I'm going to switch gears and start the NFC tournament. The first quarterfinal game is at Texas Stadium in Irving, Texas. Game time temperature is 61 degrees, with fair skies and a southeast wind at 8 MPH.
The Cowboys scored first. They exploited the middle of the Minnesota defense on consecutive draw plays, with Tony Dorsett gaining twelve yards and Ron Springs sixteen. Danny White's sixteen-yard pass to Tony Hill gave the Boys a first down at the Vikings' thirty-four. It's third and five from the twenty-nine as we pick up Pat Summerall's call:
"Butch Johnson to the left and Drew Pearson to the right on third and five. White will throw...….has Johnson...…..GOT IT! TOUCHDOWN DALLAS!...….Johnson caught that ball on the dead run and coasted into the end zone, and the Cowboys strike first."
Tom Brookshier: "Danny White has gotten a bum rap the last few years because he's not our friend Roger Staubach. But he's closer than you might think. Look at this ball, perfectly thrown to hit Butch Johnson on the dead run. I don't know of too many who can do it better."
John Madden: "The offensive line gave White all the time he needed, and that's when you can make perfect throws like he just did, when you have the tine to thread the needle."
Rafael Septien added the extra point, and after one quarter it was Cowboys 7, Vikings 0.
The Boys added a field goal early in the second quarter, as Hall of Famer Randy White knocked the ball loose from Vikings running back Ted Brown. Linebacker Bob Breunig made the recovery at the Vikes' sixteen, and three plays later from the ten Septien connected on a twenty-seven yard field goal to put the Boys up 10-0 with 9:22 left in the first half.
The Vikes answered with a touchdown of their own. Tommy Kramer used the screen pass to get his team downfield, hitting Brown for twelve yards and Darrin Nelson for fifteen more. Then he opened things up a little, connecting with Sammy White for twenty-three yards and a first and goal at the Dallas seven. Nelson scored from four yards out one play later, and Rick Danmeier added the extra point to cut the Boys' lead to 10-7 with 4:44 to play in the half.
It was the home squad's turn to score next. Danny hit passes of ten yards to Pearson and twenty-seven yards to Tony Hill, then found tight end Doug Cosbie for fourteen more and a first and goal from the Minnesota seven. From there, Danny sent Dorsett out of the backfield and into the end zone, then hit him with another perfect pass for the touchdown. The extra point was no good, but the Cowboys still led 16-7 with 3:16 left in the half.
The Vikes struck quickly to get back into the game just before halftime. On the first play from scrimmage from his own twenty-seven, Brown found a hole in the middle of the Dallas defense and raced through it for thirty-nine yards. Before the Boys could recover, Kramer went to the air and fired a twenty-three yard strike to Ahmad Rashad for a first down at the Dallas eleven with twenty seconds left in the first half. The Vikes lost a yard on the next two plays, and most observers thought they'd send Danmeier out for a twenty-nine yard field goal to cut their deficit to six at the half. Instead, coach Bud Grant told Kramer to go back to the air, and he hit a wide-open Sammy in the end zone for the touchdown as time expired. Danmeier added the extra point, and at halftime our score was Cowboys 16, Vikings 14.
The visitors took the lead with a touchdown late in the third quarter. Eddie Payton's punt return gave them the ball at their own forty-nine, and Kramer connected with Rashad for thirteen yards and a first down at the Dallas twenty-five. On the next play, Tony Galbreath was stopped for a one-yard gain, but Ed "Too Tall" Jones was penalized fifteen yards for unnecessary roughness when he punched Vikings center Dennis Swilley after the play was over. That penalty gave the Vikes a first and goal at the nine. On second and goal Kramer flipped the ball to Brown, who broke Dennis Thurman's tackle at the three and went into the end zone for the touchdown. Danmeier's extra point put the Vikes in front 21-16 with 3:03 left in the third period.
The Boys came right back with a touchdown of their own to retake the lead, Fellows returned the kickoff to the Dallas forty-one, and on second and nine from the forty-two Danny threw short to Cosbie, who turned the pass into a thirty-yard catch and run. It's first and ten from the twenty-eight as we join Pat:
"First and ten for the Cowboys from the Vikings' twenty-eight. White gives to Dorsett......nothing......wait a minute, cuts back to the right, and now he has a lane! Twenty, fifteen, ten, five, and you can put it in the books! The Cowboys retake the lead!"
