Written on December 23, 2010 at 4:58 pm by Matt Cordon

Better Days (1977): Cowboys Come Back to Beat Cardinals in St. Louis

Filed under 50 Seasons Series {no comments}

Harvey Martin and Randy White didn't dominate the Cardinals in 1977, but Martin did pick up a key sack in the fourth quarter.

For the first 28 years of the Cowboys’ existence, the team took an annual trip to St. Louis to face the Cardinals. Dallas dominated the series with St. Louis during that time, going 32-18-1 . However, Dallas had a more difficult time winning at either Sportsman’s Park (the first Busch Stadium) or Civic Center Busch Memorial Stadium. In road games against the Cardinals, Dallas only managed a 14-11-1 record.

During the mid-1970s, the Cardinals had several strong teams and won three in a row at Busch Stadium against Dallas. The 1977 Cardinals were not as strong and headed into a week 4 matchup with Dallas with only a 1-2 record. On the other hand, the Cowboys were 3-0 and on their way to an 8-0 start.

Despite their struggles, the Cardinals gave the eventual Super Bowl champions a good game. When defensive tackle Charles Davis returned a fumble 35 yards for a touchdown, St. Louis took a 24-16 lead.

Dallas cut the lead to 24-23 on a Tony Dorsett touchdown early in the fourth quarter. On the next drive, the Cardinals faced a 3rd-and-9 from their own 40. That is where the video below begins.

The touchdown pass from Staubach to occurred with 13:15 left in the game, but neither team was able to score again. Dallas held on for the 30-24 win.

The table below shows the Cowboys’ record on road games in St. Louis against the Cardinals.


Rk	Tm	Year ?	Date		Opp	W#	G#	Day	Result	OT
1	DAL	1960	1960-10-23	@	STL	5	5	Sun	L 10-12
2	DAL	1961	1961-12-10	@	STL	13	13	Sun	L 13-31
3	DAL	1962	1962-12-09	@	STL	13	13	Sun	L 20-52
4	DAL	1963	1963-12-15	@	STL	14	14	Sun	W 28-24
5	DAL	1964	1964-10-25	@	STL	7	7	Sun	W 31-13
6	DAL	1965	1965-10-04	@	STL	3	3	Mon	L 13-20
7	DAL	1966	1966-10-16	@	STL	5	5	Sun	T 10-10
8	DAL	1968	1968-10-06	@	STL	4	4	Sun	W 27-10
9	DAL	1970	1970-10-04	@	STL	3	3	Sun	L 7-20
10	DAL	1971	1971-11-07	@	STL	8	8	Sun	W 16-13
11	DAL	1972	1972-12-03	@	STL	12	12	Sun	W 27-6
12	DAL	1973	1973-12-16	@	STL	14	14	Sun	W 30-3
13	DAL	1974	1974-10-13	@	STL	5	5	Sun	L 28-31
14	DAL	1975	1975-12-07	@	STL	12	12	Sun	L 17-31
15	DAL	1976	1976-10-17	@	STL	6	6	Sun	L 17-21
16	DAL	1977	1977-10-09	@	STL	4	4	Sun	W 30-24
17	DAL	1978	1978-10-15	@	STL	7	7	Sun	W 24-21	OT
18	DAL	1979	1979-09-02	@	STL	1	1	Sun	W 22-21
19	DAL	1980	1980-11-02	@	STL	9	9	Sun	W 27-24
20	DAL	1981	1981-10-04	@	STL	5	5	Sun	L 17-20
21	DAL	1982	1982-09-19	@	STL	2	2	Sun	W 24-7
22	DAL	1983	1983-09-11	@	STL	2	2	Sun	W 34-17
23	DAL	1984	1984-11-11	@	STL	11	11	Sun	W 24-17
24	DAL	1985	1985-11-04	@	STL	9	9	Mon	L 10-21
25	DAL	1986	1986-09-29	@	STL	4	4	Mon	W 31-7
26	DAL	1987	1987-09-13	@	STL	1	1	Sun	L 13-24