More on the 1986 Season, Including an Interesting Video
In the past, I’ve had a few posts focusing on the 1986 season, which has to be considered the beginning of the real end of the Tom Landry era in Dallas. There were many factors that led to the team’s demise during the mid- to late-1980s, not the least of which were a series of abhorrent drafts. But a 1-7 finish in 1986 ended the team’s 20-year winning streak, and Landry never managed another winning season during his career.
This was the year of the infamous Christmas video that your’s truly reintroduced to Cowboys’ fans on the Internet.
This was the year that Giant linebacker Carl Banks broke Danny White’s wrist in the first quarter of the Giants-Cowboys game on November 2. The Cowboys managed to win 11 games during the rest of the decade after this injury, a testament to White’s value.
This was a season that right tackle Phil Pozderac became almost uniformly reviled for the most untimely rash of penalties in team history.
When 1986 rolled around, owner Bum Bright and general manager Tex Schramm essentially required Landry to accept a new offensive coordinator in Paul Hackett. This appeared to signify a transition from the multiple offense that Dallas had run for nearly two decades, and few could argue with the early results. Dallas managed to score 30 or more points in the team’s first four games and in six of the first eight games. The team stood at 6-2 heading into the second half of the season, and five of those wins came against NFC East opponents.
One of those losses came to the Denver Broncos at Mile High Stadium on October 5. The Cowboys entered the game 3-1 after having drubbed the Cardinals 31-7 the previous week, while the Broncos were 4-0. Playing without White or running back Tony Dorsett, the Cowboys failed to manage 30 points for the first time that season.
Someone on YouTube posted the highlights of the game as shown from a news report on KAUZ in Wichita Falls. Not a game worth remembering, but I found these highlights interesting.
Kickholder, I just wanted to let you know that I own EVERY WIN the Boys have had on video and DVD since 1977! (NO LOSSES, Can’t stand to see them lose over and over, so I let those go. Wanna talk history? I also own 200+ books about the Cowboys as well.
July 18th, 2008 at 5:06 amThank you for visiting the site, Nick. When games started becoming available on Ebay a few years ago, I bought what I could, including all of the Super Bowls (other than SB V, though the second quarter of that game was available). Since I wrote this post, I’ve added six book titles, giving me a total of 42– nowhere close to Fred Goodwin or you. So… I don’t claim to have anything close to your collection and wish I did, and I think we’d all appreciate your insight if you would consider visiting more often. Thanks to Fred, Tim Truemper, Cowboy Cards, Melonball (and certainly others), I learn something new all the time in the comments.
July 18th, 2008 at 8:01 am