So if the 1977 Dallas Cowboys could play the 1993 Dallas Cowboys, who would win?
Since the Dallas Cowboys won’t beat any real NFL teams any time soon, we found the one game where the franchise is guaranteed a win.
This, their 60th anniversary season, is the ideal time to ponder which of their many brilliant teams from the past is the best. All you need is the internet, and an active suspension of disbelief to “watch” the 1977 Dallas Cowboys play the 1993 Dallas Cowboys.
This should go to OT.
According to the website WhatIfSports.com, simulated game between these two is ‘93 Cowboys 28, ‘77 Cowboys 10.
“Oh, that’s bulls---,” said Charlie Waters, the safety from the 1977 team.
Well, okay, but what if these teams “played” each other nine more times?
For the purposes of this debate, all games were “played” at Texas Stadium, on 70-degree day. Weather is a non-factor. The outcomes are derived from the statistics, rosters and information supplied by ProFootballReference.com.
Also enlisted in this exercise are people who covered these teams, and played on them: Former Dallas Morning News, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, WBAP and ESPN Radio voice Randy Galloway; the man who helped launch Sports Radio 1310 The Ticket, Mike Rhyner; the longtime radio voice of the Dallas Cowboys, Mr. Brad Sham; former Dallas Cowboys safety Charlie Waters; former Dallas Cowboys defensive lineman Tony Casillas.
“This is a fun exercise as long as we admit this is comparing apples and oranges,” Sham said.
Agreed.
“I happen to think that ‘93 team would have been the best Cowboys team ever,” Galloway said. “Having watched and loved that ‘77 team, it’s hard for me to say anybody could have beat them. But I think the ‘93 Cowboys would have.”
The best Cowboys teams
The 1977 Dallas Cowboys finished 12-2, and easily defeated the Denver Broncos, 27-10, to win Super Bowl XII in the New Orleans Superdome. (It was the first time the NFL held its title game indoors.)
The ‘77 Cowboys featured future Hall of Famers Roger Staubach, Tony Dorsett, Drew Pearson, Randy White, Cliff Harris, and were coached by Tom Landry. Team president Tex Schramm and personnel director Gil Brandt are also in the Hall of Fame.
Also on that team were Ed “Too Tall” Jones, Harvey Martin, Thomas “Hollywood” Henderson, Butch Johnson, Charlie Waters and D.D. Lewis.
The 1993 Cowboys finished 12-4, and easily defeated the Buffalo Bills, 30-13, in Super Bowl XXVIII in the Georgia Dome. (Dallas defended its title from the previous year, when they also rolled over Buffalo.)
On that ‘93 team were future Hall of Famers Troy Aikman, Emmitt Smith, Michael Irvin, Charles Haley, and they were coached by Jimmy Johnson. Team owner/GM Jerry Jones is also in the Hall of Fame.
Also on that team were Erik Williams, Kevin Smith, Jay Novacek, Alvin Harper, Ken Norton Jr. and Darren Woodson.
“If you go across those teams, position by position, the level of superiority of the ‘77 team was very similar to the ‘93 team,” Rhyner said.
This happens all over this field. So many players “wash out” the other; Aikman and Staubach; Dorsett and Emmitt; Pearson and Irvin; Haley and Randy White, etc.
“I am not selling that ‘77 team short,” Rhyner said. “They were really, really good. When they played you knew they were going to win and there was a cloud over this city when they lost.”
‘77 Cowboys v ‘93 Cowboys
After running 10 games between these two through the simulator, the 1977 Dallas Cowboys are the better team. Again, per a computer.
The ‘77 Cowboys won a total of seven of the 10 games in this simulated series.
“One way to think of it which of those teams would have had guys who would have been stars on either team,” Sham said. “The quarterbacks. The running backs. (‘77 defensive tackle) Randy White would have given (‘93 offensive guard) Nate Newton all he could handle. They would have had to double Randy.
“(‘77 defensive end) Ed ‘Too Tall’ Jones against (‘93 tackle) Erik Williams would have been one hell of a battle. Both teams were loaded with stars.”
The teams were separated by more than a decade, and so much about the game evolved through strength training and technology. And yet the teams are almost the same.
“The ‘93 team was a lot like the ‘77 team in that they were balanced offenses,” Galloway said. “The Cowboys of ‘93 were your perfect team, which is why they were the best for about four or five years. If Jimmy stayed, who knows how long it goes?”
Yes. About that ...
They were generational teams with generational players, pioneering coaches and trainers who changed the sport.
They were dominant everywhere.
“I need to put a disclaimer on this,” Casillas said. ”With all due respect to the ‘77 Cowboys, because that was a great team, but I think the biggest difference between those teams was the depth. I think our offensive line would have had the edge, because we could pound it.
“Our defensive line was so deep in talent. We had a platoon of players that could wear you down. Our defense didn’t have the names, but we had fresh legs all the time. The other team never got a break. No one had done that before. You could get eight or 10 dudes, but there is no guarantee they could play. We had eight guys coming at you all the time, and they could all have started.”
In the 60-year history of the Dallas Cowboys, the ‘77 and ‘93 teams were the best. So much so that here in 2020, they are remembered, and revered.
“That’s the part that dawns me on me now that at 57 people still remember you,” Casillas said. “Things move along, but when you are attached to teams like those, people never forget you. Not being forgotten is a huge accomplishment. To be a part of something spectacular, whatever the history lesson is, you’re a part of it.”
Of course, there will never be any way to officially state which team was better, so settle for the fact that the ‘77 and ‘93 Dallas Cowboys are two of the best teams to ever play the sport.
