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Flashback Friday: Eagles stop Cowboys on 4th and 1 (twice)

By Geoffrey Knox

29 Dec 1996: Philadelphia Eagles head coach Ray Rhodes looks on during a playoff game against the San Francisco 49ers at 3Com Park in San Francisco, California. The 49ers won the game, 14-0. Mandatory Credit: Otto Greule Jr. /Allsport
29 Dec 1996: Philadelphia Eagles head coach Ray Rhodes looks on during a playoff game against the San Francisco 49ers at 3Com Park in San Francisco, California. The 49ers won the game, 14-0. Mandatory Credit: Otto Greule Jr. /Allsport /
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It would be almost impossible as Eagles fans not to kick the Cowboys while they’re down.

The ebb and flow and back-and-forth nature of a rivalry is the stuff great rivalries are made out of. Once upon a time, things weren’t as they are now. The Dallas Cowboys were the rulers of the NFC East. The Philadelphia Eagles were the team who was struggling. Records have never mattered when these two teams meet though.

Picture it. It was December 10th, 1995, and an average squad from Philadelphia met the Super Bowl favorites, the Cowboys, in a divisional clash at Veteran’s Stadium. The names and faces were different as a Ray Rhodes-led Eagles team tried to outdo Barry Switzer and the Cowboys. Dallas should have walked all over the Eagles that day. Instead, they let them hang around.

It was one of the greatest moments in the history of “The Vet”.

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As the game approached its’ conclusion, the Eagles and Cowboys were locked in a tie at 17 points a piece. The Cowboys had been stopped on 3rd down deep in their own territory. Mark McMillian had just stopped Cory Fleming on a pass from Troy Aikman that left Dallas one yard short of a first down. The Cowboys, who should have punted, elected to go for it.

Emmitt Smith was stopped on a 4th-down run at the Cowboys’ own 29-yard line. The Eagles wouldn’t be given credit for it though as the two-minute warning had been called. Dallas, now with the opportunity to rethink things, elected to go with the same play and ran it again.

We all know what happened next. That moment and the highlight, along with another classic call from Merrill Reese, is now etched into our brains forever. You know the one. “They give it to Smith, and they stop him again! They stop him again!”

Gary Anderson (yes that Gary Anderson) nails the game winner.

No Eagles fan will ever forget that day. The stop led to a 42-yard game winner by Gary Anderson (yes, Gary Anderson), and the Eagles would end the day with a 20-17 victory. Oh by the way, he’d have to attempt the kick twice as his first attempt was waved off. The referee hadn’t yet given the signal to resume play.

Guess what? If you’ve never seen it, we have video. Hey, it isn’t the high-definition era, but it’s still great stuff.

Check this one out.

Video provided by the NFL and J Philly’s YouTube Page

There’s only one unfortunate part about all of this. It’s the fact that Dallas would still go on to win the Super Bowl that season. They’d beat the Eagles in the divisional round of the NFC Playoffs by a score of 30-11 along the way. Still, no Eagles fan will ever forget a game known simply as “4th and one”.

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It brings back some great memories following a week where the Eagles blew out the Cowboys by a score of 37-9 on Sunday Night Football, and the Cowboys got murdered at home on Thanksgiving day by the Los Angeles Chargers.

We, at Inside the Iggles, don’t mind kicking the Cowboys while they’re down.

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