NFL Old School Game of the Week: Goalposts Come Down After Cardinals' OT Upset Win over Cowboys

The goal posts come down after the Cardinals' win over the Cowboys in 1997.

Seeing a home crowd storm the field and tear down the goal posts in pretty common in college football but not in the NFL.

However, goal posts were torn down in week 2 of the 1997 NFL season when the Arizona Cardinals hosted the Dallas Cowboys on a steamy Sunday Night in the desert.

The Cardinals came into the game with a 0-1 record after losing 24-21 to the Cincinnati Bengals in their season opener the week before they meet the Cowboys.

Arizona was led by head coach second-year head coach Vince Tobin who was trying to do something that had not been done in Arizona and that was lead the Cardinals lead to the NFL playoffs as the team had not made the postseason since their move from St. Louis to the Phoenix area in 1988.

Arizona did not have much going for them as Kent Graham was seen to be a placeholder at quarterback until Jake Plummer, who the Cardinals had selected in the second round of the 1997 NFL Draft.

The Cardinals' best player was defensive end Simeon Rice who had complied 12.5 quarterback sacks in his rookie season in 1996 which helped him win the NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year award.

While the Cardinals were hoping to find a winning formula, the Cowboys were looking to get back to their championship ways as they were coming off an impressive 37-7 win over the Pittsburgh Steelers in their regular season opener.

After winning three Super Bowls in four seasons, the Cowboys had a down year in 1996 as they went 10-6 and were eliminated in the Divisional Round of the Playoffs by the Carolina Panthers.

Led by head coach Barry Switzer, the Cowboys still had the famed "Triplets" in quarterback Troy Aikman, running back Emmitt Smith, and wide receiver Michael Irvin, who they hoped would lead the Cowboys back to the top of the NFL in 1997.

It seemed like a formality that the Cowboys would beat the Cardinals as Dallas had won 13 straight meetings with the Cardinals with their last loss to Arizona coming in week 6 of the 1990 NFL season.

But if the Cowboys were going to make it 14 in a row over the Cardinals they would have to deal with the heat as the temperature at kickoff was 101 degrees despite the game starting at 6:00 Arizona time as well as a rare sellout crowd at Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe.

 The Cowboys got the ball to start the game as Brock Marion returned the opening kickoff 34 yards to the Dallas 37-yard-line as the Dallas offense came out onto the field for their opening possession.

Smith carried the ball on four times for 27 yards to help lead the Cowboys to the Arizona 30-yard-line when Aikman connected with tight end Eric Bjornson for 29 yards to set up 1st & goal where Aikman threw an one-yard touchdown pass to Bjornson, only to have it nullified because of an holding penalty on tight end Scott Galbraith.

The Cowboys would have to settle for a 24-yard field goal by Richie Cunningham to give Dallas a 7-0 lead with 9:16 left in the first quarter.

Following an Arizona three-and-out, the Cowboys got the ball back at their 29-yard-line where it only took them two plays to drive into Cardinals territory as Aikman completed a 18-yard pass to Bjornson which was followed by a 19-yard Smith run to the Arizona 34-yard-line.

However, the Arizona defense would not allow another 1st down forcing the Cowboys to settle for a 47-yard field goal by Cunningham to extend the Dallas lead to 5:11 left in the first quarter.

After both teams traded punts, the Cardinals had the ball at the Dallas 46-yard-line to start the second quarter as Arizona drove 16 yards to the Dallas 30-yard-line where back-to-back penalties on the Cowboys gave the Cardinals 20 yards and a 1st down at the Dallas 10-yard-line when Graham handed the ball off to Leeland McElroy who raced in for the 10-yard touchdown to give Arizona a 7-6 lead with 12:51 to play in the second quarter.

After another exchange of punts, the Cowboys had the ball at their 49-yard-line when they drove 32 yards in nine plays to set up Cunningham's 37-yard field goal to put Dallas back on top 9-7 with exactly five minutes left in the second quarter.

The Cardinals would begin their next drive at their 20-yard-line where they picked up just two yards on two plays to set up 3rd & 8 when Graham was sacked by Cowboys strong safety Darren Woodson to force a fumble that was scooped up by defensive tackle Chad Hennings for a four-yard touchdown to increase the Dallas lead to 16-7 with 3:37 left before halftime.

Then with 85 seconds left in the first half, the Cardinals fumbled the football again when Kevin Williams muffed a punt that was recovered by Herschel Walker(Yes, that Herschel Walker)to give the Cowboys the ball at their 43-yard-line with a chance to put some points on the board before halftime.

Aikman completed four passes to wide receiver Stepfret Williams for 45 yards to set up a 34-yard field goal by Cunningham as time expired in the first half with the Cowboys ahead 19-7.

Cowboys kicker Richie Cunningham would account for all but six of the Cowboys' 22 points as he kicked five field goals and one extra point.

Arizona got the ball to start the second half but disaster struck on the first play from scrimmage as Graham fumbled the football after another quarterback sack, this time by Cowboys defensive end Tony Tolbert as Woodson made the recovery for the Cowboys at the Cardinals' 15-yard-line.

A touchdown may have put the game away but the Cardinals defense would allow only five yards on three plays forcing the Cowboys to settle for their fifth field goal of the game, this one from 28 yards out which increased the Dallas lead to 22-7 just two minutes into the second half.

After both teams punted on their ensuing possessions, the Cardinals had the ball at their 31-yard-line when they put together their best drive of the game thus far.

Graham would hit Kevin Williams for a 10-yard pass on 3rd & 9 to give Arizona a 1st down at its 42-yard-line when McElroy got his hands on the ball on back-to-back plays, gaining 10 yards for another Arizona 1st down at the Cowboys' 48-yard-line.

