Day 3 · 12-4 · Lost NFC Divisional to the Packers, 26-21
Five starters took the field for this offense: quarterback, running back, two receivers, and a tight end. How many can you name before the hints kick in?
You remember when Dallas finally felt like a contender again. The Cowboys had spent three straight years finishing 8-8, each season ending with a loss that kept them out of the playoffs. Tony Romo had become the face of every disappointment, and expectations entering 2014 were low enough that another mediocre season felt more likely than a real run. Then Dallas stopped asking Romo to carry everything and built an offense around something the Cowboys had always understood: running the football.
Everything started with DeMarco Murray. Murray ran behind an offensive line that became the identity of the entire team. Tyron Smith was becoming one of football’s best tackles, Travis Frederick controlled the middle, and rookie Zack Martin immediately looked like he belonged beside them. Murray kept turning Sundays into 100-yard games while Romo played some of the most efficient football of his career. Jason Witten remained his security blanket, Dez Bryant treated every contested ball like it belonged to him, and a defense everyone expected to collapse somehow kept making enough plays. Dallas finally had a team that didn’t need Romo to rescue it every week.
Dallas finished 12-4, won the NFC East, and went 8-0 on the road. Murray led the NFL with 1,845 rushing yards, breaking Emmitt Smith’s Cowboys single-season record and winning Offensive Player of the Year. Romo threw 34 touchdowns with only nine interceptions, while Bryant caught a franchise-record 16 touchdowns. But the moment everyone started believing came in Seattle. Dallas walked into the defending champions’ stadium, survived an early 10-0 deficit, converted a third-and-20 with Terrance Williams somehow keeping his feet inbounds, and beat the Seahawks 30-23. This wasn’t another 8-8 Cowboys team anymore.
The playoffs immediately reminded everyone how difficult believing in Dallas could be. Detroit jumped out to a 20-7 lead before Romo and the Cowboys fought their way back. Then came the flag. Anthony Hitchens was called for pass interference on Brandon Pettigrew, the penalty was announced, and then officials picked it up. Detroit punted. Romo eventually found Terrance Williams for the go-ahead touchdown, and Dallas escaped with its first playoff win in five years. One week later, the Cowboys went to Lambeau believing this run might actually keep going.
Then Tony Romo threw it up to Dez Bryant. Dallas trailed Green Bay 26-21 late in the fourth quarter when Romo faced fourth-and-two. Bryant climbed over Sam Shields, came down with the ball near the goal line, and stretched toward the end zone. For a moment, Dallas had first-and-goal. Then Green Bay challenged. The ruling was overturned. The Packers took possession and Dallas never got the football back. The rulebook said incomplete. Cowboys fans spent the next decade saying the same three words.
That’s how people remember the 2014 Cowboys. They remember Murray running behind that offensive line. They remember Romo finally playing without having to do everything himself, Dez throwing up the X, and the afternoon Dallas went into Seattle and proved it belonged. They remember finally escaping 8-8 and believing this version of the Cowboys might actually make it all the way. Most of all, they remember one jump ball at Lambeau—and three words that still define the entire season: Dez caught it.