1987 Dallas Cowboys season

The 1987 Dallas Cowboys season was the franchise's 28th season in the National Football League, they improved the record to 7-8 from 1986, but missing the playoffs for the second consecutive season.

1987 Dallas Cowboys season
OwnerBum Bright
Head coachTom Landry
General managerTex Schramm
Home fieldTexas Stadium
Results
Record7–8
Division place2nd NFC East
Playoff finishDid not qualify

Offseason

NFL Draft

1987 Dallas Cowboys draft
Round Pick Player Position College Notes
1 12 Danny Noonan  DT Nebraska
2 39 Ron Francis  CB Baylor
3 68 Jeff Zimmerman  OG Florida
4 95 Kelvin Martin  WR Boston College
5 124 Everett Gay  WR Texas
6 151 Joe Onosai  C Hawaii
7 180 Kevin Sweeney  QB Fresno State
8 206 Kevin Gogan *  OG Washington
9 234 Alvin Blount  RB Maryland
10 262 Dale Jones  LB Tennessee
11 291 Jeff Ward  PK Texas
12 318 Scott Armstrong  LB Florida
      Made roster       Pro Football Hall of Fame    *   Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

Summary

The NFL players were unable to reach a contract agreement with the owners, as a result, a strike for the second time in six seasons after the second week of games. Unlike the last strike, the owners replaced the striking players with free agents and veteran players who were willing to cross the picket line. The NFL cancelled all games for the week of September 27 and began playing with the replacement players on October 4. The strike ended on October 15, but the replacement players played the next weekend as well. The replacement players participated in three weeks worth of games overall.

After the Cowboys began the season with a 24–13 loss to St. Louis with an upset over the defending Super Bowl champion New York Giants, the majority of the Cowboys players went on strike. Players that crossed the picket line to play with the replacement players included quarterback Danny White, defensive tackle Randy White, running back Tony Dorsett, and defensive end Ed Jones. Thanks to the veteran players and a few replacement players who would stay on with the team after the strike, the Cowboys fielded one of the better replacement teams.

The replacement Cowboys easily defeated the New York Jets and Philadelphia Eagles, with the Eagles game being of particular note. The Eagles fielded a team completely made up of replacements, and were no match for the Cowboys, who played several of their veterans throughout the game. Eagles head coach Buddy Ryan was displeased with head coach Tom Landry for doing this and afterwards made it clear that he was looking forward to playing the Cowboys in two weeks when the non-replacement Eagles returned. The following week the Cowboys missed an opportunity to take command in the NFC East when they suffered a devastating loss to the Washington Redskins. Despite playing Danny White and Tony Dorsett the entire game against a Redskins team fielded entirely of replacement players, the Cowboys came up short 13–7.

The striking players returned the following week and on October 25, even though the Philadelphia Eagles were already assured of winning against the Cowboys 37–20, they attempted to go for a touchdown with 35 seconds left on the game, after Eagles head coach Buddy Ryan who wasn't happy about the strike game they lost to Dallas, when Randy White) and Ed “Too Tall” Jones were still playing at the end of the game when the Eagles were trying to score from the 10-yard line, instructed quarterback Randall Cunningham to fake taking a knee and to pretend to run out the clock, but instead throw a long pass for the end zone that drew a 32-yard pass-interference penalty, placing the ball on the one-yard line, from where running back Keith Byars scored with 2 seconds left for a final result of 41–22.[1] Dallas came out of the strike with a 3-2 record, but lost 4 straight games in November and December to fall out of playoff contention.

The Cowboys were up and down the rest of the season, following another victory over the Giants with a loss to the woeful Detroit Lions. The Cowboys squandered a 5–4 record down the stretch with a 4-game losing streak, sandwiching heartbreaking losses to the Vikings and Redskins with an embarrassing home loss to the Falcons. After the Falcons game, Cowboys owner Bum Bright questioned coach Landry's play-calling, and Cowboys team president Tex Schramm said of the loss, "this is probably the lowest I've been in my career." The Cowboys rebounded in the last two games, however, defeating the Los Angeles Rams and the St. Louis Cardinals, and eliminating both from the playoffs in the process. Danny White coached the Cowboys for a brief period during the Rams game when there was a threat against Tom Landry's life. Landry returned shortly from the locker room and coached the rest of the 29–21 Dallas victory.

