# 1986 Dallas Cowboys season

The 1986 Dallas Cowboys season was the franchise's 27th season in the National Football League. The team finished the regular season at 7–9 and finishing with a losing record for the first time since 1964.

## Summary

The Cowboys, re-invigorated by the off-season acquisitions of running back Herschel Walker and passing coordinator Paul Hackett, got off to a strong 6–2 start, including a season opening win on Monday night over the eventual Super Bowl champion New York Giants, which saw Walker score the winning touchdown late in the game, and a 30–6 blowout win over the Washington Redskins, which ended the Redskins 5–0 start. Quarterbacks Danny White and Steve Pelluer played well early in the season under Hackett's tutelage, who was brought over from the San Francisco 49ers to breathe new life into the passing game. However, White broke his wrist on a sack by Carl Banks during a crucial loss to the New York Giants, and was ruled out for the season. Pelluer took over as the starting quarterback, and struggled mightily, throwing 17 interceptions over the course of the season, as well as seeing constant pressure from opposing pass rushers, including being sacked a team record twelve times in a game against San Diego. The Cowboys lost seven out of their final eight games, and suffered a five-game losing streak to close out the season, including embarrassing losses to the Redskins (41–14) and the Seahawks in the annual Thanksgiving Day game (31–14). It was the Cowboys' first loss on Thanksgiving since 1979. During the third quarter of a late-season loss to the Los Angeles Rams, Tom Landry was forced to leave the field due to a threat against his life. Landry returned to the field later in the game wearing a bulletproof vest.
The Cowboys undoing certainly wasn't because of an inability to move the football, as the team ranked fourth in the NFL in total offense. Running back Herschel Walker rushed for 737 yards, caught 76 passes for 837 yards, and scored 14 touchdowns. Late in the season against the Eagles, Walker had a combined 292 yards rushing and receiving, breaking the team single game record. Running back Tony Dorsett added 748 yards rushing, and even though he was still the team's starting running back, he was clearly unhappy with his reduced role. This was the first non-strike season he hadn't rushed for 1,000 yards. The passing game flourished under Danny White early in the year, but following White's injury, turnovers and an inability to protect the quarterback neutralized the passing attack. Wide receiver Tony Hill and tight end Doug Cosbie both began to show their age, and Mike Renfro was limited because of injury. Rookie wide receiver Mike Sherrard provided a deep threat, gaining 744 yards on just 41 receptions. Defensively, the team struggled to stop the run, finishing 23rd against the run, and the secondary, an opportunistic bunch in past seasons, only intercepted 17 passes during the season. The pass rush was still strong, despite defensive tackle Randy White finally beginning to slow down due to age and injury, as fourth year defensive end Jim Jeffcoat stepped up with 14 sacks. Overall, it was mistakes that would plague the team throughout the 1986 season. The offensive line gave up 60 sacks, the offense turned the ball over 41 times, and the team committed 112 penalties.
No Cowboys were selected for the Pro Bowl in 1986.

## Offseason
### NFL Draft

1986 Dallas Cowboys draft :
| Round | Pick | Player | Position | College |
| 1 | 18 | Mike Sherrard | WR | UCLA |
| 2 | 33 | Darryl Clack | RB | Arizona State |
| 3 | 74 | Mark Walen | DT | UCLA |
| 4 | 100 | Max Zendejas | PK | Arizona |
| 6 | 140 | Thornton Chandler | TE | Alabama |
| 6 | 150 | Stan Gelbaugh | QB | Maryland |
| 6 | 158 | Lloyd Yancey | OG | Temple |
| 7 | 185 | Johnny Holloway | WR | Kansas |
| 8 | 212 | Topper Clemons | RB | Wake Forest |
| 9 | 242 | John Ionata | OG | Florida State |
| 10 | 269 | Bryan Chester | OG | Texas |
| 11 | 296 | Garth Jax | LB | Florida State |
| 12 | 307 | Chris Duliban | LB | Texas |
| 12 | 322 | Tony Flack | DB | Georgia |
| Made roster † Pro Football Hall of Fame * Made at least one Pro Bowl during career ||||||

