The Atlanta Falcons were stumbling along at 3-7 as they
hosted the Dallas Cowboys on November 21, 1976. Head Coach Marion Campbell had
already been let go and Pat Peppler, the general manager, took over in the
interim. The Falcons had also lost second-year QB Steve Bartkowski to a knee
injury and journeyman QB Scott Hunter was starting in his place. While they had
beaten the 49ers the previous week, they were heavy underdogs against Dallas, a
club they had never won against in five regular-season meetings.
The Cowboys had been to the postseason nine times in the
previous ten years under Head Coach Tom Landry and sported a 9-1 record coming
into the game at Atlanta .
While they lacked speed at running back, they had a decent stable of runners
and a proficient passing game led by QB Roger Staubach. The defense was
typically strong. However, there were danger signs in that the Cowboys were
coming off of two mediocre performances against the Giants and Bills, although
they won both contests.
There were 47,947 fans in attendance on a 47-degree day at
Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium. The Cowboys scored on a 16-yard run by FB Scott
Laidlaw in the first quarter. However, there was little further excitement as neither
team was able to generate much additional offense and the score remained 7-0 at
the half.
In the third quarter, the Cowboys added a 23-yard Efren
Herrera field goal. While they were only up by 10-0, it seemed likely to be
enough against the hapless Falcons. But in a five minute span of the fourth
quarter, Atlanta took control with the help of
two interceptions and a short Dallas
punt that put 17 points on the board.
First, LB Dewey McClain intercepted a Staubach pass to set
up a 21-yard field goal by Nick Mike-Mayer. The next Dallas
series ended with a poor 15-yard punt by Danny White and Atlanta capitalized when HB Mike Esposito
scored on a 35-yard run.
With the score tied, SS Ray Brown (pictured at left) then intercepted a pass
and the Falcons scored on a Scott Hunter quarterback keeper from a yard out. Dallas still had opportunities, but came up empty on a
drive to the Atlanta 28 and, with 1:12 left on
the clock, LB Tommy Nobis intercepted a Staubach pass at the Atlanta nine to seal the 17-10 upset.
The Cowboys outgained Atlanta
(307 yards to 230) and had more first downs (15 to 13). However, Dallas also turned the ball over four times – twice
leading to Atlanta
scores – while the Falcons turned the ball over on two occasions. The Falcons
also sacked Staubach four times, three of them by DE Claude Humphrey (pictured at top) - an
unofficial total, as individual sacks were not yet a recognized statistic. Dallas committed a total of eight penalties, at a cost of
70 yards, to four flags thrown on Atlanta .
Scott Hunter was successful on just 8 of 20 pass attempts
for 99 yards with no touchdowns and one interception. Mike Esposito paced the
running game with 82 yards and a TD on 13 carries and also was one of two
Falcons to catch a team-leading three passes, along with WR Alfred Jenkins.
Jenkins gained 60 yards to Esposito’s 19.
For the Cowboys, Roger Staubach had a rough day as he
completed 13 of 28 passes for 157 yards with no TDs and had three intercepted.
Scott Laidlaw rushed for 88 yards and a touchdown on 15 attempts and HB Preston
Pearson contributed 61 yards on 16 carries. Laidlaw and Pearson each caught
four passes to lead the club, with Pearson gaining 47 yards and Laidlaw 39.
Tellingly, only three of Staubach’s passes were completed to wide receivers,
for a total of 39 yards.
“We moved the ball well when we weren’t making mistakes,”
summed up Tom Landry. “But we had too many holding penalties, interceptions,
and dropped passes.”
The loss for the Cowboys set up a Thanksgiving battle just
three days later with the Cardinals for the NFC East lead. They won and went on
to finish atop the division with an 11-3 record before losing to the Rams in
the Divisional round of the playoffs. Atlanta
lost its remaining three contests to end up fourth in the NFC West at 4-10. The
result was an organizational refurbishing that brought former NFL quarterback
Eddie LeBaron in as general manager and Leeman Bennett as head coach.
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