Dallas Cowboys – The Greatest Game Of All
The history of the Dallas Cowboys football team has seen them involved in some of the best games ever played in the National Football League. To be sure, they are indeed at the top of the NFL’s elite, with five wins in the Super Bowl – leaving both them and San Francisco only one win behind the Steelers. With that sort of pedigree, you would expect America’s Team to have had a place in many of the game’s most historic contests. So many of their games have been of such a high-profile that few can ever agree as to which of those games most deserves the title “Greatest game of all”. There is one game, however, that most long-time fans of football can agree certainly ranks at the top of any list of “greatest” games, despite the fact that the Cowboys lost.
Football on ice
It was the Ice Bowl – one of those rare NFL games that have earned not only its own descriptive title but a firmly established place in the annals of NFL history. There have been apt comparisons between football and military conflict, and the Ice Bowl is often cited as an example. With two mighty armies battling for position on inhospitable terrain, its warlike qualities can hardly be disputed. Fans that saw the game still talk about it in hushed tones, leading some new fans to wonder if it hasn’t been over-hyped as the years have passed. In truth, words barely do the game justice. Played at Lambeau Field late in 1967, the Ice Bowl could almost be considered less a battle between two teams than it was a war between two teams of human beings and the elements. With wind chill factor, the temperatures had plummeted to almost fifty degrees below zero, and the field’s turf-heating capabilities were not able to keep pace. On a field that had become nothing more than slippery concrete, the two armies clashed for four quarters of football that left players frostbitten and nerve-damaged.
The game unfolds
Though volumes could be written about the play by play that day, the game can be summed up for the sake of brevity. The Packers jumped out to an early two touchdown lead, only to see the Cowboys close to within four before the halftime break. Then, after a third quarter of back-and-forth scoreless action, a Cowboys passing play sent them up seventeen to fourteen. In the final five minutes of play, Hall of Famer Bart Starr and his Green Bay offense methodically moved toward the end zone, covering sixty-eight yards to achieve the winning touchdown drive – capped by a Starr quarterback sneak for the win. With that sneak, the Packers advanced to their second Super Bowl and the Ice Bowl became part of history.
The most amazing game
No Cowboys fan should bemoan the Ice Bowl’s status as one of the greatest matchups in their franchise’s history. Though other contests might seem more pleasing – the 1980 comeback against the Falcons or the famous Staubach Hail Mary pass against Minnesota – the truth is that victory does not always define greatness. In the case of the Ice Bowl, either team could have won the game, and it was as much decided by the cruel conditions as it was by the skill of the teams involved. Because both teams exhibited the sort of fortitude usually only seen on a true field of battle, the game rightfully warrants its honored place as the greatest in Dallas history.
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