Back in Week 5 of the 1985 season one such game was played on Sunday night and it ended up being a classic division match-up between the Cowboys and Giants.
It was October 6, 1985 and this primetime game would be played at Giants Stadium. Both the Cowboys and Giants entered the game with 3-1 records and the NFC East lead on the line. It was also a time when many teams, including the Giants would make the Cowboys wear their blue jerseys and this game was no different.
With darkness covering the Garden State, the bright lights of Giants Stadium stood out as the Cowboys kicked off to the Giants.
On the second play of the game Giants running back Joe Morris never got control of a handoff from quarterback Phil Simms and he fumbled. The ball landed right in front of Cowboys linebacker Mike Hegman who recovered it. The Cowboys took over at the Giants 43 yard line.
Cowboys quarterback Danny White led the Cowboys to the Giants 18 yard line. From there White got flushed from the pocket by the Giants pass rush. He ran towards the right sideline and a second before he stepped out of bounds he threw across his body into the back of the end zone where he found wide receiver Tony Hill for the score. The ABC cameras must have been convinced that White was going to run out of bounds because once he threw the ball the cameras never followed the ball into the end zone to the show the touchdown. It was only after the commercial break that the end zone camera showed Tony Hill scoring the touchdown. The Cowboys went ahead early in the first quarter 7-0.
Giants kickoff returner Phil McConkey returned the ensuing kickoff to midfield. That seemed to jump start the Giants offense as they drove to the Cowboys six yard line. But the drive came to a stop there as the Cowboys blitzed Phil Simms on third down and forced him to throw the ball away through the back of the end zone. Giants kicker Jess Atkinson converted a 23 yard field goal to close the gap to 7-3.
After exchanging punts on each of their next possessions, the Cowboys took over at their 17 yard line as the first quarter came to an end. On the arm of Danny White he led the Cowboys offense to the Giants eight yard line. From there he would throw his second touchdown pass of the game. White stepped up in the pocked and rolled to his left where he pulled up and fired into the end zone to wide receiver Mike Renfro for the touchdown and a 14-3 lead.
On the Giants next possession they were once again able to drive deep into Cowboys territory. On second down from the 15 yard line Simms over threw wide receiver Bobby Johnson in the end zone. On third down Simms was sacked. Once again the Giants had to settle for a field goal from Atkinson as he connected from 37 yards to make the score 14-6.
After the kickoff Danny White began moving the offense down the field again. It would be a common theme for this game as rushing yards would be hard to come by, especially in the first half for Tony Dorsett. At the two minute warning and sitting at the Giants 15 yard line, Danny White went looking for Mike Renfro again. White threw into the end zone, but did not see Giants safety Kenny Hill standing there and he intercepted White's pass for the touchback.
The Giants offense could not move the ball after the interception and was forced to punt to the Cowboys with 1:14 left in the first half.
After the Giants punt the Cowboys took over on their 32 yard line with 1:06 left. Danny White threw deep to Tony Hill, but the pass went off his finger tips and fell incomplete. White then connected on his next three passes to get the Cowboys to the Giants 23 yard line with just 28 seconds left.
Danny White was sacked by the Giants ferocious pass rush which pushed the Cowboys back to the 33 yard line. White then threw into the end zone looking for Mike Renfro again. White's pass would have been intercepted again, but Renfro reached up to knock the ball away from Giants cornerback Ted Watts. On the next play White threw incomplete towards tight end Doug Cosbie with 10 seconds remaining, but there was a holding penalty on the Cowboys. That pushed the ball back to the Giants 43 yard line. On third down White was once again sacked and this time fumbled the ball, but the Cowboys recovered at their 48 yard line with six seconds left. On fourth down Danny White threw deep, but his pass was intercepted by Giants cornerback Elvis Patterson as time expired in the first half. The Cowboys went into halftime leading the Giants 14-6.
Some Cowboys fans might remember the name Elvis Patterson. It was Patterson who joined the Cowboys in 1993 and won a ring with them in Super Bowl XXVIII.
The Cowboys dominated the Giants in the first half on the arm of Danny White and if not for their two turnovers they might have led by a lot more than eight points. What the Cowboys were not aware of was the third quarter storm that was headed their way.
The second half started off with a missed opportunity for the Cowboys. Danny White threw deep to a wide open Tony Hill on third down, but White's pass sailed over Hill's head and for the first time in the game the Cowboys went three and out and had to punt.
The Giants took over at their 38 yard line and began to unleash a third quarter from hell onto the Cowboys that they couldn't stop. On the third play of the drive from their 49 yard line Simms connected with wide receiver Lionel Manuel, who beat cornerback Everson Walls at the Cowboys 32 yard line. Manuel then spun away from two other Cowboys defenders at the 26 yard line and broke free for a 51 yard touchdown. Jess Atkinson missed the extra point and that would become very important in the outcome of the game. The Cowboys now led 14-12.
On the Cowboys next possession they drove to midfield, but Danny White threw his third interception of the game. White never saw Elvis Patterson standing in front of Mike Renfro at the Giants 45 yard line and he came away with the easy pick and returned it to the Cowboys 49 yard line.
The Giants offense quickly went back to work and drove to the Cowboys 23 yard line after the turnover. On third and 15 Phil Simms rolled out to his left and fired the ball towards the end zone. Cowboys safety Dexter Clinkscale reached up and tipped the ball at the three yard line, but the ball ended up going into the hands of Lionel Manuel in the end zone for the score. The Giants took their first lead of the game, 19-14.