## Regular season
### Schedule

| Week | Date | Opponent | Result | Record | Game Site | Attendance | Recap |
| 1 | September 8 | New York Giants | W 31–28 | 1–0 | Texas Stadium | 59,804 | Recap |
| 2 | September 14 | at Detroit Lions | W 31–7 | 2–0 | Pontiac Silverdome | 73,812 | Recap |
| 3 | September 21 | Atlanta Falcons | L 35–37 | 2–1 | Texas Stadium | 62,880 | Recap |
| 4 | September 29 | at St. Louis Cardinals | W 31–7 | 3–1 | Busch Stadium | 49,077 | Recap |
| 5 | October 5 | at Denver Broncos | L 14–29 | 3–2 | Mile High Stadium | 76,082 | Recap |
| 6 | October 12 | Washington Redskins | W 30–6 | 4–2 | Texas Stadium | 63,264 | Recap |
| 7 | October 19 | at Philadelphia Eagles | W 17–14 | 5–2 | Veterans Stadium | 68,572 | Recap |
| 8 | October 26 | St. Louis Cardinals | W 37–6 | 6–2 | Texas Stadium | 60,756 | Recap |
| 9 | November 2 | at New York Giants | L 14–17 | 6–3 | Giants Stadium | 74,871 | Recap |
| 10 | November 9 | Los Angeles Raiders | L 13–17 | 6–4 | Texas Stadium | 61,706 | Recap |
| 11 | November 16 | at San Diego Chargers | W 24–21 | 7–4 | Jack Murphy Stadium | 55,622 | Recap |
| 12 | November 23 | at Washington Redskins | L 14–41 | 7–5 | RFK Stadium | 55,642 | Recap |
| 13 | November 27 | Seattle Seahawks | L 14–31 | 7–6 | Texas Stadium | 58,020 | Recap |
| 14 | December 7 | at Los Angeles Rams | L 10–29 | 7–7 | Anaheim Stadium | 64,949 | Recap |
| 15 | December 14 | Philadelphia Eagles | L 21–23 | 7–8 | Texas Stadium | 46,117 | Recap |
| 16 | December 21 | Chicago Bears | L 10–24 | 7–9 | Texas Stadium | 57,256 | Recap |
Division opponents are in bold text

### Standings

NFC East :
| viewtalkedit | W | L | T | PCT | DIV | CONF | PF | PA | STK |
| New York Giants$^{(1)}$ | 14 | 2 | 0 | .875 | 7–1 | 11–1 | 371 | 236 | W9 |
| Washington Redskins$^{(4)}$ | 12 | 4 | 0 | .750 | 5–3 | 9–3 | 368 | 296 | W1 |
| Dallas Cowboys | 7 | 9 | 0 | .438 | 5–3 | 6–6 | 346 | 337 | L5 |
| Philadelphia Eagles | 5 | 10 | 1 | .344 | 1–6–1 | 3–8–1 | 256 | 312 | L1 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 4 | 11 | 1 | .281 | 1–6–1 | 3–10–1 | 218 | 351 | W1 |

