Jan. 7, 1996
Cowboys 30, Eagles 11
Exactly 20 years ago, the Cowboys were able to roll over their divisional rivals on the way to their fourth straight NFC Championship Game.
Beating the Eagles 30-11 in the NFC Divisional Playoff round not only set up a date with the Packers at Texas Stadium, but avenged a loss a few weeks back in Philly where the Cowboys were stuffed on two straight fourth-and-1 plays and lost to the Eagles 20-17 in a game referred to as "Load Left."
However, the Cowboys had little problems moving the ball this time around as Emmitt Smith rushed for 99 yards and added 40 more receiving. With Philly limiting Michael Irvin to just one catch – a 9-yard TD in the fourth quarter – quarterback Troy Aikman found other targets, including Kevin Williams, who had 124 receiving yards on six catches.
Another weapon surfaced as well in dramatic fashion. Cornerback Deion Sanders took advantage of his limited offensive snaps and scored on a dazzling 21-ayrd touchdown run in the second quarter for the first touchdown of the game.
Defensively, the Cowboys swarmed both Rodney Peete and Randall Cunningham and had five quarterback sacks.
The Cowboys would eventually beat Green Bay and then Pittsburgh in Super Bowl XXX for the third title in a four-year span.
