1990 Dallas Cowboys season

NFL team season August 2023 March 2026 Dallas Cowboys 1990 7–9 4th NFC East Jimmy Johnson Jerry Jones Jerry Jones and Jimmy Johnson Texas Stadium Did not qualify RB Emmitt Smith Cowboys seasons The 1990 Dallas Cowboys season was the franchise's 31st season in the National Football League (NFL) and was the second year of the franchise under the ownership of Jerry Jones and head coach Jimmy Johnson. The Cowboys rebounded from a 1–15 season in 1989 to a 7–9 record. However, the Cowboys missed the playoffs for the fifth consecutive season. Despite this, Jimmy Johnson won AP's NFL coach of the year honors. This was the first season since their Super Bowl X-appearing 1975 season that offensive lineman Tom Rafferty was not on the roster, as he announced his retirement in the offseason, ending a 14-year era for the team. Summary The season began with a win over San Diego, breaking a 14-game home losing streak. The Cowboys showed some early season fight with two wins over Tampa Bay and a near-miss against Philadelphia, but still stood only 3–7 after ten weeks, and were seemingly out of playoff contention. However, the team improved significantly in late November, winning four games in a row (including impressive wins over the Redskins and Saints, and a blowout win over the Cardinals). The Cowboys entered the season's final two weeks needing only one win or Saints' loss to make the playoffs as a wildcard. However, in week 16, quarterback Troy Aikman separated his shoulder early against the Eagles and was replaced by Babe Laufenberg (the Cowboys had traded backup Steve Walsh early in the season and Laufenberg was elevated from third string to backup). With Aikman injured, the Cowboys mustered little offense against the Eagles and lost, 17–3. Meanwhile, the Saints upset the 49ers (handing the Niners only their second loss) to keep the Cowboys from clinching in week 16. The next week, with Laufenberg again leading the offense, the Cowboys were thoroughly beaten, 26–7, by the 4–11 Atlanta Falcons. When the Saints beat the Rams the next night, the Cowboys were eliminated from playoff contention. This season featured the debut of running back Emmitt Smith. Smith held out during training camp and was only a minimal contributor in the season's early games, but began to show his future greatness with a 100+ yard performance in a week-5 win against Tampa Bay and had a few other outstanding games during the season. Because of the dismal 1–15 record from the previous season, the home opener against the San Diego Chargers was threatened to be blacked out for the local television market, since Texas Stadium was not sold out. A local radio station ended up buying all of the unsold tickets so that the game could be broadcast to the local DFW market. Offseason NFL draft 1990 NFL draft 1990 Dallas Cowboys 1 17 Emmitt Smith RB Florida yes yes yes 2 26 Alexander Wright WR Auburn yes 3 64 Jimmie Jones DT Miami (FL) yes 9 221 Kenneth Gant S Albany State yes 11 277 Dave Harper LB Humboldt State yes Undrafted free agents + 1990 undrafted free agents of notePlayerPositionCollegeTom HuebnerGuardPittsburghFred McNairQuarterbackAlcorn StateCurt MullTackleGeorgiaMark WarnerTackleCanisiusKen WillisKickerKentucky Staff Dallas Cowboys 1990 Owner/General Manager – Jerry Jones *Director