Some regrets stay with you forever. For former Cowboys head coach Barry Switzer, it will always be his decision in the first half against the 49ers that cost his team a chance at the NFC Championship.
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“Three incomplete passes, punt the ball away,” Barry Switzer said on the Sports Leader podcast. “Jerry Rice catches a fingertip touchdown pass, the last play of the first half, as he’s going just off, going back behind our cornerback, and they go back up two touchdowns on us. I cussed myself all the way to the locker room, and hell, I knew what to do. I should have played conservatively there.”
The Cowboys were trailing 21-0 in the first few minutes, but they fought back and reduced the score to 24-14 before halftime. They had a chance to make a comeback, but one decision changed the game.
With around 90 seconds left in the first half, coach Barry Switzer wanted his team to play safely. He told offensive coordinator Ernie Zampese to let Emmitt Smith run the ball three times and then punt if they could not get a first down. However, Zampese believed the Cowboys could score again because they had already completed two long touchdown drives. Switzer agreed to take the chance.
The Cowboys threw three incomplete passes and had to punt. San Francisco got the ball with less than a minute on the clock. Then, quarterback Steve Young threw a 23-yard touchdown pass to Jerry Rice with only eight seconds remaining in the half, bringing the score to 31-14.
Dallas’ battle already became tough, having turned the ball over five times. Three of those proved immensely beneficial for the 49ers, with which they built that 21-point lead, per the Oklahoman. It upended the fight for Dallas, and San Francisco, at long last, was able to defeat them in the NFC Championship, having lost in their previous two bouts.
The Cowboys eventually got back up and won the Super Bowl with Barry Switzer in the 1995 season. But it would prove to be their last for a long time. Since then, the Cowboys have not reached the NFC Championship. Switzer remains the last Super Bowl-winning head coach for Dallas.
Despite winning a Super Bowl, Barry Switzer faced an uncertain future with the Dallas Cowboys after the team had a poor 1997 season, finishing with a 6-10 record. It was the first time since 1990 that Dallas missed the playoffs. After that, he decided to step down following the disappointing season. He finished his time in Dallas with a 45-26 record (including postseason).
Many might think Switzer’s departure would have created a rift between him and Jerry Jones, but that was not the case.
“I spent four years at the Dallas Cowboys, and I enjoyed it tremendously,” Switzer said on John Erling for Voices of Oklahoma back in 2010. “Jerry and I had a great relationship, and Stephen, his son, and Larry Lacewell were there. We had good teams. We won Super Bowl XXX in 1995, my second year there.”
His only desire now is to be inducted into the Cowboys’ Ring of Honor, and he has openly expressed it.
“When Jerry puts my a– in the ring of honor someday before I die,” Barry Switzer said on 96.7 The Ticket. “You listening, Jerry? And I’m 89 years old, and I’m going to have Charles Haley put me in. Because Charles Haley, after I was gone, Charles Haley called me and asked me to put him in the ring of honor when I was already out of the way from the Cowboys.”
Let’s wait and see how long it takes Jerry Jones to make it happen. For now, the longstanding rivalry between both teams gets a restart on Sunday.