## Game summaries
### Week 1: vs. New York Giants

Herschel Walker could have arrived at a better time, with Tony Dorsett sidelined with a first half ankle injury, Walker ended his NFL debut by scoring a game-winning touchdown on a 10-yard run with 1:16 to play against the Giants. It was Walker's 2nd TD of the night-a Monday Night in which he ran for 64 yards on 10 tries. Dorsett opened the scoring on a 36-yard toss from Danny White in the second quarter, but New York rallies from 14-0 and 24–21 to claim a 28–24 lead on Phil Simms' third TD pass with 5:24 remaining. Simms threw for 300 yards, but it was Walker having arrived from the USFL that made the difference for Dallas.
| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Giants | 0 | 14 | 7 | 7 | 28 |
| Cowboys | 0 | 17 | 0 | 14 | 31 |
at Texas Stadium, Irving, Texas
* Date: Monday, September 8
* Game time: 8:00 p.m. CDT
* Game weather: 71 °F (22 °C), wind 11 mph (18 km/h)
* Game attendance: 59,804
* Referee: Pat Haggerty
* TV announcers (ABC): Al Michaels (play by play), Frank Gifford (color commentator)
* Pro-Football-Reference.com
Game information :
Second quarter
DAL – Tony Dorsett 36 yard pass from Danny White (Rafael Septién kick) – Cowboys 7–0
DAL – Herschel Walker 1 yard run (Rafael Septién kick) – Cowboys 14–0
NYG – Bobby Johnson 13 yard pass from Phil Simms (Bob Thomas kick) – Cowboys 14–7
NYG – Stacy Robinson 3 yard pass from Phil Simms (Bob Thomas kick) – Tied 14–14
DAL – Rafael Septién 35 yard field goal – Cowboys 17–14
Third quarter
NYG – Joe Morris 2 yard run (Bob Thomas kick) – Giants 21–17
Fourth quarter
DAL – Thornton Chandler 1 yard pass from Danny White (Rafael Septién kick) – Cowboys 24–21
NYG – Bobby Johnson 44 yard pass from Phil Simms (Bob Thomas kick) – Giants 28–24
DAL – Herschel Walker 10 yard run (Rafael Septién kick) – Cowboys 31–28
Giants
Phil Simms 22/45, 300 Yds, 3 TD, INT
Joe Morris 20 Rush, 87 Yds, TD
Bobby Johnson 7 Rec, 105 Yds, 2 TD
Cowboys
Danny White 23/39, 279 Yds, 2 TD
Herschel Walker 10 Rush, 64 Yds, 2 TD
Tony Hill 5 Rec, 107 Yds :

### Week 9: at New York Giants

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Cowboys | 0 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 14 |
| Giants | 3 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 17 |
at Giants Stadium, East Rutherford, New Jersey
* Date: November 2
* Game time: 12 noon CST
* Game weather: 59 °F (15 °C), wind 14 mph (23 km/h)
* Game attendance: 74,871
* Referee: Dick Hantak
* TV announcers (CBS): Pat Summerall (play-by-play), John Madden (color commentary)

### Week 10: vs. Los Angeles Raiders

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| • Raiders | 0 | 3 | 7 | 7 | 17 |
| Cowboys | 3 | 7 | 3 | 0 | 13 |
* Dokie Williams 5 Rec, 107 Yds

### Week 13: vs. Seattle Seahawks

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Seahawks | 7 | 17 | 0 | 7 | 31 |
| Cowboys | 7 | 0 | 7 | 0 | 14 |
at Texas Stadium, Irving, Texas
* Date: November 27
* Game time: 3:00pm local
* Game weather: partly cloudy, 50 °F (10 °C), 61% humidity, wind N 13 miles per hour (21 km/h)
* Game attendance: 58,020
* Referee: Bob McElwee
* TV announcers (NBC): Dick Enberg, Merlin Olsen, and Bob Griese (sideline)
* Gamebook
Game information :
First quarter
DAL – Tony Dorsett 8-yard run (Rafael Septién kick), 5:57 (DAL 7–0)
SEA – Dave Krieg 4-yard run (Norm Johnson kick), 0:41 (Tied 7–7)
Second quarter
SEA – Steve Largent 11-yard pass from Dave Krieg (Norm Johnson kick), 7:04 (SEA 14–7)
SEA – Byron Franklin 19-yard pass from Dave Krieg (Norm Johnson kick), 1:56 (SEA 21–7)
SEA – Norm Johnson 42-yard field goal, 0:08 (SEA 24–7)
Third quarter
DAL – Herschel Walker 1-yard run (Rafael Septién kick), 6:54 (SEA 24–14)
Fourth quarter
SEA – Curt Warner 9-yard run (Norm Johnson kick), 10:06 (SEA 31–14)
Top passers
SEA – Dave Krieg: 16/24, 214 yds, 2 TD, 1 INT
DAL – Steve Pelluer: 22/36, 210 yds
Top rushers
SEA – Curt Warner: 22 car, 122 yds, 1 TD
DAL – Tony Dorsett: 14 car, 59 yds, 1 TD
Top receivers
SEA – Steve Largent: 3 rec, 75 yds, 1 TD
DAL – Mike Sherrard: 4 rec, 61 yds
Team – pass – rush – total – to
SEA – 214 – 201 – 415 – 1
DAL – 201 – 127 – 328 – 1 :

## Awards

For the first time in team history, the Cowboys had no players chosen to play in the Pro Bowl. They also had no players mentioned on the Associated Press' All-NFL team.

## 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