of Player Personnel – Bob Ackles Director of College Scouting – Dick Mansperger Direct or Pro Personnel – John Wooten Scouts – Jim Garrett, Walter Juliff, Ron Marciniak, Jeff Smith, and Walt Yowarsky Head Coach – Jimmy Johnson *Offensive Coordinator– David Shula Receivers – Hubbard Alexander Running Backs – Joe Brodsky Tight Ends – Alan Lowry Offensive Line – Tony Wise *Defensive Coordinator/Linebackers – Dave Wannstedt Defensive Backs – Dave Campo and Dick Nolan Defensive Line – Butch Davis Defensive Assistant – Ron Meeks *Special Teams – Joe Avezzano Kickers/Quality Control – Steve Hoffman *Strength and Conditioning – Steve Woicik Trainer – Kevin O'Neill Roster Dallas Cowboys 1990 roster Quarterbacks 15 Babe Laufenberg 18 Cliff Stoudt Running backs 34 Tommie Agee FB 48 Daryl Johnston FB 39 Bob Perryman 22 Emmitt Smith Wide receivers 86 James Dixon KR 88 Michael Irvin 83 Kelvin Martin PR 87 Derrick Shepard PR 81 Alexander Wright KR Tight ends 89 Rob Awalt 85 Steve Folsom 84 Jay Novacek Offensive linemen 67 John Gesek G 66 Kevin Gogan T/G 68 Crawford Ker G 61 Nate Newton T 53 Mark Stepnoski C 71 Mark Tuinei T 76 Jeff Zimmerman G Defensive linemen 78 Dean Hamel DT 77 Jim Jeffcoat DE 97 Jimmie Jones DT 73 Danny Noonan DT 96 Danny Stubbs DE 92 Tony Tolbert DELinebackers 90 Willis Crockett MLB 55 Jack Del Rio OLB 50 Dave Harper OLB 99 David Howard OLB 56 Eugene Lockhart MLB 57 Vinson Smith OLB 54 Jesse Solomon MLB Defensive backs 40 Bill Bates SS 44 Michael Brooks CB/S 38 Ron Francis CB 29 Kenneth Gant CB 45 Manny Hendrix CB 30 Issiac Holt CB 20 Ray Horton FS 37 James Washington SS 23 Robert Williams CB Special teams 70 Dale Hellestrae LS  4 Mike Saxon P  1 Ken Willis KReserve lists  8 Troy Aikman QB (IR) 10px 36 Vince Albritton S (IR) 10px 31 Scott Ankrom S (IR) 10px 79 Willie Broughton DT (IR) 10px -- Chad Hennings DT (Military Reserve) 10px 32 Alonzo Highsmith FB (IR) 10px -- Steve Johnson TE (IR) 10px 26 Keith Jones RB (IR) 10px 51 Ken Norton Jr. LB (IR) 10px 42 Stan Smagala CB/S (IR) 10px Practice squad -- Rich Gicewicz TE -- Reginald Warnsley y FB -- Mike Williams wide receiver, born 1966 WR Rookies in italics 46 active, 10 inactive, 3 practice squad Regular season Schedule Week Date Opponent Result Record Venue Attendance 1 September 9 San Diego Chargers W 17–14 1–0 Texas Stadium 48,063 2 September 16 New York Giants L 7–28 1–1 Texas Stadium 61,090 3 September 23 at Washington Redskins L 15–19 1–2 Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium 53,804 4 September 30 at New York Giants L 17–31 1–3 Giants Stadium 75,923 5 October 7 Tampa Bay Buccaneers W 14–10 2–3 Texas Stadium 60,076 6 October 14 at Phoenix Cardinals L 3–20 2–4 Sun Devil Stadium 45,235 7 October 21 at Tampa Bay Buccaneers W 17–13 3–4 Tampa Stadium 68,315 8October 28 Philadelphia Eagles L 20–21 3–5 Texas Stadium 62,605 9 November 4 at New York Jets L 9–24 3–6 Giants Stadium 68,086 10 November 11 San Francisco 49ers L 6–24 3–7 Texas Stadium 62,966 11 November 18 at Los Angeles Rams W 24–21 4–7 Anaheim Stadium 58,589 12 November 22 Washington Redskins W 27–17 5–7 Texas Stadium 60,355 13 December 2 New Orleans Saints W 17–13 6–7 Texas Stadium 60,087 14Bye 15 December 16 Phoenix Cardinals W 41–10 7–7 Texas Stadium 60,190 16 December 23 at Philadelphia Eagles L 3–17 7–8 Veterans Stadium 63,895 