Brookshier: "Not quite ninety-nine yards and a half like it was on Monday night, but Dorsett has the Vikings' number. Look at him cut back to the right when there was no hole up the middle. This is the kind of runner Tony Dorsett is. When there's no hole, he'll find one somewhere, and most of the time he'll take it to paydirt."
Madden: "Great blocks by Springs and center Tom Rafferty to clear the hole for Dorsett. You're right, Tommy, the Vikings have no answer for him right now."
Septien tacked on the extra point, and after three quarters it was Dallas 23, Minnesota 21.
The Boys successfully played ball control for most of the fourth quarter, but with less than four minutes left they faced a third and eleven at their own twenty-six. Here's Pat:
"White goes to the shotgun on third and eleven. Snap back to him.....he has time.....looking for Pearson, and it's intercepted! (Free safety) John Turner with the ball, and he's at the thirty-five, the thirty, the twenty-five, the twenty, and he'll take it all the way back!...……... TOUCHDOWN MINNESOTA!"
Brookshier: That's a forty-yard return, and I think I saw Drew slip, Pat. Yep, there he goes. He doesn't go down, but it's enough to throw him off stride and make the interception easy for John Turner. Nobody's able to come within five yards of him while he has the ball, and the Vikings have the lead with 3:35 left. We could be looking at another upset of a one seed."
Madden: "Yeah, the (Miami) Dolphins went down last night against the Kansas City Chiefs, and the Vikings have played a better ballgame than the Chiefs did. It should be a heck of a finish."
Danmeier added the extra point, and the Vikes led 28-23.
The Boys got a lot of help on their quest when Fellows returned the kickoff to his own forty-seven. A nineteen-yard catch-and-run by Dorsett figured to put them in fine shape,, but the offense went backward from there. After defensive end Mark Mullaney sacked Danny for a five-yard loss, it was down to one play for the Boys from the Minnesota thirty-four:
Summeall: "We've seen this before. One more play for Dallas from the Vikings' thirty-four."
Brookshier: "It's gonna be a convention in the end zone, Patrick."
Madden: "White will be looking for Drew Pearson, I would think."
Summerall: "Seems like a safe assumption. Here we go. Who knows how many in the end zone. White back to throw, he'll step up, he'll heave it...…."
Brookshier: "Jump ball!"
Summerall: "Batted around, and it's.....who's got it......DALLAS HAS IT! We don't know who!"
Madden: "It's Doug Donley, Pat. Number 83."
Summerall: "Right you are, John, and they've done it again!"
Brookshier: "Somehow you knew it would end this way, guys. Danny did it two years ago in the playoffs against Atlanta, but this time it's not Pearson, it's Doug Donley. Let's see it come down...…..He reached up over Willie Teal, Number 37, and outfought him for it. Oh my gosh, Teal tipped it back to him! We were watching the scrum, but the action was off to the right, as Teal had his fingertips on it and tipped it into the hands of Doug Donley. He'll be sick until next training camp."
Madden: "That's the heartbreak of this game. The Vikings were so close to a huge upset of the best team in football, and it just got away from them by inches."
Summerall: "Donley caught only two passes in the regular season, to add to the weirdness of it all."
Somewhere in the pandemonium, Septien added the extra point, and the Cowboys had pulled out a 30-28 thriller.
Danny was named Player of the Game by CBS. He completed fourteen of nineteen for 254 yards with three touchdowns and an interception. Johnson was his leading receiver by yardage with sixty-two on two catches and a touchdown, and Hill was his leading receiver by catches, with four for fifty-six yards. Cosbie added three catches for fifty-two yards. Almost overlooked in the classic finish was Dorsett's rushing day; he gained 107 yards on twenty carries with a touchdown, and also caught three passes for forty yards with another score. The amazing part of Danny's performance was that he achieved it while being sacked six times. Defensive end Doug Martin had three of them.
Offensively for Minnesota, Kramer finished twenty of twenty-six for 233 yards and two touchdowns. Sammy was his leading receiver with five catches for fifty-five yards, and Rashad added three more for fifty-one yards. Brown led the running game with seventy-seven yards on eighteen carries, and also caught four passes for thirty-one yards and a touchdown. For all of that, it may have come down to the kicking game for the Vikes, as Danmeier missed field goals of forty-five and fifty yards.
Next: The Redskins host the Eagles in Game 2 of the NFC quarterfinals.
Thoughts?