Four important wins during the 1981 season were two wins each over the Los Angeles Rams and the Dallas Cowboys.

Walsh felt that this was because the Cowboys were scheduled to play the Rams the next week in a rare Sunday night game and that showing the highlights of the 49ers ' win would potentially hurt the game's ratings.

Two of those games were at home against the Dallas Cowboys, making the Cowboys wear their " unlucky " or " jinxed " navy-blue jerseys, as the Cowboys are one of three teams who routinely wear their white jerseys at home with limited exception.

In both 1996 and 2003, the Panthers were responsible for eliminating the Cowboys in the playoffs which led to the local nickname for the Panthers being the " Cowboy killers ".

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 ).

Yet the glory days of the Cowboys were again beginning to dim as free agency, age and injuries began taking their toll.

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.

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.

Two exceptions were when the Cowboys wore their normal white uniforms on Thanksgiving in 2007 and 2008.

However, the roots of the curse likely date back earlier to the end of the 1968 season when the blue-shirted Cowboys were upset badly by the Cleveland Browns in the divisional playoffs.

The now Arizona Cardinals, back when they were in St. Louis, were one of the first teams to try doing this trick when the Cowboys visited the Cardinals at Busch Stadium.

Among these were the 1989 " Bounty Bowls ," in which Ryan allegedly placed a bounty on Dallas kicker Luis Zendejas and Veterans Stadium fans pelted the Cowboys with snowballs and other debris.

It is said that the rivalry was fueled in the 1970s due to the stark contrast of the teams: the Cowboys, being more of a " flashy " team with Roger Staubach's aerial attack and the " flex " Doomsday Defense ; while the Steelers were more of a " blue-collar " team with a strong running game and the 1970s-esque Steel Curtain defense, a contrast that still exists today.

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.

Before long, the Giants were 6 – 2, but lost two straight to division foes: to the Cowboys 33 – 20 at home, and to the Eagles on the road, putting the G-Men in 2nd place in the NFC East at 6 – 4.

With the merger of the NFL and AFL in 1970, the Eagles were placed in the NFC East Division with their archrivals the New York Giants, the Washington Redskins, and the Dallas Cowboys.

Meanwhile, the Cowboys were making their first Super Bowl appearance after posting a 10-4 regular season record.

It is the only Super Bowl in which the Most Valuable Player Award was given to a member of the losing team: Cowboys linebacker Chuck Howley, who intercepted two passes ( sacks and tackles were not yet recorded ).

Then the Cowboys overcame the San Francisco 49ers in the NFC championship game, 17-10, aided by Thomas ' 143 rushing yards, along with interceptions by Renfro and Jordan late in the third quarter that were both converted into touchdowns.

The Cowboys were unable to get any points off the turnover and had to punt.

But unlike Jacksonville, Carolina came into the contest as the NFC # 2 seed and had eliminated the defending Super Bowl champion Dallas Cowboys, 26 – 17.

In the 2009 season Reid failed to win a first round postseason game for the first time in his career, with his 11-5 Eagles being eliminated by the Dallas Cowboys 34-14 in the wild-card round.

Instead, that game marked the start of a four game winning streak to end the season which included a game where the Giants eliminated the Eagles from playoff contention ( despite a win over the Cowboys ) with a win over the New York Jets.

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 became the surprise team of the 2003 season, posting a 10 – 6 record and a playoff berth by having the best overall defense in the NFL.

The Cowboys then finished an up-and-down 2006 season with a 9 – 7 record and a playoff appearance, but after a last second loss in the wild-card game against the Seattle Seahawks, Parcells retired and was succeeded by Wade Phillips.

In the middle of the 2nd quarter, while the Cowboys trailed 10-7, Tony Romo suffered a rib injury and was replaced by Jon Kitna.

On the Cowboys opening possession after 49ers punt, Romo found WR Jesse Holley on a 78 yard pass, which set up the game winning field goal by rookie kicker Dan Bailey.

In 1964 the Cowboys opted for a simpler look ( adopting essentially the team's current uniform ) by changing their jersey / socks to one solid color with three horizontal stripes on the sleeves ; the white jersey featured royal blue stripes with a narrow black border, the royal blue jersey white stripes with the same black outline.

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.

In 2009, it was replaced as home of the Cowboys by Cowboys Stadium, which officially opened on May 27, 2009 in Arlington, Texas.

At the debut pre-season game of Cowboys Stadium, a punt by Tennessee Titans kicker, A. J. Trapasso, hit the 2, 100 in.

The Redskins and Dallas Cowboys enjoy what has been called by Sports Illustrated the top NFL rivalry of all time and " one of the greatest in sports.

The following season, the Cowboys avenged that defeat by beating the Eagles three times: twice during the regular season to claim the title as NFC East champions and once more in a wild-card playoff game by a combined score of 78 – 30, including a 24 – 0 shutout in week 17.

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 sealed the victory over the Pittsburgh Steelers by converting both of Brown's interceptions into touchdowns.

Dallas Cowboys punter Mat McBriar attempted a maneuver similar to a drop kick during the 2010 Thanksgiving Classic after a botched punt attempt, but the ball bounced several times before the kick and the sequence of events is officially recorded as a fumble, followed by an illegal kick, with the fumble being recovered by the New Orleans Saints 29 yards downfield from the spot of the kick.

The 49ers lost the NFC title game, however, 30 – 20 against the eventual Super Bowl champion Dallas Cowboys.

In his first season with the Cowboys, he led them to the playoffs with a 10 – 6 record ( losing to the eventual NFC Champion Carolina Panthers in the opening round ), thus making him the first head coach in NFL history to guide four different teams to the playoffs.

In just three finals matches, the Cowboys tasted victories over eventual premiers the Bulldogs and the Brisbane Broncos before losing narrowly to Sydney City.

The West Tigers ran out eventual 30-16 winners, but the Cowboys did their fans and communities proud in the way they played the game, and also off the field, in the way they presented themselves, both as a team and as individuals.

In 1979 he led the Redskins to within 1 game of making the playoffs, but in the season's final week they blew a 13-point lead to the eventual NFC East champions Dallas Cowboys and missed the playoffs.

After becoming a full-time ABC affiliate, KNXV was limited to airing the Cardinals ' games on Monday Night Football-the first of which would be in 1995: a Christmas Day contest in Tempe against the eventual Super Bowl champions, the Dallas Cowboys ( the Cowboys won 37-13 to clinch home field advantage throughout the NFC playoffs ; coincidentally, the Super Bowl was also played in Tempe ).

A year later, Moorpark came back and lost in the first ever CIF North Division Championship to eventual state champion Canyon Country Cowboys, 24-22.