Graham would then complete three straight passes gaining 14 yards for another Arizona 1st down at the Dallas 34-yard-line when running back Larry Centers was dropped for a four-yard loss on a screen pass on 1st down which was followed by an incomplete pass to set up 3rd & 14 from the Cowboys' 38-yard-line.

Graham would complete a 12-yard pass to Rob Moore who stepped out of bounds two yards shy of the 1st down only to be hit late by Deion to draw a penalty to give the Cardinals a 1st down at the Dallas 13-yard-line.

Three plays later on 3rd & 4, Graham found Frank Sanders in the end zone for the seven-yard touchdown to make it an one-possession game at 22-14 with 1:44 left in the third quarter.

The game would turn into a stalemate as both teams traded punts until midway through the fourth quarter when Smith exploded for his longest run of the game a 44-yarder to put the Cowboys at the Arizona 32-yard-line.

From there, the Cowboys would move to the Cardinals' 12-yard-line where they faced a 3rd & 2 situation when Aikman was sacked by Rice for a 10-yard-loss.

To add injury to insult, Smith was injured on the play and would not return because of bruised ribs.

Cunningham would come on to attempt a 40-yard field goal that would make it a two-possession game but Cardinals defensive end Michael Bankston would block the kick to keep 22-14 with 3:42 left in the fourth quarter as the Cardinals would get the ball at their 30-yard-line.

Two straight completions picked up 11 yards before an illegal shift penalty pushed the Cardinals back five yards to their 36-yard-line to set up 1st & 15 when Graham completed a short pass to Moore, who turned into a 47-yard gain which got another five yards added on to it as Cowboys defensive back Wendell Davis was called for an incidental face mask to put Arizona at the Dallas 12-yard-line.

Graham would connect with Moore again, this time for five yards as the two-minute warning hit with the Cardinals at the Cowboys' seven-yard-line facing a 2nd & goal.

An incomplete pass followed by a six-yard completion to Frank Sanders set up 1st & goal from the one-yard-line when Graham could not connect with Kevin  Williams on 1st down to force 2nd & goal.

That is when Graham faked a handoff and threw a pass to a wide open Pat Carter who made the catch in the right corner of the end zone for the touchdown to make it 22-20.

Needing two points to tie, the Cardinals would attempt a two-point conversion that was successful as Graham hit Moore in the end zone for the two points to tie the game at 22 with 66 seconds left in regulation.

Cardinals quarterback Kent Graham would complete 26 of 49 passes for 249 yards and throw two TDs.

The Cowboys would try to get down the field for a potential game-winning field goal but could only travel to their 27-yard-line as time expired in regulation to send the game into overtime.

The Cowboys would win the overtime coin toss to get the ball to start the overtime period at their 25-yard-line as Aikman completed a 12-yard pass to Bjornson to start the drive which was followed by a 18-yard run by Sherman Williams to give Dallas a 1st down at the Arizona 45-yard-line.

However, a two-yard run by Williams and two incomplete passes forced the Cowboys to punt the ball back to the Cardinals who took over at their 20-yard-line.

Graham would complete passes of 12 yards to Frank Sanders and 14 yards to Moore to lead the Cardinals to the Cowboys' 44-yard-line until Graham was sacked by Dallas linebacker Dexter Coakley to knock the ball loose which was recovered by fellow Dallas linebacker Randall Godfrey to give the Cowboys the ball at the Cardinals' 49-yard-line with 9:49 left in the extra period.

Two runs by Sherman Williams picked up seven yards to set up 3rd & 3 when Aikman threw a screen pass to Williams who fumbled the football after he was hit by Cardinals linebackers Jamir Miller and Ronald McKinnon.

Another Arizona linebacker, Terry Irving, made the recovery to give the Cardinals the ball at their 46-yard-line with 8:12 to go in overtime.

Following an incomplete pass to start the drive, Graham would complete a 19-yard pass to Moore  to give the Cardinals a 1st down at the Dallas 35-yard-line which was followed by a three-yard run by McElroy to set up 2nd & 7 when Graham connected with running back Larry Centers for 29 yards to give Arizona another 1st down at the Cowboys' three-yard-line.

Tobin decided to waste any more time and sent in the the field goal unit as Kevin Butler would attempt a 20-yard field goal to give the Cardinals the win.

Butler's kick would bounce off the left goal post but would go through the uprights to give the Cardinals a 25-22 win to send the crowd at Sun Devil Stadium into a frenzy as Cardinals fans stormed the field and tore down the goal posts after the Cardinals had defeated the Cowboys for the first time in nearly seven years.

The Cowboys would not return to glory in 1997 as they would finish the season with a 6-10 record for their first losing season since 1990 and would miss the playoffs for the first time since 1990.

This lead to the firing of Switzer as head coach after four seasons in Dallas in which he complied a 45-26 record but went 17-17 in the last two seasons of his tenure.

As for the Cardinals, their win over the Cowboys would be the highlight of their 1997 season as they would finish with a 4-12 record, their sixth season of at least 11 losses since they moved to Arizona.

However, the following season the Cardinals would finish with a 9-7 record which was good enough to earn a playoff spot as a 16-13 win over the San Diego Chargers on the final Sunday of the regular season ended the Cardinals' 16-year playoff drought and once again brought the goal posts down as Cardinals celebrated the team's first playoff trip since their move to Arizona.

The Cardinals would then shock the Cowboys 20-7 in the Wild Card Round for the team's first playoff win in 51 years.

Kevin Butler gets hugs from his teammates after his game-winning 20-yard field goal.