1986 Dallas Cowboys season
| 1986 Dallas Cowboys season | |
|---|---|
| Owner | Bum Bright |
| General manager | Tex Schramm |
| Head coach | Tom Landry |
| Home field | Texas Stadium |
| Results | |
| Record | 7–9 |
| Division place | 3rd NFC East |
| Playoff finish | Did not qualify |
| Pro Bowlers | None |
The 1986 Dallas Cowboys season was the franchise's 27th season in the National Football League. The team finished the regular season at 7–9 and finishing with a losing record for the first time since 1964.
Summary
The Cowboys, re-invigorated by the off-season acquisitions of
interceptions over the course of the season, as well as seeing constant pressure from opposing pass rushers, including being sacked a team record twelve times in a game against San Diego. The Cowboys lost seven out of their final eight games, and suffered a five-game losing streak to close out the season, including embarrassing losses to the Redskins (41–14) and the Seahawks in the annual Thanksgiving Day game
(31–14). It was the Cowboys' first loss on Thanksgiving since 1979. During the third quarter of a late-season loss to the Los Angeles Rams, Tom Landry was forced to leave the field due to a threat against his life. Landry returned to the field later in the game wearing a bulletproof vest.
The Cowboys undoing certainly wasn't because of an inability to move the football, as the team ranked fourth in the
offensive line gave up 60 sacks, the offense turned the ball over 41 times, and the team committed 112 penalties
.
No Cowboys were selected for the Pro Bowl in 1986.
Offseason
NFL Draft
| 1986 Dallas Cowboys draft | |||||
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | College | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 18 | Mike Sherrard | WR | UCLA | |
| 2 | 33 | Darryl Clack | RB | Arizona State | |
| 3 | 74 | Mark Walen | DT | UCLA | |
| 4 | 100 | Max Zendejas | PK | Arizona | |
| 6 | 140 | Thornton Chandler | TE | Alabama | |
| 6 | 150 | Stan Gelbaugh | QB | Maryland | |
| 6 | 158 | Lloyd Yancey | OG
|
Temple | |
| 7 | 185 | Johnny Holloway | WR | Kansas | |
| 8 | 212 | Topper Clemons | RB | Wake Forest | |
| 9 | 242 | John Ionata | OG
|
Florida State | |
| 10 | 269 | Bryan Chester | OG
|
Texas | |
| 11 | 296 | Garth Jax | LB | Florida State | |
| 12 | 307 | Chris Duliban | LB | Texas | |
| 12 | 322 | Tony Flack | DB | Georgia | |
| Made roster † Pro Football Hall of Fame * Made at least one Pro Bowl during career | |||||
Roster
Regular season
Schedule
| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Game Site | Attendance | Recap |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | September 8 | New York Giants | W 31–28 | 1–0 | Texas Stadium | 59,804 | Recap |
| 2 | September 14 | at Detroit Lions | W 31–7 | 2–0 | Pontiac Silverdome | 73,812 | Recap |
| 3 | September 21 | Atlanta Falcons | L 35–37 | 2–1 | Texas Stadium | 62,880 | Recap |
| 4 | September 29 | at St. Louis Cardinals | W 31–7 | 3–1 | Busch Stadium | 49,077 | Recap |
| 5 | October 5 | at Denver Broncos | L 14–29 | 3–2 | Mile High Stadium | 76,082 | Recap |
| 6 | October 12 | Washington Redskins | W 30–6 | 4–2 | Texas Stadium | 63,264 | Recap |
| 7 | October 19 | at Philadelphia Eagles | W 17–14 | 5–2 | Veterans Stadium | 68,572 | Recap |
| 8 | October 26 | St. Louis Cardinals | W 37–6 | 6–2 | Texas Stadium | 60,756 | Recap |
| 9 | November 2 | at New York Giants | L 14–17 | 6–3 | Giants Stadium | 74,871 | Recap |
| 10 | November 9 | Los Angeles Raiders | L 13–17 | 6–4 | Texas Stadium | 61,706 | Recap |
| 11 | November 16 | at San Diego Chargers | W 24–21 | 7–4 | Jack Murphy Stadium
|
55,622 | Recap |
