Matchups in History: Cowboys vs. Bears

Who's excited for some more Thursday Night Football?! *raises hand*

No? Nobody? OK, I'm not that excited about it either, but there's nothing we can do to escape it, so we might as well make the best of it.

Cowboys vs. Bears… let's do this.

Dec. 26, 1977: NFC East Championship

Who doesn't love talking, thinking, dreaming about Roger Staubach, Tony Dorsett, and Billy Joe Dupree? If raised your hand that time, then you're just a liar.

Also on this team were the likes of Ed 'Too Tall' Jones and Cliff Harris. BUT, the real star of this game was Cowboys safety Charlie Waters, who set the NFL record for interceptions in a playoff game (three, in case you were wondering).

Let's not get ahead of ourselves.

The Cowboys started off this game with a bang. In the first quarter, Doug Dennison rushed for the Cowboys first touchdown of the game. Second quarter, Roger Staubach hurled a 28-yard pass to Billy Joe Dupree for another TD. Now, add a field goal from kicker Efren Herrera and the first of three interceptions from Charlie Waters (right when the Bears thought they had a chance to nail a TD just before half… RATS!), and the Cowboys took a 17-0 lead into the locker room at halftime.

Well, whatever pep talk the Bears coach spouted off to his players during the break didn't work… particularly for Bears QB Bob Avellini.

First possession out of the gate, he got intercepted by Dallas linebacker D.D. Lewis. That turned into another Tony Dorsett touchdown. Next Bears possession, he fumbled, which then led to another Herrera field goal. It was a really rough day for Bob.

If you don't like math (I definitely don't), the Cowboys were leading 27-0 at this point. The Cowboys tacked another 10 points onto the scoreboard before time ran out with a touchdown from Tony Dorsett and another field goal from Herrera. The Bears did manage to get one TD on the board with about seven minutes left in the game, so all wasn't totally lost (I'm trying to be nice). The Cowboys won it 37-7 (ouch).

Dallas forced seven turnovers (again, three of those were at the hands of Charlie Waters. I'm just going to keep saying it because defense doesn't get enough credit, and I think Charlie deserves it).

In case you weren't aware, the Cowboys went on to win the Super Bowl that year! Ah, the good ol' days.

The Cowboys lead the all-time record 13-11. Let's hope the Thursday night curse isn't actually a thing like a lot of people are saying it is.

We'll find out tonight.