Of the 51 games the Cowboys won during my five years in Dallas, the one that stands above the rest took place on Jan. 17, 1993, in Candlestick Park. That was the day that the Cowboys returned to the top of the NFL.
Going into our first NFC championship game after that 1992 season, we felt like we were facing the best team in football. San Francisco had just finished its third 14-2 season in four years, an indication of just how dominant those 49ers' teams were. We liked our chances because we were playing well, but most everyone else held the 49ers in awe.On top of that, we were playing at Candlestick, so we knew we would have to take chances on offense and defense. We also knew we'd have to win the turnover battle or we wouldn't be going to the Super Bowl.
Our game plan was to blitz Steve Young to force some mistakes - we ended up with four turnovers - and to throw the ball on offense. The 49ers were the best in the league in run defense, so we thought we would change our style, throw first and then run the ball with Emmitt Smith.
The big story all week was the rain in San Francisco. I walked the field Saturday morning with George Toma, the NFL's groundskeeping guru, and he showed me where he had replaced large portions of turf. We had a map to show us where the new grass was, and that was important because the footing would be better there.
I called a staff meeting Sunday at 7 a.m. in our hotel to go over our game plan for the entire field. For example, on one end of the field where the footing was good, we decided we'd do kick returns all over the field. At the other end, where the footing was poor, we did only middle returns. We also put asterisks next to certain plays where we didn't want Emmitt to have to run the ball on certain parts of the field.
As it happened, the footing was better than expected, but the biggest play of the game involved an area where it was bad. Troy Aikman hit Alvin Harper on a short slant after the 49ers had scored to make it 24-20 with four minutes to go. Their cornerback, Eric Davis, slipped on the bad footing where Alvin was making his cut on good footing. He went for 70 yards to set up the clinching touchdown.
That was the key play, because I had just made a decision at the other end of the field to go for a touchdown to put the 49ers away. We could have kicked a short field goal to take a 14-point lead with seven minutes left. But it was fourth-and-one at the seven, and I wanted a 17-point lead. Instead, the 49ers stopped Emmitt, drove 93 yards and cut the lead to four points with time to score again.
At that point, the 49ers had the momentum. We needed to do more than just run the ball up the middle. I really believe one of the shortcomings of coaches, once they get ahead, is in becoming too conservative. The talent is such in the NFL that if you get cautious and give the other team an extra chance to beat you, they usually will.
So Norv Turner asked me if I was afraid to throw at our end. I said, "Do what you have to do to get the first down." He said the slant route would be a safe pass. Instead, it turned out to be the winning pass.
That was my most enjoyable victory in Dallas, because the Super Bowl two weeks later was almost anticlimactic. If we could beat the 49ers in Candlestick Park, I knew we would beat the Buffalo Bills on a neutral field.
I was so excited after the game. The only thing that was comparable in the NFL was when we won at Philadelphia the year before to get back into the playoffs. That put the Cowboys on a new level. This win over the 49ers had taken the team one step higher.
When you work hard for something and you're still not sure that you're going to be able to obtain it, it's that much more satisfying when you do.
I don't believe the Cowboys were ever more prepared to win a game in my five seasons than they were that day in San Francisco. There was only one thing I overlooked in my preparation: getting a copyright on the saying, "How 'Bout Them Cowboys."