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.