cowboy defense couldn't shut down Joe Morris, who ran for 181 yards.

Another key play in that last drive was when Leonard Marshall forced Pelluer into an intentional grounding call.

Both teams had entered the game at 6-2 and then went in opposite directions.

Pelluer's five picks in the Oakland game didn't help, either. Basically, Gil Brandt and the front office lost their mojo, saddling Landry with a series of bad draft classes. Losing first rounders like Billy Cannon Jr. and Mike Sherrard to career-ruining injuries was icing on a stale cake.

slats7 wrote:Pelluer's five picks in the Oakland game didn't help, either. Basically, Gil Brandt and the front office lost their mojo, saddling Landry with a series of bad draft classes. Losing first rounders like Billy Cannon Jr. and Mike Sherrard to career-ruining injuries was icing on a stale cake.

I think Brandt started to read his press clippings about what a genius he was, especially in 1982. Four of his first five picks that year were guys from Eastern Kentucky (Rod Hill), Yale (Jeff Rohrer), Wyoming (Jim Eliopulos) and Salem (Monty Hunter).

Teo wrote:I think the key was when they let Gary Hogeboom to sign with Indianápolis, and they kept Steve Pelluer, who was a failure subbing for the injured Danny White.

Hogeboom was pretty good, but he seemed to always get hurt. I don't know if the Cowboy fortunes change all that much if Hogeboom stays in Dallas, because Pelluer would probably end up seeing the field half the time anyways. I remember when Pelluer was touted as the next Roger Staubach because of his tendency to run out of the pocket. I remember a game against San Diego where Pelluer got sacked 11 times.

BD Sullivan wrote:

slats7 wrote:Pelluer's five picks in the Oakland game didn't help, either. Basically, Gil Brandt and the front office lost their mojo, saddling Landry with a series of bad draft classes. Losing first rounders like Billy Cannon Jr. and Mike Sherrard to career-ruining injuries was icing on a stale cake.

I think Brandt started to read his press clippings about what a genius he was, especially in 1982. Four of his first five picks that year were guys from Eastern Kentucky (Rod Hill), Yale (Jeff Rohrer), Wyoming (Jim Eliopulos) and Salem (Monty Hunter).

Hill was great in 1989 and 1990...but in the CFL with Winnipeg. His most memorable moment in Dallas was that he "set up" the 99-yard TD run by Tony Dorsett in the MNF game at Minnesota in his rookie season, by touching the ball and let it roll outside the playing field after a kickoff.

Hunter had a big interception return for a TD in the playoff game against Tampa Bay the following week when Dallas was trailing 17-16 in the 4th quarter, then he vanished (I din't remember any other play from him).

Rohrer was a favorite of mine but not of his playing, but his story on playing and studying at Yale that appeared in a Sporting News magazine, a great read on a life of an Ivy League player.

BD Sullivan wrote:

slats7 wrote:Pelluer's five picks in the Oakland game didn't help, either. Basically, Gil Brandt and the front office lost their mojo, saddling Landry with a series of bad draft classes. Losing first rounders like Billy Cannon Jr. and Mike Sherrard to career-ruining injuries was icing on a stale cake.

I think Brandt started to read his press clippings about what a genius he was, especially in 1982. Four of his first five picks that year were guys from Eastern Kentucky (Rod Hill), Yale (Jeff Rohrer), Wyoming (Jim Eliopulos) and Salem (Monty Hunter).

Other draft picks that saw action in the NFL were the flag-machine T Phil Pozderac, DB Brian Carpenter and RB George Peoples. The Cowboys had another 9 picks that didn't play in an NFL game. I would put the 1982 Cowboys Draft as the worst of any team in the 80s.