When Cowboys Conquered Eagles: Lessons for Today’s Rivalry

Week 1 didn’t go the way any Cowboys fan wanted. The Eagles walked into AT&T and reminded us just how far Dallas still has to go. But if you think this story is already written, remember 1992. Tired of consistently losing to the Eagles, the Cowboys punched right back, knocking the Eagles out of the playoffs on their way to a Lombardi.

The lesson? Sometimes, a spark is all you need.

Setting the stage: journey to Super Bowl XXVII

1992. Bill Clinton just got elected President, and America was grooving to Whitney Houston’s ‘I Will Always Love You’. No one knew it yet, but a revolution was brewing in Dallas. A revolution that sealed the Cowboys’ chances of a Super Bowl victory. 

January 10, 1993. The Cowboys were set to face a familiar face in the form of their outcast, Herschel Walker. In 1989, four games into the season, Dallas’ bucket of wins was drier than a desert. Enter Jimmy Johnson, who did not waste time cleaning up the locker room. Walker could not find a place under the new leadership and was carted off to other pastures. In 1992, the Eagles signed Herschel with one clear vision: to win the Super Bowl. The legendary running back had carried the Eagles to the playoffs and was chomping at the bit to get back at his old team, the Cowboys. 

A common criterion for Jimmy to judge his boys in Silver and Blue was how they measured up against the Birds. And the Eagles tested the boys every time. ‘Bullies’ is the label Emmitt Smith gave his rivals in green in the Netflix documentary, ‘America’s Team’. No one knew this better than Troy Aikman, who had already suffered enough at the hands of his enemies. 1 game. 11 sacks. Brutal. The Eagles always left the quarterback with one question: “Man! What does it take to win a game around here?” But Aikman would get his revenge. 

“I was tired, losing to Philly game after game after game.” Johnson had had enough. He had the perfect plan to defeat Philly. And he relayed it to his team. The orders were clear. “Don’t let them hit Troy.” The game began, and Herschel Walker had only one goal: Make. Cowboys. Suffer. And so he did, in the beginning at least. But once the Cowboys unlocked their best offensive weapon in Troy Aikman, it was done and dusted. Jimmy knew exactly how to play Aikman to his tune, and Aikman knew how to use his toughness to Philly’s downfall. 

We can’t know what magic was there in the air that night. Maybe it was the collective power of the prayers of Cowboys fans, or just a dogged sense of grit and resilience these players showed that day on the field. A lot of things happened. Troy Aikman and Michael Irvin vibrated on the same frequency like two prongs of a tong. The Eagles’ defence started to self-destruct. The Cowboys’ defense trapped Walker. As Emmitt recalls: “We got faster. We got stronger. We got meaner.” 

One might think what happened in that era to the Cowboys is a mystery, but it’s really not. ‘America’s Team: The Gambler and His Boys’ gave us some invaluable insight into how the 1990s Cowboys thought. How they lived. And what they wanted. And as Troy Aikman revealed, what they really wanted was to run the Eagles to the ground.

This begs the question: can today’s Cowboys manifest that stubborn attitude that ultimately led their 1990s counterparts to a Super Bowl Victory?

Introspection: how modern Cowboys can reclaim their edge

The September 4 game vs. the Eagles revealed exactly what is fractured. CeeDee’s 4 dropped catches revealed a worrying lack of connection between Dallas’ top slinger and their top target. “Oh please, that was just one game.” You’re right, Devil’s Advocate. But would this behavior fly with Jimmy Johnson? That man carefully cultivated the chemistry between Aikman and Irvin, pounded it into them till it became more accurate than clockwork. 

Not only this, but the team lived up to their promise to Jimmy. They created a blanket of protection around Troy. A look at the Week 1 game vs. the Eagles, one can clearly see that Dak Prescott was pressured more and did not have enough time in the pocket during critical drives. The 1990s Cowboys defense was also no joke. The primary led by Charles Haley and the secondary led by Darren Woodson made the Eagles’ lives hell. And while the defense did show up in Week 1, it was still not enough to tip the scales in their favor. 

A glaring issue that remains is consistency. The 1990s Cowboys were disciplined and complimentary. The present? Talented, yes, but far more volatile. Unfortunately, in the vastly competitive NFL, flashes of raw talent might get you some watered-down wins. But the way to the Super Bowl, and ultimately the Lombardi, goes through one place only. The temple of hard work, consistency, and the desperate spark of needing, not wanting, to get that title. Guess that spark is what the Cowboys are missing right now. That spark is what they need to find.