March Madness tournament: Cowboys top 64 plays of all time, Round 1, Group 6

Another day, another four plays.

If you’re a regular here at BTB, then you know what’s been going on the past five days as we continue to run through the top 64 plays in Dallas Cowboys history. As we keep pushing through the first round of this tournament, we provide you with four plays for you to determine which one should advance. Here is what we have for you today:

84 is so nice, let’s run it twice!

Do you remember that time Herschel Walker broke loose for 84 yards?

Which time?

Back in 1986.

Yeah, but which time?

Against the Philadelphia Eagles.

Which time?!!

Most Cowboys fans know Herschel Walker for the glorious trade that spring-boarded the Cowboys dynasty of the ‘90s, but he was a pretty good player on the field as well. Dallas drafted Walker despite him heading to the USFL, but he joined the squad in 1986 when the team had Tony Dorsett. While the Cowboys instituted a time share between them with Dorsett getting the bulk of the carries, Walker was the more efficient runner and finished with nearly the same amount of yards and had seven more touchdowns. Not only that, but Herschel added another 800+ yards as a receiver as well.

Walker was a big playmaker back then and he has some huge runs. Towards the end of the season, he compiled a game where he had 292 yards from scrimmage, thanks to not one, but two 84-yard touchdowns.

Romo to TWilly

The 2014 season was a nice year as it marked the Cowboys return to the playoffs after missing out the previous four seasons. The team had three straight seasons where they finished 8-8 and each time lost the finale that would’ve sent them to the playoffs.

But 2014 was different. They finished with the best record in the NFC at 12-4. Unfortunately, the Seattle Seahawks and Green Bay Packers also finished with that same record and the Cowboys were on the short end of the tiebreaker, so they had to play on Wild Card weekend. In a game where the Cowboys gave Detroit a two-touchdown head start, Dallas fought their way back thanks to two touchdowns from Tony Romo to Terrance Williams. The second one came with just over two minutes left in the game and put the Cowboys ahead for good.

Captain Comeback is born

After beating the San Francisco 49ers in two straight NFC Championship games, with the second one helping the Cowboys win their first ever Super Bowl in the 1971 season, these two teams were at it again in the divisional round of the playoffs in 1972. The 49ers were coached by Dick Nolan, the father of current Cowboys defensive coordinator Jim Nolan. It looked as if San Francisco was finally going to get the better of Dallas as they led 28-13 after three quarters. The Cowboys couldn’t get anything going on offense and kept shooting themselves in the foot with turnovers, but then head coach decided to make a change at quarterback. In came Roger Staubach.

The change turned into a great thing as Staubach led a comeback that resulted in 17 unanswered points. Staubach threw two touchdown passes, with the last one being to Ron Sellers for the game winner.

The Beas’ knee

In the 2018 finale, the Cowboys got themselves into a shootout with the New York Giants. Both teams had over 400 yards of offense in a back-and-forth game that featured four lead changes in the fourth quarter. Many will remember this game as the day that Blake Jarwin went nuts, catching seven passes for 119 yards and three touchdowns.

While Blake had himself a great game, the play that stood out happened with just over a minute left in the game. On a do-or-die fourth down play, Dak Prescott spun out of the pocket and rolled to his left before launching a 32-yard touchdown strike to Cole Beasley. Initially, the play was ruled incomplete as it was believed Beasley was out of bounds, but replay showed his knee touching down in bounds. A Michael Gallup reception converted a two-point conversion, giving the Cowboys the lead, helping them enter the playoffs winning seven of their final eight games.

If you have yet to cast your vote for the previous five groups, it’s not too late as you can find them right here...

Group 1: Witten helmetless, Lilly sack, Romo scramble, Dorset 75-yard TD

Group 2: Butch Super Bowl TD, Romo over-head snap, Puntisher, Jeffcoat pick-six

Group 3: Sanders punt return, Prescott in Seattle, White TD catch, Irvin Cardinals

Group 4: Larry Allen tackle, Walker’s walk-off, Austin’s leap, Dez on Thanksgiving

Group 5: Washington’s fumble recovery, Longley’s comeback, Folk’s FG, Murray 4th down