Whether it was an offensive or defensive touchdown, a field goal, a safety, or a special teams kick return there are a lot of different ways to win a game. When I was choosing what to write about I took into account the impact of the win, as well as the improbability of the comeback and if it happened in an important game. Here is my list of the top five game winning moments in the history of the Dallas Cowboys.
Top game winning moment # 1
In the Thanksgiving game of 1974, rookie quarterback Clint Longley took over for an injured Roger Staubach and led a comeback to win the game for the Dallas Cowboys by one point. He threw a 50 yard pass to Drew Pearson with seconds to go for the game winning touchdown. Offensive lineman Blaine Nye called his performance, "the triumph of an uncluttered mind" as stated on the Silver and Blue Blood Blog. This made my list because it was performed by a rookie who did not have many snaps under his belt.
Top game winning moment # 2
With 24 seconds remaining in the1975 wild card game against the Minnesota Vikings, the Cowboys faithful had little hope of overcoming their four point deficit. They lined up for the obligatory Hail Mary which usually does not get any positive results…except this time. Roger Staubach dropped back and threw up a prayer to Drew Pearson who caught it against his hip for the game winning touchdown. This made my list due to the incredible and unlikely nature of such a play actually working, and also because of the fact that it won them a playoff game.
Top game winning moment # 3
Trailing the Philadelphia Eagles by 13 with less than five minutes to go it looked like the Cowboys had no chance to win, but the 'Boys did not feel the same way. Terry Glenn caught a touchdown pass which cut the lead down to a one possession game. On the following drive, Eagles quarterback Donovan Mcnabb threw a pass that was intercepted by Dallas safety Roy Williams who galloped 46 yards for the game winning pick six. This is on my list because it happened against a division rival, as well as due to the incredible comeback the Cowboys had to perform to win the game.
Top game winning moment # 4
On a brisk October night in New York Tony Romo threw five interceptions, and yet the Cowboys still managed to rally back to give their kicker Nick Folk a chance to win the game, even if he did have to kick it twice. Nick Folk lined up for a potentially game winning 53 yard field goal, and it went through the uprights. They win, right? Well, not yet. Buffalo had called a timeout right before the ball was snapped, so the kick did not count. That could have messed up the confidence of other players, but Folk just walked up to the line and repeated the exact same kick to win the game for real. This made my list because the Cowboys had to overcome all the turnovers, and then had to kick the winning field goal twice to finally put their opponents away.
Top game winning moment # 5
On October 11th of 2009 a new star was born on the Kansas City gridiron. Miles Austin had a 250 yard game which set a Cowboys single game record. A big chunk of those yards came in overtime in the form of a 60 yard game winning pass from Tony Romo to bring the overtime game to a thrilling conclusion. This made my list because it was the start of a four game winning streak, as well as ignited a Pro Bowl season for Miles Austin.