17 December 30 at Atlanta Falcons L 7–26 7–9 Atlanta–Fulton County Stadium 50,097 Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text. Standings Season summary Week 1: vs San Diego Chargers Dallas Cowboys 1990 2;text-align:center; autocollapse Week One: San Diego Chargers at Dallas Cowboys – Game summary September 9 3:00 p.m. CDT Chargers 7 7 0 0 Cowboys 7 0 0 10 Texas Stadium, Irving, Texas 48,063 76 °F 1, relative humidity 87%, wind 6 mph Jim Tunney NBC Fred Roggin and Jim Laslavic Box score First quarter DAL – Dennis McKinnon 28-yard pass from Troy Aikman (Ken Willis kick), 10:32. Cowboys 7–0. Drive: 8 plays, 84 yards, 4:28. SDG – Craig McEwen 14-yard pass from Mark Vlasic (Fuad Reveiz kick), 4:30. Tied 7–7. Drive: 11 plays, 62 yards, 6:02. Second quarter SDG – Marion Butts 1-yard run (Fuad Reveiz kick), 5:43. Chargers 14–7. Drive: 2 plays, 49 yards, 0:55. Third quarter No scoring plays. Fourth quarter DAL – Ken Willis 31-yard field goal, 11:26. Chargers 14–10. Drive: 8 plays, 36 yards, 4:53. DAL – Troy Aikman 1-yard run (Ken Willis kick), 1:58. Cowboys 17–14. Drive: 8 plays, 49 yards, 3:17. Top passers SDG – Mark Vlasic – 17/31, 137 yards, TD, INT DAL – Troy Aikman – 13/29, 193 yards, TD, INT Top rushers SDG – Marion Butts – 16 rushes, 61 yards, TD DAL – Tommie Agee – 13 rushes, 59 yards Top receivers SDG – Anthony Miller – 4 receptions, 44 yards DAL – Kelvin Martin – 5 receptions, 78 yards Porkchop Bowl Porkchop Bowl Philadelphia Eagles PHI Buddy Ryan 2–4 Dallas Cowboys DAL Jimmy Johnson 3–4 7 0 0 14 21 0 3 3 14 20 October 28, 1990 Texas Stadium Irving, Texas Howard Roe CBS Tim Ryan and Irv Cross The Porkchop Bowl was the NFL matchup between the Philadelphia Eagles and Dallas Cowboys which followed the Bounty Bowl II. The week before game day in Dallas, Philadelphia head coach Buddy Ryan and offensive coordinator Ted Plumb went out for dinner. Ryan was dining on pork chops and started to choke. Plumb quickly initiated the Heimlich maneuver and saved Ryan's life. Word of the incident spread in Dallas, and Cowboys' president Tex Schramm dubbed the pending game on October 28 the "Porkchop Bowl."Hofmann Rich Bounty Bowls were key moments in Eagles-Cowboys rivalry https://www.inquirer.com/philly/sports/eagles/20141125_Bounty_Bowls_were_key_moments_in_Eagles-Cowboys_rivalry.html The Philadelphia Inquirer 6 April 2026 en 25 November 2014 The final score was 21–20 in favor of the Eagles. Transactions On September 25, 1990, the Dallas Cowboys traded Steve Walsh to the New Orleans Saints for the Saints' first and third-round picks in the 1991 NFL draft and a second-round pick (that could become a first-round pick based on performance) in the 1992 NFL draft.https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1990-09-25-sp-1365-story.html Dallas deals Walsh to New Orleans February 19, 2018 Los Angeles Times Associated Press September 25, 1990 Awards and records Jimmy Johnson, National Football League Coach of the Year Award Emmitt Smith, National Football League Rookie of the Year Award Publications The Football Encyclopedia 0-312-11435-4 Total Football 0-06-270170-3 Cowboys Have Always Been My Heroes 0-446-51950-2 References External links 1990 Dallas Cowboys Pro Football Hall of Fame Dallas Cowboys Official Site Category:Dallas Cowboys seasons Dallas Dallas