The Dallas Cowboys have been one of the more successful franchises in the NFL since their inception in 1960. In most of the all-time series between franchises, the Cowboys tend to be on the winning end. That said, there have been more than a few formidable opponents that have gotten the better of the Dallas Cowboys for brief periods in time. The 49ers, the Steelers, the Packers and some of Dallas’ division rivals have at times dominated the Cowboys and a few individuals have distinguished themselves as thorns in the side of Dallas Cowboys fans. The following is a list of the top 10 Dallas Cowboy killers of all time.
HONOURABLE MENTION:
Luke Kuechly, Brian Westbrook and LeSean McCoy, Joe Montana, Merton Hanks
ON THE BUBBLE:
#12 Calvin Johnson WR Detroit Lions
There was a time when Calvin Johnson was undoubtedly the most dominant WR in the entire league. In 4 regular season games against the Dallas Cowboys, “Megatron” caught 33 passes for 522 yards and 4 TD’s. He also added 5 receptions for 85 yards in his lone playoff game against the Boys. Although the Lions have a 2-3 record against the Cowboys when Calvin Johnson played, he was instrumental in both of those epic come from behind victories. I was in the stands at Ford Field to witness Johnson’s 14 catch, 329 yard and 1 touchdown performance in 2013. That was a painful memory but it still stands out to me as the greatest individual performance I have ever witnessed in person in any sport.
#11 Barry Sanders RB Detroit Lions
Barry averaged 119.00 yards/game against a very talented Dallas Cowboys defense in the 90’s. He got the better of Emmitt Smith in a memorable Monday night showdown in 1994 between the 2 hall of fame backs as the Lions pulled off an upset in OT. Barry Sanders also scored his only career post season touchdown against the Cowboys in what still stands as the Lions only ever playoff victory in the Super Bowl era. On that TD run he made the entire Cowboys defense look foolish while juking and twisting his way into the endzone. The moment was summed up perfectly by Cowboys DT Tony Casilas who threw his hands up in the air wondering how and where Barry Sanders had escaped to on that play.
Top 10 Dallas Cowboys Killers
#10 DeSean Jackson WR Philadelphia Eagles et al.
It doesn’t seem to matter how old DeSean Jackson is or what team’s jersey he is wearing, it is a virtual guarantee that he is going to score a long touchdown against the Cowboys. In 18 regular season games against the Cowboys Jackson has accumulated 61 catches for over 1330 yards and 6 TD’s while averaging more than 20 yards per reception.
#9 Jerry Rice WR San Francisco 49ers
Jerry Rice could probably make any teams list of formidable opponents but he truly was one of the biggest Dallas Cowboy killers I can remember. In 10 regular season games against the Cowboys,
Jerry Rice has a 7-3 record and he put up 62 receptions for 940 yards and 9 TD’s in those games. In 3 playoff games against Dallas he added 16 catches for 242 yards and 2 more TD’s. The Cowboys got the better of Rice and 49ers in 2 of those 3 playoff games though and that is why Jerry is not ranked higher on this list.
#8 Tom Brady QB New England Patriots/Tampa Bay Buccaneers
The Dallas Cowboys have never beaten the man most consider the GOAT during his 20+ year NFL career. Why isn’t Brady #1 on this list? Well, Brady does have a lot lot to do with that record but it has more to do with the quality of Brady’s teams than it does with the QB himself. In 7 career games against the Cowboys Brady has thrown for 1945 yards, 15 TDs, and 5 Int’s. His career passer rating against the Cowboys of 95.0 is a smidge below is overall career passer rating and there are a few other teams that the GOAT has never lost to in his career.
#7 Eric Dickerson RB Los Angeles Rams
Eric Dickerson averaged 95 rushing yards and scored 1 touchdown in 3 regular season games against the Cowboys with only 1 career victory. Those numbers are not impressive for Dickerson’s standards be the reason he makes this list is because of his postseason numbers against Dallas. He is undefeated against the Cowboys in 2 career playoff games and rushed for mind boggling 347 yards in 2 games while adding 2 TD’s.
#6 Santana Moss WR Washington Redskins
Santana Moss always seemed to show up against the Dallas Cowboys. In 19 career games against the Cowboys, Moss recorded 91 receptions for 1269 yards.; Both of those totals are more than he has put up against any other team. He also scored 7 TD’s against Dallas including 2 long bombs in the Redskins shocking 4th quarter comeback vs the Cowboys in September 2005.
#5 Randy Moss WR Minnesota Vikings
When the Dallas Cowboys passed on drafting Randy Moss in 1998, he was licking his chops waiting for an opportunity to make Jerry Jones pay for it. That opportunity presented itself on Thanksgiving day during his rookie season. Moss destroyed the Cowboys in that game posting 163 receiving yards and scoring 3 TD’s. In 7 career games against Dallas, Moss caught 35 passes for 662 yards and a whopping 10 TD’s! He also posted 5 receptions for 127 yards and a TD in his lone playoff match up against the Dallas Cowboys leading the Vikings to victory.
#4 Jerome Brown DT Philadelphia Eagles
You can substitute Jerome Brown with several members of the Eagles defense in the late 80’s and early 90’s including Reggie White but to me Brown was the most dominant DT in the league during his time. Tragically, Brown passed away well before his time but he played long enough to terrorise Aikman and the Dallas Cowboys prior to the dynasty years. While Brown only recorded 2.5 career sacks VS the Cowboys, he helped the Eagles to an 8-1 record against Dallas when he was on the field. Despite the low sack total, Brown was a disruptive presence in the interior who wreaked havoc on the Cowboys O-line for years.
#3 Terry Bradshaw QB Pittsburgh Steelers
The Steelers got the better of the the Dallas Cowboys in 2 Super Bowls in the 70’s and Terry Bradshaw was a big reason why. Bradshaw posted a 3-1 record against Dallas in the regular season during his career with 5 TD passes and only 1 interception. In the two Super Bowl victories he tossed 6 TD’s and only 1 INT while throwing for 527 yards and was named the MVP of Super Bowl XIII.
#2 Aaron Rodgers QB Green Bay Packers
In recent memory, the list of Dallas Cowboys killers begins and ends with Aaron Rodgers. He was always played well against Dallas having recorded a 103.6 passer rating against them in 9 career regular season games. In those games he owns a 6-3 record and has passed for over 2164 yards, tossed 14 TD passes compared to only 1 INT and has added 2 TD’s on the ground. In his 2 postseason victories against Dallas he has thrown 5 TD passes and averaged 340 passing yards! He has broken the hearts of Cowboy fans on more than one occasion now with his last minute heroics and remains the Arch nemesis of present day Dallas Cowboy fans.
#1 Bart Starr QB Green Bay Packers
Long before many of us were born or most of us can remember, the Dallas Cowboys were the team that couldn’t win the big game. They were dubbed “next years champion” after failing to win a championship year after year and the biggest reason why was the great Green Bay team led by Coach Vince Lombardi and another Packers QB. Bart Starr and the Packers went 4-1 against Dallas in 5 regular season games.In those games Starr threw 7 TD passes compared to only 2 interceptions and ran for another TD. In back to back NFC (NFL) Championship games Bart Starr went for 495 passing yards and 6 TD’s without throwing a single interception leading Green Bay victories both times. He also ran in the game winning TD during the final seconds of the 1967 Championship game known as the “Ice Bowl”.
*All data and statistics obtained and verified through https://www.pro-football-reference.com/