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| Colts quarterback Jim Harbaugh lead Indianapolis back from a 18-point deficit to beat the Cowboys in 1996. |
However, in the mid 1990s, the nickname "Captain Comeback" would be bestowed to Jim Harbaugh as he lead the Indianapolis Colts to several 4th quarter comeback wins during the 1995 season.
Ironically, the Colts' version of "Captain Comeback" would Indianapolis to a dramatic comeback win over the Cowboys in Dallas during week 3 of the 1996 NFL season.
Harbaugh and the Colts entered their game with the Cowboys with a 2-0 record to begin the season after coming off a magical 1995 season in which the Colts come within a Hail Mary touchdown of making it to the Super Bowl.
Seven of the Colts' 11 victories in 1995 were by a touchdown or less and included a pair of comeback victories where Harbaugh led Indianapolis back from 21-point deficits against the New York Jets and Miami Dolphins, earning him the nickname "Captain Comeback".
While "Captain Comeback" was back, head coach Ted Marchibroda was not, as he stepped down following the 1995 season and was replaced by offensive coordinator Lindy Infante.
Even though they had a new coach, the Colts had high hopes for the 1996 season, but knew their trip to Dallas could be huge in determining what direction their season would go.
The Cowboys were the defending Super Bowl champions, which was their third Super Bowl title in four years, with the famed "Triplets" of quarterback Troy Aikman, running back Emmitt Smith, and wide receiver Michael Irvin, plus all-pro cornerback Deion Sanders, who joined the Cowboys for their run to the Super Bowl title in 1995.
But their quest for a fourth ring in five years got off to a rocky start as Irvin would miss the first five games of the season because of a suspension due to his no contest plea to a felony charge of cocaine possession and an embarrassing 22-6 loss to the Chicago Bears on Monday Night Football in the first week of the season.
Though they were 1-1 and had no Irvin, the Cowboys were 10-point favorites as the Colts were without their starting running back, Marshall Faulk, who was out because of a dislocated toe.
For much of the first half, it looked like the Cowboys were going to prove the oddsmakers right.
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| Troy Aikman would complete 17 of 27 passes for 184 yards and throw one touchdown pass. |
The Colts got the ball to start the game as they began their opening possession from their 28-yard-line.
With the running of Crockett, who carried the ball five times for 25 yards, and Harbaugh connecting with Sean Dawkins on two 3rd down situations, the Colts drove all the way to the Cowboys' one-yard-line where they had 1st & goal.
That is when disaster nearly struck as Crockett fumbled the football after he was hit by Cowboys defensive tackle Tony Casillas, only to have Colts right tackle Jason Matthews recover the ball for Indy at the two-yard-line.
Then on 2nd & goal, the Colts had an apparent touchdown as Harbaugh found tight end Ken Dilger in the end zone for a two-yard touchdown pass, only to have Dilger be called for offensive pass interference, negating the touchdown and pushing the Colts 10 yards back to the 12-yard-line.
The Colts would be forced to settle for a 23-yard field goal by Cary Blanchard to give Indianapolis a 3-0 lead with 4:55 left in the first quarter.
Following the ensuing kickoff, the Cowboys would take over at their 33-yard-line for their first drive as Smith would carry the ball five times for 37 yards until Dallas was faced with a 4th & 1 at the Colts' five-yard-line.
Instead of going for the chip shot field goal, Switzer decided to go for the 1st down which worked in the Cowboys' favor as Aikman hit fullback Daryl "Moose" Johnston for a five-yard touchdown to give Dallas a 7-3 lead with nine seconds left in the first quarter.
The Colts would get the ball back at their 28-yard-line as the second quarter began when after Crockett ran for three yards on 1st down, Cowboys defensive end Tony Tolbert blind-sided Harbaugh, knocking the ball loose which was picked up by Sanders, who then scampered in for a 22-yard touchdown to increase Dallas' lead to 14-3, 51 seconds into the second quarter.
Following Sanders' touchdown, the Colts took over at their 30-yard-line and drove to the Cowboys' 44-yard-line until Harbaugh was picked off by Dallas defensive back Roger Harper, whose 15-yard return set up shop for the Cowboys at the 50-yard-line.
Eight plays later, the Cowboys were in the end zone again as Smith punched it in from the one-yard-line to increase the Cowboys' lead to 21-3 with 8:37 left in the second quarter.
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Even though they were down 18 points, the Colts knew they were not out of the game yet, especially with their comebacks from the year before, but needed a big play to give them a spark.
They got that on the ensuing kickoff as Aaron Bailey's 50-yard return put the Colts at the Cowboys' 45-yard-line.
After three plays picked up nine yards, the Colts were faced with a 4th & 1 at the Dallas' 36-yard-line when Infante decided to gamble and go for the 1st down.
It paid off as Harbaugh connected with Harrison for four yards and a 1st down at the Dallas' 32-yard-line, which was followed one play later by a 20-yard run by Clif Groce.
However, the Cowboys defense would stiffen and allow only five more yards, forcing the Colts to settle for another field goal by Blanchard, this one from 25 yards out, which cut the Dallas lead to 21-6 with 2:31 left before halftime.
Then, the Colts' defense would force a three-and-out to get the ball to Harbaugh and the offense at their 35-yard-line.
Two runs by Harbaugh for eight yards and three completed passes for 23 yards put the Colts at the Dallas' 35-yard-line and gave Blanchard a shot at a 52-yard field goal.
Blanchard would make the kick, cutting the deficit to 12 points at 21-9 as the first half came to a close.