Running back Herschel Walker had another terrific season, leading the Cowboys in rushing and receiving, and leading the NFL in yards from scrimmage with 1606, while former star running back Tony Dorsett posted career lows in rushing yards with 456. Quarterback Danny White struggled with turnovers throughout the season, and was replaced by Steve Pelleur late in the season. The Cowboys offensive line had trouble with pass protection again, allowing 52 sacks, while the receiving corps was mediocre, with Mike Renfro leading the way with 662 yards on 46 catches. Defensively, the Cowboys really struggled against the pass, finishing 27th in passing yards allowed, despite posting 51 sacks and 23 interceptions. The Cowboys were solid against the run, finishing 6th overall and only allowing 3.5 yards a carry.

NFL replacement players

After the league decided to use replacement players during the strike, besides hiring a new team (referred by the media as "Rhinestone Cowboys"), Dallas forced veterans like Randy White, Ed "Too Tall" Jones, Danny White and Tony Dorsett, to cross the picket line to avoid losing their contract annuities (delayed payments).[2][3]

This strategy backfired, as there have been several interviews with former players mentioning that this caused a drift inside the team that lasted for years, and that it was one of the main reasons for the franchise's decline during the Eighties decade.[4][5]

Roster of the 1987 Dallas Cowboys

Quarterbacks

Running Backs

Wide Receivers

Tight Ends

Offensive Linemen

Defensive Linemen

Linebackers

Defensive Backs

Special Teams

Roster

Dallas Cowboys 1987 roster
Quarterbacks

Running Backs

Wide Receivers

Tight Ends

Offensive Linemen

Defensive Linemen

Linebackers

Defensive Backs

Special Teams

Reserve Lists

Rookies in italics
44 Active, 12 Inactive

Schedule

Weeks 4-6 were played with Replacement players

Week Date Opponent Result Record Game Site Attendance Recap
1 September 13 at St. Louis Cardinals L 13–24 0–1 Busch Stadium 47,241 Recap
2 September 20 at New York Giants W 16–14 1–1 Giants Stadium 73,426 Recap
3 September 27 Buffalo Bills Canceled - Players' Strike
4 October 4 at New York Jets W 38–24 2–1 Giants Stadium 12,370 Recap
5 October 11 Philadelphia Eagles W 41–22 3–1 Texas Stadium 40,622 Recap
6 October 19 Washington Redskins L 7–13 3–2 Texas Stadium 60,415 Recap
7 October 25 at Philadelphia Eagles L 20–37 3–3 Veterans Stadium 61,630 Recap
8 November 2 New York Giants W 33–24 4–3 Texas Stadium 55,730 Recap
9 November 8 at Detroit Lions L 17–27 4–4 Pontiac Silverdome 45,325 Recap
10 November 15 at New England Patriots W 23–17 (OT) 5–4 Sullivan Stadium 60,567 Recap
11 November 22 Miami Dolphins L 14–20 5–5 Texas Stadium 56,519 Recap
12 November 26 Minnesota Vikings L 38–44 (OT) 5–6 Texas Stadium 54,229 Recap
13 December 6 Atlanta Falcons L 10–21 5–7 Texas Stadium 40,103 Recap
14 December 13 at Washington Redskins L 20–24 5–8 RFK Stadium 54,882 Recap
15 December 21 at Los Angeles Rams W 29–21 6–8 Anaheim Stadium 60,700 Recap
16 December 27 St. Louis Cardinals W 21–16 7–8 Texas Stadium 36,788 Recap

Division opponents are in bold text

Standings

NFC East
W L T PCT DIV CONF PF PA STK
Washington Redskins(3) 11 4 0 .733 7–1 9–3 379 285 W1
Dallas Cowboys 7 8 0 .467 4–4 5–7 340 348 W2
St. Louis Cardinals 7 8 0 .467 3–5 7–7 362 368 L1
Philadelphia Eagles 7 8 0 .467 3–5 4–7 337 380 W2
New York Giants 6 9 0 .400 3–5 4–8 280 312 W2

References

  1. "Ryan Gets Revenge in the End". Retrieved April 21, 2018.
  2. "Striking Back In Time". Retrieved April 21, 2018.
  3. "NFL Strike Rosters". Retrieved April 21, 2018.
  4. "Open wound: Player strike put strain on Cowboys' unity in '87". Retrieved April 21, 2018.
  5. "A Divisive Time, The 1987 Strike Caused Frustration For Cowboys Veterans". Retrieved April 21, 2018.
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