The Cowboys’ acquisition of Herschel Walker looked like a move that could save the franchise, especially in a season-opening win over the New York Giants. With 1:16 remaining in a back-and-forth game against the Cowboys’ division rivals, Walker took a draw from Danny White and ran in from ten yards out to give the Cowboys a 31-28 win.
Herschel Walker replaced an injured Tony Dorsett in a season-opening win over the Giants.
The victory marked the 21st opening-game win in 22 seasons, dating back to 1965. Gone were the doubts raised by the Cowboys’ 0-5 performance during the preseason, when Dallas was plagued with turnovers.
As it turned out, Tom Landry never won another season opener.
Dallas jumped out to a 14-0 lead. Dorsett had the first score, taking a screen pass 36 yards for a touchdown in the second quarter. He later sprained his ankle, giving Walker a chance to show his stuff. Walker came through with a one-yard touchdown, giving Dallas a 14-0 lead.
New York stormed back to tie the game, as the Dallas defense had trouble stopping Phil Simms, who threw for 300 yards and 3 TDs. Dallas held a 17-14 lead at the half thanks to a Rafael Septien field goal.
The game went back-and-forth in the second half. The Giants took a 28-24 lead in the fourth when Simms hit Bobby Johnson on a 44-yard touchdown.
Dallas responded with its final drive. Just before the two-minute warning, Walker gained 23 yards on a pass. Tony Hill then came through on a 35-yarder, which set up Walker’s touchdown. The Cowboys went 72 yards in just 54 seconds on the game-winning drive.
The Giants moved to the Dallas 45 with four seconds remaining, but a last-second pass fell incomplete.
Rookie Mike Sherrard was held to one reception for 16 yards. Hill, though, still looked like a star, as he caught five passes for 105 yards.
The win sparked a strong start to the 1986 season, as the Cowboys scored 30 or more points in six of their first eight games and had a 6-2 record.
DMN: Walker Runs Down Giants, 31-28
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Interestingly, Monday Night Football was the subject of discussion after the Cowboys-Giants game. ABC was losing money on its franchise, and veteran director Chet Forte said that he thought the odds of the series surviving until 1987 was 20 to 40 percent. ABC lost an estimated $50 million in 1985.
Of course, MNF survived on ABC for 20 more years until the series moved to ESPN.
The new tandom of Al Michaels and Frank Gifford also drew criticism. A columnist in the Dallas Morning News noted:
The trouble . . . was not newcomer Al Michaels, the replacement for Frank Gifford on play-by-play. The problem was Monday Night Football 16-year-man Gifford, the replacement on commentary for O.J. Simpson and Joe Namath. Gifford frequently talked without analyzing and offerred commentary that was no more stylish than a chatty play-by-play.
My take: Michaels got much better and became the NFL’s best play-by-play guy. Gifford never got much better as a color commentator, often proving weak commentary that was overshadowed by Michaels and Dan Dierdorf, the latter of whom joined the network in 1987.
I remember this game vaguely but I do remember at the end of the game when a reporter stopped Phil Simms to ask him what he thought about Herschel Walker and Simms replied, ‘I hate him’. I know it was spur of the moment emotion and Simms is one of the best ex football players around today but at the time, it really stuck with me..
I had to listen to the game on radio in my room, pretending to be asleep. What a game! But what a disappointing season. The future was relatively bright, at least on offense – a first round rookie productive wide receiver, a brand new all-purpose superstar running back, and a new starting QB whose scrambling ability and passing potential seemed to outweigh his critical mistakes at inopportune times. Yet it never really panned out, for a number of reasons (injuries, overrated and unfullfilled potential). Just goes to show that not only do you need the right pieces, but they need to fit exactly right and everything else needs t be perfect for it all to blossom together.
I spent most of my childhood pretending to go to bed but the listening to the game on my radio w/ TV sound. I was in high school by the time of this game, but unfortunately it was one of the few that was worth staying up to watch. I really thought the Cowboys would be back in the hunt in ’86.
Just to clarify or expand on David H.’s post, Danny White was still the starting QB, so the “new starting QB with scrambling ability”, aka Steve Pelleuer would not be the starter until Danny’s wrist got broken in the second Giants game. But, I too was intrigued and excited about Pelleuer being on the team, knwoing he could run and had some other upsides re” his mobility. But we all to soon learned about some of his downsides.
I recall the phrase “dream backfield” spoken by Al Michaels for the first time.Dallas looked good in this one to the eventual Superbowl champs.Danny was back,and the previous two years seemed like a very temporary detour for Landry’s Cowboys.
I don’t recall if it was ’86 or ’87, but it seemed like Landry just couldn’t figure out to best use Walker & Dorsett at the same time. I know Tony’s carries and yardage went way down in ’86 (maybe there was an injury involved?).
The best thing for me about teh ’86 season was the set of football cards that McDonald’s produced — I never ate so many Big Macs in all my life!
With the additions to the offense, The cowboys failed to address the “O” line, which allowed 60 sacks that year. EVentually, that neutralized the offense weapons dallas had.
But still, If White had played all year the team would have been able to win 10 games..not 7.