The 1982 Season

Record: 6-3
2nd Place in NFC
NFC Runner-Up

Synopsis:

The season with the Cowboys needing to fill two big holes on defense. In the off-season, Charlie Waters and D.D. Lewis retired. The draft was not much help. The basis by which the Cowboys were built was not producing the much needed replacements for aging veterans.

The Cowboys lost the season-opener for the first time since 1964 before bouncing back in second week. That was the last game played for two months. The players went on strike. The strike lasted 57 games. Although only minor concessions were accomplished, the strike did cancel 8 games from the schedule. Because of the strike-shortened season, no division champion would be crowned and the top eight teams in each conference made the playoffs. Once the season re-started, Dallas rolled off 5 straight wins before ending the season with consecutive losses. The Dallas offense led in the league in points scored and the defense was only beat by the Redskins. Dallas seemed poised for another run.

Dallas once again faced Tampa Bay in the first game of the playoffs. The Cowboys defeated the Bucs 30-17 to advance against the Green Bay Packers. Dallas won 37-26 in the first time they played the Packers since the 1967 "Ice Bowl." Dallas made it to the NFC Championship Game for the third time in a row, this time against the Washington Redskins. Dallas lost to Washington 31-17 as Washington dominated a fourth quarter without Danny White who was knocked out of the game with a concussion.

The three consecutive losses in the NFC Championship Game by the Cowboys did not set well with the fans. Danny White seemed to be the target of most of the criticism. Most pointed out that White was no Staubach. Guess what, nobody is. What few at the time realized, or wanted to see, was that the Cowboys, overall, was not as good as teams in the past. Gone were the days of the "Doomday Defense." Roger Staubach was one of the greatest players in Cowboys history, but he also had many great players on the team as well. The Cowboys losses were looked upon as failures, when they shouldn't have been--everyone just assumed the Cowboys should go to the Super Bowl. The fact is those teams lost to better teams and should be applauded for getting as far as they did.

Notables:

• 57 Day Player Strike reduced schedule to 9 games.
• 24-10 win over Washington was Cowboys' 200 regular season win
• Tony Dorsett leads league in rushing for only time in career
• Dallas ties NFL record for fewest fair catches in a season (0).

see 1982 NFL Standings