DALLAS — The Dallas Cowboys have a holiday to themselves with their annual Thanksgiving showcase, but America's Team will occasionally crossover with Santa Claus every few years.
The following is a list of Christmas games that conjure good and bad memories for the Cowboys during Christmastime. Here is a look at which years were naughty and nice for Cowboys Nation:
Naughty
Dec. 24, 1989 vs. Green Bay Packers — Imagine waking up to a phone call that every toilet in Texas Stadium was frozen, and that is what Jerry Jones' first Christmas with the Cowboys was like.
"I woke up in Stephen Jones' rent house cold and early to a phone call that every commode in Texas Stadium was frozen," Jerry recalled. "Every one of them. And we were going to have about 50,000 Green Bay Packer fans. And I hung that phone up and I remember back at that Christmastime the year before and I thought, 'What the hell have I got myself into?'"
The Packers beat Dallas 20-10, relegating the Cowboys to their notorious 1-15 record to kick off the Jones era of ownership.
Dec. 25, 2006 vs. Philadelphia Eagles — Many remember Tony Romo having Jessica Simpson in a suite at Texas Stadium in 2007, but 2006 was the first time that the Cowboys quarterback brought a date to an NFC East matchup.
The Eagles were resurgent with backup quarterback Jeff Garcia, and the Cowboys needed to win out to claim the division. The Eagles stifled Dallas 23-7 and effectively won the division in the last year that Bill Parcells roamed the sidelines for Dallas.
Dec. 24, 2017 vs. Seattle Seahawks — The first game back for running back Ezekiel Elliott – who served a six-game suspension in the middle of the season – renewed optimism that Dallas could get hot and march into the playoffs.
The Cowboys were even riding a three-game winning streak on the back-half of Elliott's suspension. The 8-6 Cowboys were kicking field goals in a defensive struggle wherein Dak Prescott uncharacteristically couldn't protect the football with his two interceptions. Dez Bryant, who unbeknownst to all was playing in his last home game as a Cowboy, had contributed a lost fumble.
Seattle prevailed 21-12, and safety Earl Thomas, who led Seattle with 11 tackles, tracked down Jason Garrett after the game and implored him to have the Cowboys "come get him" in the offseason. It never happened, kind of like the Cowboys' playoff qualification that season.
Nice
Dec. 25, 1971 at Minnesota Vikings (1971 NFC divisional) — The '71 Cowboys were a team of destiny with Roger Staubach. Even though they were playing in the tundra at Metropolitan Stadium in Minnesota, it didn't equal Ice Bowl conditions; it was a 22-degree day, but the wind was mild at 8 MPH and there was no precipitation.
The Cowboys qualified for their second straight of four consecutive NFC Championship Games with a 20-12 beating of the Vikings en route to winning Super Bowl VI, the franchise's first championship.
Dec. 25, 1995 at Arizona Cardinals — Word got out on the plane on Christmas Eve that the San Francisco 49ers had lost. Now the Cowboys' meaningless Monday nighter in the desert against the Cardinals took on significance as the No. 1 overall seed was still in play.
Emmitt Smith set an NFL record for 25 rushing touchdowns in a season, and Dallas locked up home field with a 37-13 victory. This was also the game where some of the footage from the film ‘Jerry Maguire’ would be filmed.
Dec. 24, 2005 at Carolina Panthers — The Cowboys needed to keep their playoff hopes alive after falling 35-7 to Washington the week prior, and the Panthers were equally anxious about playoff positioning in a tight NFC South race. Rookie linebacker DeMarcus Ware had a Micah Parsons-esque performance as he generated three forced fumbles and 3.0 sacks to keep Dallas in the game.
Following a running into the kicker call on a missed 33-yard field goal try from Billy Cundiff, Parcells decided to go for the win rather than the tie. Quarterback Drew Bledsoe threw a 2-yard touchdown pass to receiver Terry Glenn, and the Cowboys stole a win out of Carolina's stocking by a final score of 24-20.
What are your favorite Cowboys Christmastime memories? Share them with Mark on Twitter @therealmarklane.
