The 1986 season Dallas Cowboys season was the franchise's twenty-seventh in the National Football League. The Cowboys concluded the year with a record of seven wins and nine losses, finishing without a winning record for the first time since 1965.
The Cowboys, re-invigorated by the off-season acquisitions of running back Herschel Walker and passing coordinator Paul Hackett, got off to a strong 6–2 start, including a season opening win on Monday night over the eventual Super Bowl champion New York Giants, which saw Walker score the winning touchdown late in the game, and a 30–6 blowout win over the Washington Redskins, which ended the Redskins 5–0 start. Quarterbacks Danny White and Steve Pelluer played well early in the season under Hackett's tutelage, who was brought over from the San Francisco 49ers to breathe new life into the passing game. However, White broke his wrist during a crucial loss to the New York Giants, and was ruled out for the season. Pelluer took over as the starting quarterback, and struggled mightily, throwing 17 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 NFL in total offense. Running back Herschel Walker rushed for 737 yards, caught 76 passes for 837 yards, and scored 14 touchdowns. Late in the season against the Eagles, Walker had a combined 292 yards rushing and receiving, breaking the team single game record. Running back Tony Dorsett added 748 yards rushing, and even though he was still the team's starting running back, he was clearly unhappy with his reduced role. This was the first non-strike season he hadn’t rushed for 1000 yards. The passing game flourished under Danny White early in the year, but following White's injury, turnovers and an inability to protect the quarterback neutralized the passing attack. Wide receiver Tony Hill and tight end Doug Cosbie both began to show their age, and Mike Renfro was limited because of injury. Rookie wide receiver Mike Sherrard provided a deep threat, gaining 744 yards on just 41 receptions. Defensively, the team struggled to stop the run, finishing 23rd against the run, and the secondary, an opportunistic bunch in past seasons, only intercepted 17 passes during the season. The pass rush was still strong, despite defensive tackle Randy White finally beginning to slow down due to age and injury, as third year defensive end Jim Jeffcoat stepped up with 14 sacks. Overall, it was mistakes that would plague the team throughout the 1986 season. 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.
1986 NFL Draft
Roster
| Dallas Cowboys 1986 roster |
| Quarterbacks
Running Backs
Wide Receivers
Tight Ends
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Offensive Linemen
Defensive Linemen
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Linebackers
Defensive Backs
Special Teams
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Reserve Lists
Rookies in italics
44 Active, 5 Inactive |
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Regular season
Schedule
| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Game site | NFL Recap | Attendance |
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| 1 | September 8, 1986 | New York Giants | W 31–28 | Texas Stadium | | 59,804 |
| 2 | September 14, 1986 | at Detroit Lions | W 31–7 | Pontiac Silverdome | | 73,812 |
| 3 | September 21, 1986 | Atlanta Falcons | L 35–37 | Texas Stadium | | 62,880 |
| 4 | September 29, 1986 | at St. Louis Cardinals | W 31–7 | Busch Memorial Stadium | | 49,077 |
| 5 | October 5, 1986 | at Denver Broncos | L 14–29 | Mile High Stadium | | 76,082 |
| 6 | October 12, 1986 | Washington Redskins | W 30–6 | Texas Stadium | | 63,264 |
| 7 | October 19, 1986 | at Philadelphia Eagles | W 17–14 | Veterans Stadium | | 68,572 |
| 8 | October 26, 1986 | St. Louis Cardinals | W 37–6 | Texas Stadium | | 60,756 |
| 9 | November 2, 1986 | at New York Giants | L 14–17 | Giants Stadium | | 74,871 |
| 10 | November 9, 1986 | Los Angeles Raiders | L 13–17 | Texas Stadium | | 61,706 |
| 11 | November 16, 1986 | at San Diego Chargers | W 24–21 | Jack Murphy Stadium | | 55,622 |
| 12 | November 23, 1986 | at Washington Redskins | L 14–41 | RFK Stadium | | 55,642 |
| 13 | November 27, 1986 | Seattle Seahawks | L 14–31 | Texas Stadium | | 58,020 |
| 14 | December 7, 1986 | at Los Angeles Rams | L 10–29 | Anaheim Stadium | | 64,949 |
| 15 | December 14, 1986 | Philadelphia Eagles | L 21–23 | Texas Stadium | | 46,117 |
| 16 | December 21, 1986 | Chicago Bears | L 10–24 | Texas Stadium | | 57,256 |
Standings
Game summaries
Week 1: vs. New York Giants
| Game information |
- Second Quarter
- Third Quarter
- NYG – Joe Morris 2 yard run (Bob Thomas kick) – Giants 21–17
- Fourth Quarter
- DAL – Thornton Chandler 1 yard pass from Danny White (Rafael Septien kick) – Cowboys 24–21
- NYG – Bobby Johnson 44 yard pass from Phil Simms (Bob Thomas kick) – Giants 28–24
- DAL – Herschel Walker 10 yard run (Rafael Septien kick) – Cowboys 31–28
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- Giants
- Phil Simms
22/45, 300 Yds, 3 TD, INT
- Joe Morris
20 Rush, 87 Yds, TD
- Bobby Johnson
7 Rec, 105 Yds, 2 TD
- Cowboys
- Danny White
23/39, 279 Yds, 2 TD
- Herschel Walker
10 Rush, 64 Yds, 2 TD
- Tony Hill
5 Rec, 107 Yds
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Week 9: at New York Giants
Week 10: vs. Los Angeles Raiders
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1 |
2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
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| • Raiders |
0 |
3 | 7 | 7 |
17 |
| Cowboys |
3 |
7 | 3 | 0 |
13 |
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| Scoring summary |
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| Q1 |
| DAL | Septien 20 yard field goal | DAL 3–0 |
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| Q2 |
| LA | Bahr 45 yard field goal | Tie 3–3 |
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| Q2 |
| DAL | Dorsett 13 yard run (Septien kick) | DAL 10–3 |
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| Q3 |
| LA | Williams 20 yard pass from Plunkett (Bahr kick) | Tie 10–10 |
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| Q3 |
| DAL | Septien 20 yard field goal | DAL 13–10 |
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| Q4 |
| LA | Williams 40 yard pass from Plunkett (Bahr kick) | LA 17–13 |
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[1]
Week 13: vs. Seattle Seahawks
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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: NBC
- Gamebook
| Game information |
- First quarter
- Second quarter
- SEA – Steve Largent 11-yard pass from Dave Krieg (Norm Johnson kick), 7:04 (SEA 14–7)
- SEA – Byron Franklin 19-yard pass from Dave Krieg (Norm Johnson kick), 1:56 (SEA 21–7)
- SEA – Norm Johnson 42-yard field goal, 0:08 (SEA 24–7)
- Third quarter
- Fourth quarter
- SEA – Curt Warner 9-yard run (Norm Johnson kick), 10:06 (SEA 31–14)
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- Top passers
- Top rushers
- Top receivers
- Team – pass – rush – total – to
- SEA – 214 – 201 – 415 – 1
- DAL – 201 – 127 – 328 – 1
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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
External links
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Championship seasons in bold |
