The Cowboys made their first ever trip to Tampa Bay in 1990 for a mid-October game with the Bucs.
Oddly enough, it wasn't even the first game against Tampa during the season as the two had met just two weeks before at Texas Stadium.
Just like that 14-10 win by the Cowboys, the rematch was a defensive struggle. Led by Vinny Testaverde, Tampa held a 10-0 halftime lead.
Rookie Emmitt Smith had a tough time getting on track, rushing for just 48 yards during the game.
The Cowboys got a break in the third quarter when Ray Horton recovered a fumble that led to a field goal. Trailing 10-3 early in the fourth, the defense tied the game with an interception by Isaac Holt, his second of the day. Holt's 64-yard return for a touchdown knotted the game at 10-10.
Tampa took the lead with a Steve Christie field goal but with less than two minutes to play, young Troy Aikman and the offense went to work.
Aikman hit Michael Irvin for a 14-yard catch, his first reception of the season and first since injured his knee in the middle of the 1989 season. Aikman also had a 20-yard scramble for a key first down on the drive that set up his heroics.[embeddedad0]
He went back to Irvin again, as the Playmaker hauled in a 28-yard touchdown catch with just 26 seconds remaining, giving Dallas the go-ahead score.
The Cowboys held on with a Bill Bates interception on the final drive to secure the win, and improve Dallas' record to 8-0 over the Bucs at the time. That game remains the last time the Cowboys swept a non-division team during a regular season.
