1986 Season

The 1986 season Dallas Cowboys season was the franchise's twenty-seventh in the National Football League. The Cowboys concluded the year with a record of seven wins and nine losses, finishing without a winning record for the first time since 1965.

The Cowboys, re-invigorated by the off-season acquisitions of running back Herschel Walker and passing coordinator Paul Hackett, got off to a strong 6–2 start, including a season opening win on Monday night over the eventual Super Bowl champion New York Giants, which saw Walker score the winning touchdown late in the game, and a 30–6 blowout win over the Washington Redskins, which ended the Redskins 5–0 start. Quarterbacks Danny White and Steve Pelluer played well early in the season under Hackett's tutelage, who was brought over from the San Francisco 49ers to breathe new life into the passing game. However, White broke his wrist during a crucial loss to the New York Giants, and was ruled out for the season. Pelluer took over as the starting quarterback, and struggled mightily, throwing 17 interceptions over the course of the season, as well as seeing constant pressure from opposing pass rushers, including being sacked a team record twelve times in a game against San Diego. The Cowboys lost seven out of their final eight games, and suffered a five-game losing streak to close out the season, including embarrassing losses to the Redskins (41–14) and the Seahawks in the annual Thanksgiving Day game (31–14). It was the Cowboys’ first loss on Thanksgiving since 1979. During the third quarter of a late-season loss to the Los Angeles Rams, Tom Landry was forced to leave the field due to a threat against his life. Landry returned to the field later in the game wearing a bulletproof vest.

The Cowboys undoing certainly wasn’t because of an inability to move the football, as the team ranked fourth in the NFL in total offense. Running back Herschel Walker rushed for 737 yards, caught 76 passes for 837 yards, and scored 14 touchdowns. Late in the season against the Eagles, Walker had a combined 292 yards rushing and receiving, breaking the team single game record. Running back Tony Dorsett added 748 yards rushing, and even though he was still the team's starting running back, he was clearly unhappy with his reduced role. This was the first non-strike season he hadn’t rushed for 1000 yards. The passing game flourished under Danny White early in the year, but following White's injury, turnovers and an inability to protect the quarterback neutralized the passing attack. Wide receiver Tony Hill and tight end Doug Cosbie both began to show their age, and Mike Renfro was limited because of injury. Rookie wide receiver Mike Sherrard provided a deep threat, gaining 744 yards on just 41 receptions. Defensively, the team struggled to stop the run, finishing 23rd against the run, and the secondary, an opportunistic bunch in past seasons, only intercepted 17 passes during the season. The pass rush was still strong, despite defensive tackle Randy White finally beginning to slow down due to age and injury, as third year defensive end Jim Jeffcoat stepped up with 14 sacks. Overall, it was mistakes that would plague the team throughout the 1986 season. The offensive line gave up 60 sacks, the offense turned the ball over 41 times, and the team committed 112 penalties.

No Cowboys were selected for the Pro Bowl in 1986.

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Game site	NFL Recap	Attendance
1	September 8, 1986	New York Giants	W 31–28	Texas Stadium	[1]	59,804
2	September 14, 1986	at Detroit Lions	W 31–7	Pontiac Silverdome	[2]	73,812
3	September 21, 1986	Atlanta Falcons	L 35–37	Texas Stadium	[3]	62,880
4	September 29, 1986	at St. Louis Cardinals	W 31–7	Busch Memorial Stadium	[4]	49,077
5	October 5, 1986	at Denver Broncos	L 14–29	Mile High Stadium	[5]	76,082
6	October 12, 1986	Washington Redskins	W 30–6	Texas Stadium	[6]	63,264
7	October 19, 1986	at Philadelphia Eagles	W 17–14	Veterans Stadium	[7]	68,572
8	October 26, 1986	St. Louis Cardinals	W 37–6	Texas Stadium	[8]	60,756
9	November 2, 1986	at New York Giants	L 14–17	Giants Stadium	[9]	74,871
10	November 9, 1986	Los Angeles Raiders	L 13–17	Texas Stadium	[10]	61,706
11	November 16, 1986	at San Diego Chargers	W 24–21	Jack Murphy Stadium	[11]	55,622
12	November 23, 1986	at Washington Redskins	L 14–41	RFK Stadium	[12]	55,642
13	November 27, 1986	Seattle Seahawks	L 14–31	Texas Stadium	[13]	58,020
14	December 7, 1986	at Los Angeles Rams	L 10–29	Anaheim Stadium	[14]	64,949
15	December 14, 1986	Philadelphia Eagles	L 21–23	Texas Stadium	[15]	46,117
16	December 21, 1986	Chicago Bears	L 10–24	Texas Stadium	[16]	57,256

Roster

Dallas Cowboys 1986 roster
Quarterbacks 10 Reggie Collier WR 14 Paul McDonald 16 Steve Pelluer Running Backs 42 Darryl Clack 33 Tony Dorsett 29 Robert Lavette KR 30 Timmy Newsome FB 34 Herschel Walker Wide Receivers 87 Gordon Banks PR 80 Tony Hill 82 Mike Renfro 86 Mike Sherrard Tight Ends 85 Thornton Chandler 84 Doug Cosbie 46 Todd Fowler FB		Offensive Linemen 62 Brian Baldinger G/T 68 Crawford Ker G 67 Nate Newton G 75 Phil Pozderac T 64 Tom Rafferty C 70 Howard Richards T/G 63 Glen Titensor G 71 Mark Tuinei T Defensive Linemen 99 Kevin Brooks DT 78 John Dutton DT 77 Jim Jeffcoat DE 72 Ed Jones DE 60 Don Smerek DE/DT 54 Randy White DT		Linebackers 55 Steve DeOssie MLB 58 Mike Hegman OLB 53 Garth Jax OLB 56 Eugene Lockhart MLB 59 Jesse Penn OLB 50 Jeff Rohrer OLB Defensive Backs 36 Vince Albritton SS 40 Bill Bates SS 26 Michael Downs FS 27 Ron Fellows CB 45 Manny Hendrix CB 23 Johnny Holloway CB 24 Everson Walls CB Special Teams  4 Mike Saxon P  1 Rafael Septien K		Reserve Lists 28 Norm Granger FB (IR)  65 Kurt Petersen G (IR)  81 Karl Powe WR (IR)  89 Brian Salonen OLB/TE (IR)  22 Victor Scott FS (IR)  95 Mark Walen DE (IR)  Rookies in italics