Once “The Doomsday Defense” kicked in, the Cowboys closed the door on opponents … until Dallas was done in by a last-second field goal in the biggest game of the year.
After finishing the 1969 regular season with an impressive 11–2–1 record, the Dallas Cowboys flopped in the playoffs, losing to the Cleveland Browns 38–14. It was the fourth year in a row that the Cowboys had a great regular season but came up empty in the post-season.
Still, Cowboys fans had high hopes for the 1970 season, and with good reason. Dallas had one of the best running games in professional football, led by 1969 rookie of the year Calvin Hill. Both Hill and guard John Niland made the All-Pro team in 1969.
They also had one of the top defenses in football. The “Doomsday Defense” was stacked with talented players. On the defensive line, they had perennial All-Pro Bob Lilly at tackle and pro bowler George Andrie at defensive end. Outside linebacker Chuck Howley was also All-Pro, while middle linebacker Lee Roy Jordan and defensive back Mel Renfro made the Pro Bowl team.
The Cowboys started the 1970 season with an easy 17–7 win over the Philadelphia Eagles. Lance Rentzel caught a 31-yard touchdown pass from second-year quarterback Roger Staubach and Calvin Hill ran for 117 yards. Week 2 proved to be another easy win, 28-10, over the New York Giants. A highlight came when Bullet Bob Hayes caught a 58-yard touchdown pass from fellow receiver Lance Rentzel.
Courtesy: Vintage Football Card Gallery
After an unexpected loss to the St. Louis Cardinals in Week 3, Dallas bounced back the next week to defeat the Atlanta Falcons 13–0. Hill ran for another 117 yards that day. Then–in what could only be described as an embarrassment–the Cowboys lost the following week, 54–13, to the Minnesota Vikings. Roger Staubach and Craig Morton threw four interceptions combined, while the “Purple People Eaters” defense sacked the scrambling Staubach seven times. To make matters worse, Hill suffered a knee injury that would hamper him for the remainder of the season.
In Week 6, Dallas recovered with an impressive 27–16 win over the defending Super Bowl champion Kansas City Chiefs. Rookie running back Duane Thomas ran for 134 yards. Thomas also had a 47-yard touchdown run, while quarterback Craig Morton hooked up with Bob Hayes for an 89-yard touchdown strike.
A 21–17 win over the Eagles in Week 7 gave Dallas a 5–2 record as Craig Morton had a big day. He passed for 240 yards, including a 40-yard touchdown to Bob Hayes and two touchdown passes to Lance Rentzel–0ne for 56 yards and the other for 86 yards.
In Week 8 v. the Giants, Morton and his receivers continued terrorizing opposing defenses. The big play was when Morton hooked up with Bob Hayes for an 80-yard touchdown strike giving Dallas a 17–6 lead. But the Giants, led by running back Ron Johnson (140 yards rushing/60 yards receiving), responded to notch a 23–20 win.
The following week the Cowboys were back home in the Cotton Bowl on Monday Night Football. Their opponent was the division-leading St. Louis Cardinals. The game quickly turned into a rout for the visitors as Dallas committed six turnovers and gave up 242 yards rushing. At the game’s end, the Cowboys’ record now stood at 5–4 with only five games left. One more loss and they could all but kiss their chances of making the playoffs goodbye.
The Cowboys bounced back by beating up on the Washington Redskins 45–21. The Doomsday defense recorded six sacks while rookie backup defensive back Mark Washington returned a kickoff for a 100-yard touchdown. Running back Duane Thomas had another outstanding game, rushing for 104 yards and three touchdowns, including a 35-yard touchdown run.
Craig Morton (photo, Getty Images).
Up next was a Thanksgiving day matchup against the Green Bay Packers. With the game tied 3–3 after three quarters, the Cowboys scored 13 unanswered points in the fourth quarter and cruised to a 16–3 victory. Then, Dallas made it three wins in a row in a rematch with Washington. The Cowboys outgained the Skins 424 yards to 166, and Duane Thomas had another big day rushing for 123 yards. The final score was Dallas 34, Washington 0.
The Week 13 game ended up being a mud bath at Cleveland Municipal Stadium. It was an unusual game by any measure. For one thing, the Cowboys’ offense sputtered, but Cleveland’s only score came on a safety. Cowboys kicker Mike Clark booted two field goals to give Dallas a 6–2 win.
That game set up the regular-season finale versus the Houston Oilers. Dallas cruised to a 52–10 victory. With everything on the line (a win meant a trip to the playoffs for the fifth year), the Cowboys outgained Houston by nearly 400 yards, and the Doomsday Defense had seven sacks. Individually, Rookie of the Year Duane Thomas rushed for 115 yards, Bob Hayes had six catches for 187 yards and four touchdowns, and Craig Morton threw for 349 yards and five touchdowns.
Next, the Cowboys would face the Detroit Lions in the Divisional Playoff. In what is still the lowest-scoring playoff game in NFL history, the Cowboys defeated the Lions 5–0. Duane Thomas stood out again with a 135-yard rushing performance. That win advanced the Cowboys to the NFC Championship game v. the SF 49ers in the last NFL game to be played at Kezar Stadium.
Duane Thomas (photo, Getty Images)
The game ended up being passing versus rushing and rushing won the day. While Dallas had barely 100 yards passing, the visitors outgained the 49ers in rushing yardage 229 to 61 led by Duane Thomas’s 143 yards. Dallas won 17-10, claiming its first Super Bowl appearance.
The storyline going into the Super Bowl is just how “Doomsday” fit the Cowboy’s defense. Porous in back-to-back losses against the Giants (Week 8) and Cardinals (Week 9), now the Dallas D was almost impossible to score against. The lone touchdown scored by the 49ers in the Championship game was the first TD scored against the Cowboys’ defense in their last six games. Over that span, opponents scored only 25 points, ten of which were given up by the Cowboys’ offense.
But the might didn’t seal a championship. Baltimore Colts rookie kicker Jim O’Brien booted a 32-yard field goal with five seconds left to give the Colts a 16–13 victory. The Cowboys’ defense played superbly, holding Baltimore to 69 yards rushing and forcing seven turnovers. But the Colts defense played equally well, holding the Cowboys to just 217 total yards and Duane Thomas to just 35 yards rushing.
It was a disappointing end to a great season, but in my next article, I’ll write about how the Cowboys would be back in 1971. Stay tuned.