| 12 | November 23 | at Washington Redskins | L 14–41 | 7–5 | RFK Stadium | 55,642 | Recap |
| 13 | November 27 | Seattle Seahawks | L 14–31 | 7–6 | Texas Stadium | 58,020 | Recap |
| 14 | December 7 | at Los Angeles Rams | L 10–29 | 7–7 | Anaheim Stadium
|
64,949 | Recap |
| 15 | December 14 | Philadelphia Eagles | L 21–23 | 7–8 | Texas Stadium | 46,117 | Recap |
| 16 | December 21 | Chicago Bears | L 10–24 | 7–9 | Texas Stadium | 57,256 | Recap |
Division opponents are in bold text
Standings
| NFC East | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| W | L | T | PCT | DIV | CONF | PF | PA | STK | |
| New York Giants(1) | 14 | 2 | 0 | .875 | 7–1 | 11–1 | 371 | 236 | W9 |
| Washington Redskins(4) | 12 | 4 | 0 | .750 | 5–3 | 9–3 | 368 | 296 | W1 |
| Dallas Cowboys | 7 | 9 | 0 | .438 | 5–3 | 6–6 | 346 | 337 | L5 |
| Philadelphia Eagles | 5 | 10 | 1 | .344 | 1–6–1 | 3–8–1 | 256 | 312 | L1 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 4 | 11 | 1 | .281 | 1–6–1 | 3–10–1 | 218 | 351 | W1 |
Game summaries
Week 1: vs. New York Giants
Herschel Walker could have arrived at a better time, with Tony Dorsett sidelined with a first half ankle injury, Walker ended his NFL debut by scoring a game-winning touchdown on a 10-yard run with 1:16 to play against the Giants. It was Walker's 2nd TD of the night-a Monday Night in which he ran for 64 yards on 10 tries. Dorsett opened the scoring on a 36-yard toss from Danny White in the second quarter, but New York rallies from 14-0 and 24–21 to claim a 28–24 lead on
USFL that made the difference for Dallas
.
| Period | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Giants | 0 | 14 | 7 | 7 | 28 |
| Cowboys | 0 | 17 | 0 | 14 | 31 |
at Texas Stadium, Irving, Texas
- Date: Monday, September 8
- Game time: 8:00 p.m. CDT
- Game weather: 71 °F (22 °C), wind 11 mph (18 km/h)
- Game attendance: 59,804
- Referee: Pat Haggerty
- TV announcers (ABC): Al Michaels (play by play), Frank Gifford (color commentator)
- Pro-Football-Reference.com
| Game information | ||
|---|---|---|
|
Week 9: at New York Giants
| Period | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cowboys | 0 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 14 |
| Giants | 3 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 17 |
at Giants Stadium, East Rutherford, New Jersey
- Date: November 2
- Game time: 12 noon CST
- Game weather: 59 °F (15 °C), wind 14 mph (23 km/h)
- Game attendance: 74,871
- Referee: Dick Hantak
- TV announcers (CBS): Pat Summerall (play-by-play), John Madden (color commentary)
Week 10: vs. Los Angeles Raiders
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
- Dokie Williams 5 Rec, 107 Yds
Week 13: vs. Seattle Seahawks
| Period | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Seahawks | 7 | 17 | 0 | 7 | 31 |
| Cowboys | 7 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 14 |
at Texas Stadium, Irving, Texas
- Date: November 27
- Game time: 1:00pm local
- Game weather: partly cloudy, 50 °F (10 °C), 61% humidity, wind N 13 miles per hour (21 km/h)
- Game attendance: 58,020
- Referee: Bob McElwee
- TV announcers (NBC): Dick Enberg, Merlin Olsen, and Bob Griese (sideline)
- Gamebook
| Game information | ||
|---|---|---|
|
Awards
For the first time in team history, the Cowboys had no players chosen to play in the Pro Bowl. They also had no players mentioned on the Associated Press' All-NFL team.
Publications
- The Football Encyclopedia ISBN 0-312-11435-4
- Total Football ISBN 0-06-270170-3
- Cowboys Have Always Been My Heroes ISBN 0-446-51950-2
References
- ^ Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2014-Sep-08.