49ers-Cowboys Playoff Rivalry Resumes After Long Wait

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SANTA CLARA (AP) – Kyle Shanahan was a teen watching connected the sideline erstwhile the heated playoff rivalry betwixt the Dallas Cowboys and San Francisco 49ers reached a fever transportation with 3 consecutive NFC rubric crippled matchups.

Now Shanahan volition instrumentality a starring relation erstwhile 1 of the NFL’s large rivalries resumes arsenic caput manager of the 49ers alternatively of lad of their violative coordinator erstwhile San Francisco visits Dallas connected Sunday successful a wild-card matchup.

“I deliberation that’s arsenic chill arsenic it gets due to the fact that that’s the coolest portion of my puerility increasing up I consciousness like,” Shanahan said. “It was seventh grade, eighth grade, ninth grade, ’92, ’93, ’94, each azygous year. I thought we were the champion squad successful the league. … I retrieve being connected that sideline and conscionable watching however bully the Cowboys were and it was unbelievable. And the adjacent year, going to Dallas for the home-field advantage. And we each cognize what happened there, that 1 wasn’t adjacent close.”

Shanahan past went into a heavy dive connected the gathering the adjacent play that San Francisco won arsenic if the crippled happened past week alternatively of much than a quarter-century ago.

“As you tin tell, those games I inactive retrieve them,” helium said. “Those are portion of my childhood, that was specified chill shot due to the fact that everyone knew that for those 3 NFC championships, those 3 years were the Super Bowl.”

The 49ers-Cowboys playoff past is simply a affluent 1 from back-to-back league rubric games successful the aboriginal 1970s, the iconic “Catch” successful the 1981 play and past the heated rivalry successful the 1990s erstwhile the Cowboys won the archetypal 2 meetings connected the mode to Super Bowl titles and past the Niners took the 3rd game.

“Boy, were the games close,” Cowboys proprietor Jerry Jones said connected his vigor show. “It was conscionable nip and tuck each the way, and it was a play here, a play there, and that’s the playoffs. These things are conscionable razor bladed arsenic to however you tin extremity up advancing successful these playoffs. In those years, it made a batch of difference.”

This volition beryllium the eighth clip these franchises person met successful the postseason, tied for the 2nd astir of immoderate matchup successful the Super Bowl epoch to the 9 games betwixt the Rams and Cowboys.

But with six of the erstwhile matchups coming successful the league rubric game, fewer rivalries person had arsenic galore large games oregon prima players specified arsenic Roger Staubach, Joe Montana, Jerry Rice, Emmitt Smith, Deion Sanders, Steve Young, Troy Aikman and Michael Irvin.

“I’m damn fired up, man,” Cowboys antiaircraft coordinator Dan Quinn said. “Are you kidding me? The aboriginal 90s Dallas-Niners, immoderate of the title games, for me, coming up and watching those ones, I tin perceive (John) Madden and (Pat) Summerall talking it through. My archetypal Dallas and Niner playoff game, I’m beauteous fired up to bash it man. It’s exciting.”

It’s been a agelong clip coming arsenic this volition beryllium the archetypal playoff matchup since the 1994 play erstwhile the Niners bushed the Cowboys successful the NFC rubric game.

In fact, this is the archetypal clip since 1998 that some teams are successful the playoffs successful the aforesaid season, meaning the existent players don’t person the aforesaid nostalgia to the rivalry.

“Not astatine all,” Shanahan said. “I privation I could accidental yes, but immoderate of these players were calved successful the 2000s. So you similar to deliberation so, but each time successful the backmost room, erstwhile I inquire definite questions like, ‘Have you seen Wedding Crashers?’ And they don’t adjacent cognize that sometimes.”

Here’s a look astatine the past of the playoff rivalry.

AMERICA’S TEAM

The teams squared disconnected successful the archetypal 3 years aft the merger with the Cowboys beating the Niners for the NFC rubric crippled successful 1970 and ’71 and again the adjacent twelvemonth to assistance motorboat their presumption arsenic “America’s Team.”

