White led the Cowboys to the playoffs five times and won two Division Championships.

Star receiver Michael Irvin was suspended by the league for the first five games of 1996 following a drug-related arrest ; he came back after the Cowboys started the season 2-3 ; they finished 10-6 and won the NFC East title, but were eliminated in the divisional round of the playoffs 26-17 by the second-year Carolina Panthers.

In 1993 the Cowboys hosted the 49ers in the Conference title game and won 38-21 en route to Super Bowl XXVIII.

The two conference title games led to a hot bidding war between the clubs for players ; the Niners signed cornerback Deion Sanders from the Atlanta Falcons and also signed linebacker Ken Norton, Jr. from the Cowboys ; they defeated the Cowboys 21-14 in the 1994 regular season and then hosted the Cowboys in that year's Conference title game, with the Cowboys now coached by Barry Switzer ; the 49ers raced to a 21-0 lead in the first seven minutes of the first quarter and won 38-28 en route to Super Bowl XXIX.

The Cowboys then signed Sanders from the 49ers for 1995 and despite losing to San Francisco 38-20 in the regular season won Super Bowl XXX.

In, the Vikings again won the Central Division with a 9 – 5 record and advanced to their 4th NFC Championship Game in 5 years, but were defeated by the eventual Super Bowl Champion Cowboys, 23 – 6, at Texas Stadium.

The Vikings played the Dallas Cowboys in the divisional round on January 17, 2010, and won the game by a score of 34 – 3, advancing the Vikings to the NFC Championship game, the ninth in franchise history.

The Vikings won a crucial victory against another struggling team in the form of the Dallas Cowboys 24 – 21, but in Week 7 the Vikings lost to the arch-rival Green Bay Packers 28 – 24.

But after head coach Tom Landry settled on Staubach, the Cowboys won their last seven regular season games to finish with an 11 – 3 record.

The Steelers won their second straight Super Bowl, largely through the plays by Swann and by stopping a rally by the Cowboys late in the fourth quarter.

With Staubach and his team's " Doomsday Defense ", the Cowboys won the NFC East with a 12-2 regular season record.

The Cowboys finished 7-9, but Smith won the NFL Rookie of the Year Award and Jimmy Johnson was selected as NFL Coach of the Year.

Norton was a member of the Cowboys teams who won Super Bowls XXVII and XXVIII.

The stadium hosted Super Bowl XXX in 1996 as the Cowboys won their fifth Vince Lombardi Trophy, defeating the Pittsburgh Steelers, 27-17 in front of 76, 347 spectators.

With the Cowboys, Smith won three Super Bowl rings and rushed for over 100 yards in two of those games, Super Bowl XXVII ( 108 yards and a touchdown, and six receptions for twenty-seven yards ), and Super Bowl XXVIII ( 132 yards and two touchdowns, and four receptions for twenty-six yards ).

* Super Bowl X ( January 18 ) – Pittsburgh Steelers won 21-17 over the Dallas Cowboys

* Super Bowl VI – Dallas Cowboys won 24 – 3 over the Miami Dolphins

* Super Bowl V – Baltimore Colts won 16 – 13 over the Dallas Cowboys

Romanowski played in Super Bowls XXIII, XXIV, XXXII, and XXXIII ; the Raiders ' loss prevented Romanowski from joining Charles Haley as the only NFL player to earn 5 Super Bowl rings ( Haley was also with the 49ers for Super Bowls XXIII and XXIV, and later earned rings when the Dallas Cowboys won Super Bowls XXVII, XXVIII, and XXX ).

Also from 1965 to 1981 the Cowboys won 17 consecutive regular season openers, also an NFL record that remains unbroken and unchallenged.

The Cowboys also won 10 + games 17 out of 20 years from 1966 to 1985 including playoff wins, for an overall record of 226-95-2 in that span of 20 consecutive winning seasons.

After defeating the defending Super Bowl champions, the Dallas Cowboys, they advanced to the NFC Championship, but fell 30-13 to the Packers, who went on to win the Super Bowl.

The Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders soon gained the spotlight with their revealing outfits and sophisticated dance moves, which debuted in the 1972 – 1973 season, but were first seen widely in Super Bowl X ( 1976 ).

However, despite playing in the NFC Championship Game three consecutive years ( 1980 – 1982 ), the Cowboys did not reach the Super Bowl during the 1980s.

In January 1993, only three years after their 1 – 15 season, the Cowboys earned their first Super Bowl trip in 14 seasons.

The Cowboys finished 12 – 4 in 1994, but missed the Super Bowl by losing to the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC Championship Game, 38 – 28.

The Cowboys defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers 27 – 17 at Sun Devil Stadium in Super Bowl XXX for their fifth world championship.

Gailey led the team to two playoff appearances with a 10 – 6 record in 1998 and an NFC East championship, but the Cowboys were defeated in the playoffs by the Arizona Cardinals 20-7 ; after an 8 – 8 season in 1999 ( during which Irvin suffered a career-ending spinal injury in a loss to the Philadelphia Eagles ) ending in another playoff loss ( this time to the Minnesota Vikings 27-10 ), he was fired and became the first Cowboys coach who did not take the team to a Super Bowl.

The Cowboys were eliminated by the ( eventual Super Bowl Champion ) Giants in the divisional round of the playoffs, the first NFC No. 1 seed to do so since the playoff re-alignment.