Despite getting six points after being down 18, the Colts knew they had to make another big stop on defense as the Cowboys would get the ball to start the second half.
Indy would get that stop and get the ball back at their 34-yard-line as they would drive to the Dallas' 48-yard-line when Harbaugh threw a screen pass to tight end Marcus Pollard, who turned the short pass into a 48-yard touchdown which cut the Cowboys' lead to five points at 21-16 with 9:48 left in the third quarter.
Then after another three-and-out by the the Cowboys, the Colts would drive 78 yards in nine plays as Harbaugh hit on all four of his passes for 56 yards on the drive, culminating with a eight-yard touchdown pass to Dilger to give Indianapolis its first lead of the game, 22-21 with 2:42 left in the third quarter(The Colts attempted a two-point conversion but it failed).
After being held to just 27 yards and one 1st down on their previous four possessions, the Cowboys' offense awakened after Dilger's touchdown as Aikman hit Sanders for 11 yards to start the Cowboys' ensuing drive, then handed it off to Smith, who ran for 20 yards on back-to-back carries, which was followed by a 10-yard pass to Kelvin Martin to give Dallas a 1st down at the Colts' 36-yard-line as the third quarter came to an end.
The stoppage of play seem to give the energy the Colts defense needed as they would allow only one more yard on the next three plays, forcing the Cowboys to call on Chris Boniol to come on and attempt a a 52-yard field goal.
Boniol would make the kick to give the lead back to the Cowboys at 24-22 with 13:26 left in the 4th quarter.
Boniol's field goal seemed to give the Cowboys some momentum as the defense would sack Harbaugh twice on the Colts' ensuing possession, forcing a three-and-out to give the Dallas offense the ball back at their 36-yard-line.
After Smith picked up three yards on a 1st down run, he would catch a Aikman pass for 16 yards, only to have Smith fumble the football which was recovered by Colts linebacker Quentin Coryatt, who then returned it seven yards to the Cowboys' 49-yard-line.
However, the Colts could not take advantage of the turnover as Harbaugh was sacked again on the drive for the Colts' second straight three-and-out, forcing them to punt the ball back to the Cowboys, who took over at their 14-yard-line, with a chance to put the game away.
The drive began with a 21-yard pass from Aikman to tight end Eric Bjornson to give Dallas a 1st down at their 35-yard-line.
From there, the Cowboys heavily relied on Smith, as he carried the ball seven times for 23 yards to help lead the Cowboys to the Colts' 22-yard-line to set up a 40-yard field goal attempt by Boniol that would make a five-point game and force the Colts to need a touchdown to win the game.
But Boniol's kick bounced off the left upright and was no good, keeping it a 24-22 game as the Colts took over at their 30-yard-line with 2:48 to go and one timeout in their pocket.
After a one-yard run by Crockett to start the drive, Harbaugh would connect with Dilger for 26 yards and a 1st down at the Dallas' 43-yard-line.
On the next play from scrimmage, Harbaugh found Crockett for 18 yards, putting the Colts in Blanchard's range at the Cowboys' 25-yard-line.
The Cowboys defense would hold the Colts to minus one yard on the next three plays, forcing Blanchard to attempt a 43-yard field goal with under a minute to go.
Blanchard would calmly hit the 43-yard kick to give the Colts a 25-24 lead with 51 seconds left in the game.
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| Cary Blanchard would hit on four of his field goal attempts, including the game-winning 43-yard field goal with 51 seconds to go. |
With no timeouts in their pocket and starting at their 20-yard-line, the Cowboys' attempt to drive into field goal range got off to an auspicious start as Aikman would throw two straight incomplete passes to start the drive.
But on 3rd & 10, Aikman would find Kevin Williams for a 22-yard completion and a 1st down at the Dallas 42-yard-line.
Then after spiking the ball, Aikman would connect with Martin for 19 more yards and another 1st down at the Colts' 40-yard-line before spiking the ball again with six seconds to play.
Rather risking another play that would run out the clock, Switzer called for the field goal as Boniol would come on to attempt a 57-yard field goal that if successful would give the Cowboys the win.
Boniol's kick was on target as it was down the middle and appeared to have the distance, only for the ball to bounce the crossbar and no good as time expired, allowing for the Colts to escape with the 25-24 win.
The loss dropped the Cowboys to 1-2, but they would recover to finish the season with a 10-6 record, which included a 21-6 win over the Green Bay Packers where Boniol tied the then-NFL record for most field goals made in a game with seven, as Dallas would win its fifth straight NFC East title.
The Cowboys would rout the Minnesota Vikings 40-15 in the Wild Card Round, but would be eliminated by the Carolina Panthers 26-17 in the Divisional Round.
The following season, the Cowboys would go 6-10, their first losing season since 1990, which resulted in the firing of Switzer as head coach.
As for the Colts, the comeback win pushed them to 3-0 as they would win the following week to push their record to 4-0.
However, a four-game losing streak in the middle of the season would ultimately lead the Colts to a 9-7 record, but still good enough for a Wild Card spot in the playoffs, though they would be one-and-done as they would be smashed by the Steelers 42-14 in their Wild Card game.
Just like the Cowboys, the Colts would fall off the map in 1997 as they fell to a 3-13 record, which led to the firing of Infante as head coach, but earned them the #1 pick, which they used to select Peyton Manning.
That pick would lead to Harbaugh leaving Indianapolis and signing with the Baltimore Ravens for the 1998 season where he started 12 games before playing his final two NFL seasons with the San Diego Chargers.
Harbaugh would retire after the 2000 season with 26, 288 passing yards and 129 touchdown passes.
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