It's going to be hard to live up to last week's story, seeing as how the Cowboys and the 49ers have one of the best NFL rivalries in history. But that game is over and done with (thankfully), and it's time to move on to the next one.
I know you all are smart people (I mean, you're reading this, aren't you?), but here's a little history lesson for you anyway.
Before they were the Tennessee Titans, the football franchise was actually located in-state, known as the Houston Oilers. It wasn't until 1997 that the team moved to Tennessee, where they remained the Oilers for one more year, and then the Titans were born.
So, I know the Titans and the Oilers are kind of a different thing (as a born Okie, I like to say that the Oklahoma City Thunder is a totally separate entity from the Seattle SuperSonics… Thanks Seattle!), but for my purposes and for the sake of history, I'm talking about the entire franchise.
The Dallas Cowboys and the Titans have only met up 13 total times, seeing as the two teams are in different conferences. Dallas played the Oilers for the first time in 1970 (Dallas won 52-10… ahh, the glory days). The Oilers were a part of the American Football League prior to that year, and they were actually the first ever AFL Champions. They won in 1961 and 1962, but they never won another championship, AFL or NFL, after that.
Probably the most intense match between the two teams came in '91. This was, overall, a good year for the Cowboys. After several struggling years, the Cowboys made it to the playoffs again. They didn't advance any further than the playoffs though, and they finished the season 11-6, but with the trio that was Troy Aikman, Emmitt Smith and Michael Irvin, it was considered a successful season.
One of those losses was at the hands of the Oilers. The Cowboys had beaten the defending Super Bowl Champs, the Giants, just a few weeks earlier. But coming in to the Houston Astrodome, they were coming off a tough loss to the Detroit Lions. Add that to the fact that the Oilers' quarterback, Warren Moon, is arguably one of the best quarterbacks in NFL history, and this was a big game. In overtime, the Cowboys drove down and were close to field goal range when Emmitt Smith fumbled (not a regular occurrence for that guy), losing the Cowboys the game. The final score was 26-23. So close.
The Cowboys lead the Titans in the all-time record 7-6-0. However, the last time the teams played was in 2010, and Tennessee won out 34-27 in Arlington. So, the Cowboys have some revenge to seek.
Tune in to the game at 12 p.m. on Sunday.