In 1994, the NFL celebrated their 75th Anniversary, and the Dallas Cowboys celebrated their back-to-back Super Bowl titles by unveiling a white " Double-Star " jersey on Thanksgiving Day.

The two teams met in the first regular season game the Cowboys ever played in 1960 ( a 35 – 28 loss to the Steelers ), the first-ever regular season victory for the expansion Cowboys in 1961, and would later meet in three Super Bowls, all of them closely contested events.

Among the more notable moments in the rivalry was the Giants ' defeat of Dallas in the 2007 playoffs en route to their victory in Super Bowl XLII and winning the first regular season game played at Cowboys Stadium in 2009.

In 1992 under fourth-year coach Jimmy Johnson the Cowboys met the 49ers in the NFC Championship Game again, this time against Steve Young ; the Cowboys pulled out a 30-20 win en route to Super Bowl XXVII.

But following this Super Bowl the rivalry cooled as first the Cowboys and then the 49ers went through lengthy performance slumps.

Although the Cowboys are tied with the 49ers for the second most Super Bowl victories ( Steelers have 6 ), Dallas actually holds the record, with Pittsburgh, for the most Super Bowl games played ( 8 ) and solely holds the record the most Super Bowl MVPs with 7:

The Cowboys sent a then-NFL record 11 players to the Pro Bowl in 1993: Troy Aikman, safety Thomas Everett, Irvin, Johnston, Maryland, Newton, Norton, Novacek, Smith, Stepnoski and Williams.

( Beginning with the January 2010 game, the Cotton Bowl Classic has been played at Cowboys Stadium in Arlington.

) The Dallas Cowboys called the Cotton Bowl home for 11 years, from the team's formation in 1960 until 1971, when the Cowboys moved to Texas Stadium.

The Cowboys hosted the Green Bay Packers for the 1966 NFL Championship at the Cotton Bowl.

The Steelers and the Cowboys would also meet again, in Super Bowl XXX.

Super Bowl XXX was an American football game between the National Football Conference ( NFC ) champion Dallas Cowboys and the American Football Conference ( AFC ) champion Pittsburgh Steelers to decide the National Football League ( NFL ) champion for the 1995 season.

* Super Bowl XXX – Dallas Cowboys won 27-17 over the Pittsburgh Steelers

Along the way, the Cowboys made four straight appearances in the NFC Championship Game ( 1992 – 1995 ) and captured three Super Bowl titles with back-to-back wins over the Buffalo Bills in Super Bowl XXVII and Super Bowl XXVIII, and the Pittsburgh Steelers in Super Bowl XXX.

Irvin was also a key contributor in the Cowboys victories in Super Bowl XXVIII and Super Bowl XXX, recording five receptions for 66 yards in the first one, and five receptions for 75 yards in the second.

He tore his ACL against the Detroit Lions trying to tackle Barry Sanders in the first game and returned to play in Super Bowl XXX between the Steelers and the Dallas Cowboys 19 weeks later.

He went on to help the Cowboys win their third Super Bowl title in four years in Super Bowl XXX against the Pittsburgh Steelers, where he returned a punt for 11 yards and caught a 47-yard reception on offense, setting up Dallas ' first touchdown of the game and a 27 – 17 victory.

He was on the Steelers ' Super Bowl XXX team which lost to the Dallas Cowboys.

* Jim Schwantz is a former NFL linebacker ( 1992, 94-98 ) playing most of his career with the Dallas Cowboys, with which he won a Super Bowl ring in Super Bowl XXX.

An 11-time Pro Bowl selection, Allen played 12 seasons with the Cowboys and earned a Super Bowl ring with the team after a 27-17 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers in Super Bowl XXX.

On January 28, 1996, Allen earned his first start in a Super Bowl as well as his first and only Super Bowl ring when the Cowboys defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers 27-17 in Super Bowl XXX.

After having a personal conflict with 49ers head coach George Seifert and a physical confrontation with quarterback Steve Young, Haley was traded to the Dallas Cowboys in the 1992 off-season, with whom he won three more Super Bowl rings over the next four seasons in 1992 ( Super Bowl XXVII ), 1993 ( XXVIII ), and 1995 ( XXX ).

He started at right inside linebacker in Super Bowl XXX for the Steelers, a loss to the Dallas Cowboys.

Williams played his final two seasons for the Pittsburgh Steelers in and, and his last NFL game was Super Bowl XXX in which the Steelers lost to the Dallas Cowboys.

That year the Cowboys reached Super Bowl XXX, where Brown became the first cornerback to win the Super Bowl Most Valuable Player Award and the first defensive back since 1973 to do it.

The Steelers lost against the Dallas Cowboys in Super Bowl XXX, making it the third Super Bowl lost for him.

They won five divisional titles in six years, and played in Super Bowl XXX, in which they lost to the Dallas Cowboys.

* Larry Brown, Dallas Cowboys, Oakland Raiders cornerback, Super Bowl XXX MVP

The season ended with Super Bowl XXX when the Dallas Cowboys defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers to become the first team in NFL history to win three Super Bowls in four years.

In 1995 he went to his third Pro Bowl and also played in Super Bowl XXX, a loss to the Dallas Cowboys.