It's time for another blast to the past, this time, we'll check out a controversial game between the Cowboys and the Cardinals.
November 17, 1998: Dallas Cowboys vs. Arizona Cardinals
This game was looking to be a big blowout. The Cowboys were leading 28-0 before the Cardinals even knew what hit 'em.
Cardinals quarterback Jake Plummer seemed to pull his head out toward the end of the second quarter, leading a drive down the field and completing a 2-yard pass to Frank Sanders for a touchdown with 18 seconds left. This gave the Cardinals at least a smidgen of momentum heading into halftime. But, still. 28-7 seems a little steep, and the Cowboys were on a roll. If I had been there, or even watching at the time (I was about six-years-old and mainly just cared about running around in my Disney Princess costumes at this point), I would have been searching for my next snack at this point in the game.
Arizona came out in the 3rd quarter meaning business. They scored two touchdowns back-to-back before Emmitt Smith answered with his third touchdown of the game. Another pass from Jake Plummer put the Cardinals down just 35-21 heading into the 4th.
At this point, the Cowboys were feeling a little bit less comfortable. The Cardinals scored three touchdowns in the third quarter alone, and they weren't showing any signs of relenting.
And this is where it gets cray. (For those of you not hip on today's lingo, that was a typo… for those of you that are hip on today's lingo… I'm so hip. Look how hip I am.)
In the fourth quarter, Plummer threw a 7-yard touchdown pass to Adrian Murrell, which put the Cardinals down 35-28. Yikes. Then, the Cards ended up getting the ball back at their own 22 with just 52 seconds left. Jake Plummer, like he'd been doing the entire game, drove the team all the way down the field to the 5 yard line.
Despite Emmitt's 118 rushing yards and three touchdowns, it looked to everyone like Dallas was about to lose this game that was a sure blowout just a couple quarters before (OK, technically it would have gone into overtime… but Dallas' chances weren't looking great even if it had).
This is the tricky part. Plummer lobbed the ball to Rob Moore in the end zone. Some say that Dallas CB Kevin Smith very blatantly interfered on the play but… no call. That ended it. Where the Cards could have tied it up, pushing it into OT and possibly winning the game, it was not to be. It's another one of those games that we'll just never know about for sure. But the Cardinals gave the Cowboys a run for their money, that's for sure.
The Cardinals did have the last laugh that season, though. They met again in the Wild Card round of the playoffs, and the Cards came out with a 20-7 win.
Dallas leads all-time 55-31-1.
Tune in to the game on Sunday at noon.
