1993 Dallas Cowboys season

The 1993 Dallas Cowboys season marked their 34th in the NFL and a quest for back-to-back Super Bowl titles. The season saw the franchise become the first team to start 0–2 and still reach (and subsequently win) the Super Bowl.

1993 Dallas Cowboys season
Head coach Jimmy Johnson
Owner Jerry Jones
Home field Texas Stadium
Results
Record 12–4
Division place 1st NFC East
Playoff finish Won Divisional Playoffs (Packers) 27–17
Won Conference Championship (49ers) 38–21
Won Super Bowl XXVIII (Bills) 30–13
Timeline
Previous season Next season
< 1992 1994 >

Regular season

The Cowboys' journey towards Super Bowl XXVIII proved more difficult than the previous season. Running back Emmitt Smith held out the first two regular season games over a contract dispute. Dallas would lose both games to the Washington Redskins and Buffalo Bills starting the season at 0–2. The team would also acquire veteran quarterback Bernie Kosar after his release from the Cleveland Browns as insurance for starting quarterback Troy Aikman, who suffered a severe concussion in the NFC Championship game versus San Francisco.

In arguably his finest game as a professional, Emmitt Smith suffered a 2nd degree separated shoulder in the regular season finale versus their NFC East division rival, New York Giants. Smith willed himself through excruciating pain and carried the Cowboys to an overtime win. Dallas finished with an NFC-best 12–4 record and home field advantage throughout the playoffs. Smith was later named the NFL MVP and with 1,486 rushing yards and 9 touchdowns, also gave him his third NFL rushing title. Smith would also later be voted Super Bowl MVP, giving him the honor of being the only player to win all three awards in the same season. Another outstanding Smith performance came against the Eagles, where he rushed for a career-high 237 yards.

The season was also notable for the Leon Lett "blunder" in the annual Thanksgiving Day game. With Texas Stadium unusually covered with snow and ice, Dallas led the Dolphins 14–13 with seconds remaining as the Dolphins' Pete Stoyanovich attempted a long field goal. The Cowboys' Jimmie Jones blocked the field goal, apparently ending the game. However, with the blocked ball rolling around at the Dallas 10, Lett attempted to fall on it and slipped, kicking the ball and making it "live" again, Miami recovered and Stoyanovich made the most of his shorter second chance, giving the Dolphins a most improbable 16–14 win.

Aikman finished the regular season completing 271 out of 392 passes for 3,100 yards, 15 touchdowns, and 6 interceptions. While wide receiver Michael Irvin once again led the team with 88 catches for 1,330 yards and 7 touchdowns. Wide receiver Alvin Harper had 36 catches for 777 yards and 5 touchdowns and tight end Jay Novacek had 44 receptions for 445 yards and 1 touchdown. The offensive line consisted of Pro Bowlers Mark Stepnoski, Erik Williams, and Nate Newton. The defense was also anchored by Pro Bowlers such as Russell Maryland, Ken Norton Jr., Thomas Everett and Jason Kennedy.

Schedule

Opponent Result TV Time Attendance
at Washington Redskins 16 35 L ABC 8:00pm
56,345
Buffalo Bills 10 13 L NBC 3:00pm
63,226
at Phoenix Cardinals 17 10 W TNT 7:15pm
73,025
Bye
Green Bay Packers 36 14 W CBS 12:00pm
63,568
at Indianapolis Colts 27 3 W CBS 12:00pm
60,453
San Francisco 49ers 26 17 W CBS 3:00pm
65,099
Bye
at Philadelphia Eagles 23 10 W CBS 3:00pm
61,912
New York Giants 31 9 W CBS 12:00pm
64,735
Phoenix Cardinals 20 15 W CBS 3:00pm
64,224
at Atlanta Falcons 14 27 L CBS 12:00pm
67,337
Miami Dolphins 14 16 L NBC 3:00pm
60,198
Philadelphia Eagles 23 17 W ABC 8:00pm
64,521
at Minnesota Vikings 37 20 W CBS 3:00pm
63,321
at New York Jets 28 7 W CBS 3:00pm
73,233
Washington Redskins 38 3 W CBS 3:00pm
64,497
at New York Giants 16 13 W (OT) CBS 12:00pm
77,356

Game summaries

Week 7

1 234Total
49ers 10 070 17
• Cowboys 3 1373 26
  • Date: October 17
  • Location: Texas Stadium, Dallas, Texas
  • Game start: 3:00 p.m.
  • Game weather: 69°F; wind 10

[1]


Week 16

1 234Total
• Cowboys 0 7147 28
Jets 0 007 7

[2]


Standings

NFC East
W L T PCT PF PA STK
(1) Dallas Cowboys 12 4 0 .750 376 229 W5
(4) New York Giants 11 5 0 .688 288 205 L2
Philadelphia Eagles 8 8 0 .500 293 315 W3
Phoenix Cardinals 7 9 0 .438 326 269 W3
Washington Redskins 4 12 0 .250 230 345 L2

Playoffs

NFC Divisional Playoff

Dallas Cowboys 27, Green Bay Packers 17
1 2 34Total
Packers 3 0 7717
Cowboys 0 17 7327

at Texas Stadium, Irving, Texas

  • Game time: 12:30 p.m. EST/11:30 a.m. CST
  • Game weather: 50 °F (10 °C), cloudy
  • Game attendance: 64,790
  • Referee: Dick Hantak
  • TV announcers (CBS): Jim Nantz and Randy Cross

NFC Championship Game

Dallas Cowboys 38, San Francisco 49ers 21
1 2 34Total
49ers 0 7 7721
Cowboys 7 21 7338

at Texas Stadium, Irving, Texas

Super Bowl XXVIII

Dallas Cowboys 30, Buffalo Bills 13
1 2 34Total
Bills 3 10 0013
Cowboys 6 0 141030

at Georgia Dome, Atlanta, Georgia

Roster

Dallas Cowboys 1993 roster
Quarterbacks

Running Backs

Wide Receivers

Tight Ends

 Offensive Linemen

Defensive Linemen

 Linebackers

Defensive Backs

Special Teams

 Reserve Lists

Currently vacant

Rookies in italics
55 Active, 0 Inactive

Awards and records

References

  1. ↑ Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2014-May-18.
  2. ↑ Pro-Football-Reference.com. Retrieved 2014-Apr-14.
  3. ↑ http://www.maxwellfootballclub.org/content/awards/bell/past_bell.htm