Next Cowboys possession. Next Cowboys turnover. Sitting at the Giants 45 yard line, White threw deep to rookie wide receiver Karl Powe. Giants cornerback Terry Kinard came down with the interception at the four yard line and returned it to the 30 yard line.
On the Giants third play from their 30 yard line, Simms threw a short pass to running back George Adams at the 38 yard line who was wide open in the middle of the field. Adams exploded up field and raced untouched for a 70 yard touchdown. It was the Giants third touchdown of the third quarter and increased their lead to 26-14 over the Cowboys.
What was once a 14-6 halftime lead for the Cowboys had very quickly turned into a 26-14 deficit. The Cowboys were in trouble and they had to find a way to stop the bleeding before it was too late.
If the Cowboys were to get back into the game they would have to forget about the turnovers and get back to playing like they did in the first half. And they did just that after the kickoff. Mixing a few passes from Danny White and Tony Dorsett's longest run of the game for 24 yards, the Cowboys found themselves at the Giants 24 yard line. Danny White was feeling the pressure from the Giants pass rush and threw off his back foot towards the end zone. Mike Renfro jumped up to grab the ball at the two yard line and scored his second touchdown of the game. The Cowboys finally got on the scoreboard in the second half and pulled closer at 26-21.
On the Giants next possession it was Phil Simms who turned the ball over. Cowboys cornerback Dennis Thurman stepped in front of Phil McConkey who fell down on his route and he intercepted the pass at the Giants 45 yard line.
After Tony Dorsett's 24 yard run during the previous possession the Cowboys continued to feed him the ball on the first two plays. Dorsett gained 10 yards and then 6 yards, which put the Cowboys at the Giants 29 yard line. Danny White then connected with tony Hill at the 16 yard line, but Hill fumbled. The ball rolled out of bounds at the 22 yard line before the Giants could recover and the Cowboys maintained possession as the third quarter ended.
The Cowboys were able to drive to the Giants five yard line before settling for a Rafael Septien field goal from 22 yards to make the score 26-24.
On the next Giants possession Phil Simms once again turned the ball over. Sitting at their 23 yard line Simms dropped back to pass and was slammed to the turf by Ed "Too Tall" Jones causing him to fumble. Jim Jeffcoat recovered the fumble at the Giants 16 yard line and once again the Cowboys offense was in great position.
The Cowboys could only gain four yards after the turnover and once again had to settle for a Septien field goal from 29 yards. The Cowboys had battled their way back and took the lead again 27-26.
After turnovers on each of their last two possessions, the Giants finally started moving the ball again. On third down from their 34 yard line Simms connected with McConkey for a 29 yard gain to the Cowboys 37 yard line. The drive stalled at the 30 yard line and Atkinson kicked a 47 yard field goal to put the Giants back in the lead 29-27 with 4:57 left in the game.
The Cowboys received the kickoff and hoped to put a drive together to run down the clock as well as position themselves for the win. But they could get no further than midfield and had to punt.
The Giants took over at their 20 yard line with just 2:58 left and they knew with just a few first downs the victory would be there's and so would the lead in the NFC East. But not so fast. This had been an unusual game from the start with big plays and many turnovers from both teams.
On the Giants second play Simms fumbled the ball from center. Cowboys linebacker Eugene Lockhart recovered the ball at the Giants 20 yard line with 2:40 left in the game.
The Cowboys moved the ball to the Giants 14 yard line as the Giants used their remaining timeouts. Septien was called on again to kick his third field goal of the second half. The kick was good from 31 yards and the Cowboys regained the lead 30-29 with 2:19 left.
The missed extra point by the Giants in the third quarter became even more important now considering the game could have been tied 30-30 with 2:19 left to play.
The Giants returned the kickoff to their 23 yard line, but a holding penalty pushed them back to the 13 yard line. On first down Simms found McConkey for a 19 yard completion to the 32 yard line. On the next play Simms was forced to throw the ball out of bounds as the 2:00 warning came.
Simms then threw incomplete passes on second and third downs. That brought up fourth down and the Giants were not about to go down easy as Simms connected with Bobby Johnson at midfield for a first down with 1:45 left.
For some reason the Giants decided to run Rob Carpenter on first down for no gain as the clock was running. Yes, Rob Carpenter is the father of former Cowboys linebacker Bobby Carpenter. Simms second down pass fell incomplete due to the fact he was being hit as he attempted to pass. On third down Simms pass came out of his hand a little wobbly for lack of a better word. Everson Walls came down with the interception and immediately stepped out of bounds.
The Cowboys ran out the final 1:16 and came away with a wild division victory over the NY Giants 30-29. The Cowboys improved to 4-1 and took the lead in the NFC East, which they would eventually win in 1985 with a 10-6 record.
Both offenses combined for 896 yards. 423 by the Cowboys and 473 by the Giants.
Both teams combined for nine turnovers. Four by the Cowboys and five by the Giants.
Danny White threw for 342 yards, three touchdowns and four inceptions.
Tony Dorsett rushed for 86 yards.
Mike Renfro caught 10 passes for 141 yards and two TDs and Tony Hill caught eight passes for 100 yards.
Phil Simms threw for 432 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions. He also fumbled twice.
Lionel Manuel caught six passes for 129 yards and two TDs and Bobby Johnson caught 5 passes for 104 yards.
