The Cowboys have played 55 playoff games, the most by an NFL team, and no team has won more Super Bowls, but they have also had some bizarre postseason plays. Staff Writer Todd Archer comes up with five, including Tony Romo's dropped snap Sunday on what would have been a 19-yard field goal attempt.
JOHN MACKEY'S TOUCHDOWN
Super Bowl V in 1971 was known by some as the Blooper Bowl because of the mistakes made by the Cowboys and the Baltimore Colts. In the second quarter, tight end John Mackey scored on a 75-yard touchdown pass from Johnny Unitas, but the play would have been negated had Mel Renfro not deflected the pass after Colts receiver Eddie Hinton tipped Unitas' pass. Back then two offensive players could not touch the ball consecutively.
The result: Jim O'Brien's 32-yard field goal with five seconds left gave the Colts a 16-13 win.
JACKIE SMITH'S DROP
Smith was retired from the NFL because of a neck injury, but he joined the Cowboys and was in position to score a tying touchdown in the third quarter on a third-and-3 pass from the Pittsburgh 10. Roger Staubach's pass banged off Smith's chest as he was beginning to slip, and the Cowboys had to settle for a field goal. After the game Staubach attempted to deflect blame from Smith, who was eventually elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
The result: The Steelers won Super Bowl XIII in 1979 and were known as the team of the '70s.
THE CATCH
Leading 27-21 with 58 seconds to play, the Cowboys needed one stop to win the 1981 NFC Championship Game at San Francisco. On third down, Joe Montana rolled to his right, chased by Ed "Too Tall" Jones, Larry Bethea and D.D. Lewis, before throwing a high pass to the corner of the end zone. Leaping as high as he could, Dwight Clark came down with the reception and the game-winning touchdown.
The result: The Niners went on to win their first of five Super Bowls, beating Cincinnati in Super Bowl XVI.
OH, LEON
The Cowboys had already secured their first Super Bowl win in the Jerry Jones era, leading 52-17 in the fourth quarter of Super Bowl XXVII in 1993, but Leon Lett put himself in the history books by celebrating a fumble return for a potential touchdown a tad too early. Bills receiver Don Beebe tracked Lett down, poked the ball free and recovered it in the end zone for the touchback.
The result: Ten months later, Lett would have another mishap when he inexplicably touched a blocked field goal on an icy Texas Stadium field that led to Miami's game winner.
THE SNAP
At the Seattle 2 with 1:19 to play after a first-down catch was overturned by replay officials, the Cowboys were looking for the potential game-winning field goal from 19 yards away, but Tony Romo could not cleanly handle L.P. Ladouceur's snap. Romo nearly scored on the ensuing scramble but was tripped from behind by defensive back Jordan Babineaux at the 2.
The result: The Cowboys' search for a playoff victory moves into its second decade.
