It's been 25 seasons since the Cowboys won a regular-season game in Denver. And on a brisk, December afternoon at the old Mile-High Stadium, the upstart Cowboys needed every minute of the clock to stage a late-game comeback for the 31-27 win.
It was yet another exciting victory for a Cowboys team that eventually marched its way to Super Bowl XXVII, the first in a four-year span.
But they needed clutch victories like this one, which saw the Cowboys lose a second-half lead, only to mount a drive for the ages.
The Broncos, playing without regular starter John Elway because of injury, actually rotated quarterbacks on alternate plays into the third quarter. Tommy Maddox and Shawn Moore each had exactly 104 passing yards, although Maddox had three TD passes and four interceptions. However, it was a wide receiver pass from Arthur Marshall in the fourth quarter that resulted in an 81-yard go-ahead touchdown for the Broncos, who led 24-21.
That's when Troy Aikman and Jay Novacek went to work. The tight end had 87 yards for the day, including 50 receiving yards on that last drive alone but it was Michael Irvin's clutch 14-yard reception to the Denver 11 that extended the drive on third-and-long. From there, it was another third-down conversion that proved to be the difference as the Cowboys surprised Denver with a draw-play from the 4. Emmitt Smith slid his way past defenders into the end zone as the Cowboys led 31-27.
While the Broncos neared midfield, Charles Haley put the game away with a sack and constant pressure that led to Kenneth Gant's game-clinching interception.
The win pushed the Cowboys' record to 11-2 as they would finish 13-3 en route to their first Super Bowl title in 15 years, which ironically occurred at the Broncos in Super Bowl XII.
