1990 Dallas Cowboys season

Porkchop Bowl
21	20
Date	October 28, 1990
Stadium	Texas Stadium, Irving, Texas
Referee	Howard Roe
TV in the United States
Network	CBS
Announcers	Tim Ryan and Irv Cross

1990 Dallas Cowboys season
1990 Dallas Cowboys season
Owner	Jerry Jones
General manager	Jerry Jones and Jimmy Johnson
Head coach	Jimmy Johnson
Home field	Texas Stadium
Results
Record	7–9
Division place	4th NFC East
Playoff finish	Did not qualify
Pro Bowlers	RB Emmitt Smith
	← 1989; Cowboys seasons; 1991 →;

The 1990 Dallas Cowboys season was the franchise's 31st season in the National Football League (NFL) and was the second year of the franchise under the ownership of Jerry Jones and head coach Jimmy Johnson. The Cowboys rebounded from a 1–15 season in 1989 to a 7–9 record. However, the Cowboys missed the playoffs for the fifth consecutive season. Despite this, Jimmy Johnson won AP's NFL coach of the year honors. This was the first season since their Super Bowl X-appearing 1975 season that offensive lineman Tom Rafferty was not on the roster, as he announced his retirement in the offseason, ending a 14-year era for the team.

Summary

The season began with a win over San Diego, breaking a 14-game home losing streak. The Cowboys showed some early season fight with two wins over Tampa Bay and a near-miss against Philadelphia, but still stood only 3–7 after ten weeks, and were seemingly out of playoff contention. However, the team improved significantly in late November, winning four games in a row (including impressive wins over the Redskins and Saints, and a blowout win over the Cardinals). The Cowboys entered the season's final two weeks needing only one win or Saints' loss to make the playoffs as a wildcard. However, in week 16, quarterback Troy Aikman separated his shoulder early against the Eagles and was replaced by Babe Laufenberg (the Cowboys had traded backup Steve Walsh early in the season and Laufenberg was elevated from third string to backup). With Aikman injured, the Cowboys mustered little offense against the Eagles and lost, 17–3. Meanwhile, the Saints upset the 49ers (handing the Niners only their second loss) to keep the Cowboys from clinching in week 16. The next week, with Laufenberg again leading the offense, the Cowboys were thoroughly beaten, 26–7, by the 4–11 Atlanta Falcons. When the Saints beat the Rams the next night, the Cowboys were eliminated from playoff contention.

This season featured the debut of running back Emmitt Smith. Smith held out during training camp and was only a minimal contributor in the season's early games, but began to show his future greatness with a 100+ yard performance in a week-5 win against Tampa Bay and had a few other outstanding games during the season.

Because of the dismal 1–15 record from the previous season, the home opener against the San Diego Chargers was threatened to be blacked out for the local television market, since Texas Stadium was not sold out. A local radio station ended up buying all of the unsold tickets so that the game could be broadcast to the local DFW market.

Offseason

NFL draft

Round	Pick	Player	Position	College
1990 Dallas Cowboys draft
1	17	Emmitt Smith * ^†	RB	Florida
2	26	Alexander Wright	WR	Auburn
3	64	Jimmie Jones	DT	Miami (FL)
9	221	Kenneth Gant	S	Albany State
11	277	Dave Harper	LB	Humboldt State
Made roster † Pro Football Hall of Fame * Made at least one Pro Bowl during career

Undrafted free agents

1990 Undrafted Free Agents of note
Player	Position	College
Fred McNair	Quarterback	Alcorn State
Curt Mull	Tackle	Georgia

Regular season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Record	Venue	Attendance
1	September 9	San Diego Chargers	W 17–14	1–0	Texas Stadium	48,063
2	September 16	New York Giants	L 7–28	1–1	Texas Stadium	61,090
3	September 23	at Washington Redskins	L 15–19	1–2	Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium	53,804
4	September 30	at New York Giants	L 17–31	1–3	Giants Stadium	75,923
5	October 7	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	W 14–10	2–3	Texas Stadium	60,076
6	October 14	at Phoenix Cardinals	L 3–20	2–4	Sun Devil Stadium	45,235
7	October 21	at Tampa Bay Buccaneers	W 17–13	3–4	Tampa Stadium	68,315
8	October 28	Philadelphia Eagles	L 20–21	3–5	Texas Stadium	62,605
9	November 4	at New York Jets	L 9–24	3–6	Giants Stadium	68,086
10	November 11	San Francisco 49ers	L 6–24	3–7	Texas Stadium	62,966
11	November 18	at Los Angeles Rams	W 24–21	4–7	Anaheim Stadium	58,589
12	November 22	Washington Redskins	W 27–17	5–7	Texas Stadium	60,355
13	December 2	New Orleans Saints	W 17–13	6–7	Texas Stadium	60,087
14	Bye
15	December 16	Phoenix Cardinals	W 41–10	7–7	Texas Stadium	60,190
16	December 23	at Philadelphia Eagles	L 3–17	7–8	Veterans Stadium	63,895
17	December 30	at Atlanta Falcons	L 7–26	7–9	Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium	50,097

Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.

Standings

NFC East
view talk edit	W	L	T	PCT	DIV	CONF	PF	PA	STK
⁽²⁾ New York Giants	13	3	0	.813	7–1	10–2	335	211	W2
⁽⁴⁾ Philadelphia Eagles	10	6	0	.625	5–3	9–3	396	299	W3
⁽⁵⁾ Washington Redskins	10	6	0	.625	4–4	7–5	381	301	W1
Dallas Cowboys	7	9	0	.438	2–6	6–8	244	308	L2
Phoenix Cardinals	5	11	0	.313	2–6	3–9	268	396	L3

Roster

Dallas Cowboys 1990 roster

Quarterbacks

15 Babe Laufenberg
18 Cliff Stoudt

Running backs

Wide receivers

Tight ends

Offensive linemen

Defensive linemen

78 Dean Hamel DT
77 Jim Jeffcoat DE
97 Jimmie Jones DT
73 Danny Noonan DT
96 Danny Stubbs DE
92 Tony Tolbert DE

Linebackers

90 Willis Crockett MLB
55 Jack Del Rio OLB
50 Dave Harper OLB
99 David Howard OLB
56 Eugene Lockhart MLB
57 Vinson Smith OLB
54 Jesse Solomon MLB

Defensive backs

Special teams

Reserve lists

8 Troy Aikman QB (IR)
36 Vince Albritton S (IR)
31 Scott Ankrom S (IR)
79 Willie Broughton DT (IR)
-- Chad Hennings DT (Military Reserve)
32 Alonzo Highsmith FB (IR)
-- Steve Johnson TE (IR)
26 Keith Jones RB (IR)
51 Ken Norton Jr. LB (IR)
42 Stan Smagala CB/S (IR)

Practice squad

-- Rich Gicewicz TE

-- Reginald Warnsley FB

-- Mike Williams WR

Rookies in italics
46 active, 10 inactive, 3 practice squad

Season summary

Porkchop Bowl

The Porkchop Bowl was the NFL matchup between the Philadelphia Eagles and Dallas Cowboys which followed the infamous Bounty Bowl II.

Even though almost a year had transpired since the notorious "Bounty Bowl" games, the vitriolic rivalry between the two teams was still firmly in Cowboys fans' memories. And this was the first encounter since Cowboys players and coaches were relentlessly pelted by snowballs during that last meeting at Philadelphia's Veterans Stadium.

The week before game day in Dallas, Philadelphia head coach Buddy Ryan and Ted Plumb, his offensive coordinator, were out for dinner. Coach Ryan was dining on pork chops and started to choke. Plumb quickly initiated the Heimlich maneuver and saved Ryan's life. Word of the incident spread in Dallas, and hatred by Dallas fans was so fevered towards Ryan that former Cowboys' president Tex Schramm dubbed the pending game on October 28 the "Porkchop Bowl." When the game began, Dallas fans tossed pork chops and similar simulated meat products from the stands toward the Eagles bench.

The final score was 21–20 in favor of the Eagles.

Transactions

On September 25, 1990, the Dallas Cowboys traded Steve Walsh to the New Orleans Saints for the Saints' first and third round picks in the 1991 NFL draft and a second round pick (that could become a first round pick based on performance) in the 1992 NFL draft.^[1]

Awards and records

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

^ "Dallas deals Walsh to New Orleans". Los Angeles Times. Associated Press. September 25, 1990. Retrieved February 19, 2018.

External links

[1] "Dallas deals Walsh to New Orleans". Los Angeles Times. Associated Press. September 25, 1990. Retrieved February 19, 2018.

[1]