In the archetypal gathering astatine Kezar Stadium successful San Francisco, Dallas utilized 143 yards rushing and a TD from Duane Thomas and 2 interceptions of John Brodie to triumph 17-10.

Dallas’ defence dominated again the adjacent twelvemonth with 3 much interceptions of Brodie successful a 14-3 triumph that led the Cowboys to their archetypal Super Bowl title.

The adjacent gathering successful the divisional circular astatine Candlestick Park helped Staubach gain the moniker of “Captain Comeback.”

Staubach entered the crippled successful the 4th fourth with Dallas down 28-13 and led the squad connected 3 scoring drives. He threw a 20-yard TD walk to Billy Parks with 1:20 near to chopped the shortage to 28-23. After a palmy onside kick, the Cowboys won it connected a 10-yard TD walk from Staubach to Ron Sellers with 52 seconds to play.

THE CATCH

The Niners fell disconnected aft that three-year run, but got their revenge with a late-game comeback of their ain to motorboat a dynasty successful the 1981 NFC title game.

San Francisco took implicit astatine its 11 with 4:54 to play trailing 27-21 erstwhile Montana took over. He picked isolated Dallas’ Doomsday Defense with a quintessential West Coast discourtesy drive.

Then the Niners faced a third-and-4 astatine the Dallas 6 with little than a infinitesimal to play erstwhile Bill Walsh called “Spring Right Option.” Montana rolled close and couldn’t find an unfastened receiver immediately. Then with Ed “Too Tall” Jones and the Dallas defence closing in, Montana launched a precocious walk that seemed headed retired of the extremity zone.

But Dwight Clark leaped implicit Everson Walls successful the backmost of the extremity portion and came down with “The Catch” to springiness San Francisco a 28-27 lead.

The triumph was sealed erstwhile Danny White mislaid a fumble and San Francisco won its archetypal of 5 Super Bowl titles successful a 14-year span 2 weeks later.

“Start of a dynasty,” erstwhile 49ers president Carmen Policy said. “I don’t fto myself spell down the roadworthy of what would person happened if helium doesn’t marque that catch.”

HOW ‘BOUT THEM COWBOYS

While the Niners dynasty was launched with that win, it was the commencement of Dallas’ demise nether manager Tom Landry. The Cowboys bottomed retired with a one-win play successful Jimmy Johnson’s archetypal play successful 1989 earlier opening a dependable rise.

That helped pb to the Cowboys making it to the 1992 NFC rubric crippled successful San Francisco against a stacked Niners squad led by Steve Young and Jerry Rice.

But the young Cowboys didn’t flinch, getting 2 TDs from Smith to physique a 23-20 pb and past Aikman helped seal it with a 70-yard walk to Alvin Harper to acceptable up different TD.

The rematch the adjacent play wasn’t astir arsenic choky with the Cowboys gathering a 28-7 halftime pb connected the mode to a 38-21 triumph aft Johnson guaranteed triumph earlier successful the week. Johnson punctuated some wins with his “How ’bout them Cowboys!” proclamation successful the victorious locker room.

“I’ve been talking each week,” Johnson told his team. “If you’re gonna speech the talk, you gotta locomotion the walk. Thanks to you guys, y’all did the walkin.”

YOUNG’S BREAKTHROUGH

After those 2 losses raised questions if Young would ever triumph the “big one,” the crippled the adjacent twelvemonth helped found him arsenic 1 of the greats.

Eric Davis got it started with a pick-6 connected the opening possession. Two much turnovers helped San Francisco interruption retired to a 21-0 pb little than 5 minutes into the game.

“Spotting them a 21-point pb was similar spotting Carl Lewis 20 yards successful a 100-yard dash,” Smith said.

Young did the remainder with 2 TD passes and a TD tally and went connected to triumph Super Bowl MVP 2 weeks later.

“To reply that unit is 1 of the large feelings successful sports,” helium said aft that triumph implicit Dallas.

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