NFL Old School Game of the Week: Eagles Hold Off Cowboys Thanks To Last-Second Defensive Touchdown

Eagles linebacker James Willis(50)prepares to lateral the ball to cornerback Troy Vincent for what would be the game-winning touchdown.

Anytime the Philadelphia Eagles play the Dallas Cowboys, emotions are always high between the two bitter division rivals, but their meeting in Week 10 of the 1996 NFL season was important as 1st place in the NFC East was at stake.

The Eagles came into the game with a 6-2 record under second year head coach Ray Rhodes, who had Philadelphia to the playoffs the year before as the Eagles were eliminated by the Cowboys 30-11 in their NFC Divisional Playoff.

The Eagles' quarterback for their showdown with the Cowboys was Ty Detmer, who after attempting only 21 passes in four seasons with the Green Bay Packers, signed with Philadelphia to back up Rodney Peete only to for the 1990 Heisman Trophy Winner to take over the job as starting quarterback after Peete was lost for the year with a tore patella tendon in the Eagles' 23-19 loss to the Cowboys in Week 5.

With help from running back Ricky Watters, Detmer led the Eagles to three straight wins as Ty completed 59 of 85 passes for 738 yards and threw five touchdown passes in the winning streak as Philadelphia traveled to Texas to take on the defending Super Bowl champions.

The Cowboys had established themselves as the "Team of the 90s" thanks to their three Super Bowl titles in four years led by the "Triplets" in quarterback Troy Aikman, running back Emmitt Smith, and wide receiver Michael Irvin.

However, the '96 season got off to a tumultuous start as the Cowboys lost three of their opening four games while Irvin sat on the bench with a five-game suspension after pleading no contest to cocaine possession during the summer.

Following their win over the Eagles in week 5, Irvin came back to help the Cowboys win their next three games to improve their record to 5-3, including a 12-catch, 186-yard performance in a 29-10 over the Miami Dolphins and Dallas' former head coach Jimmy Johnson.

Irvin and the Cowboys looked to keep things going in the right direction as they hosted thier bitter division rivals with 1st place in the NFC East on the line.

The game got off to a fast start as Herschel Walker, in his second stint with the Cowboys, returned the game's opening kickoff 86 yards to the Eagles' six-yard-line as three plays later, Dallas would have the first touchdown of the game as Smith punched it in from one yard out.

Emmitt Smith ran for 113 yards on 24 carries and scored two touchdowns.

The Eagles would be a bit more methodically on their opening possession as they drove 75 yards in 13 plays as Detmer completed five of seven passes for 43 yards on the drive which ended with a five-yard touchdown run by Watters that tied the game at seven midway through the first quarter.

After the Cowboys went three-and-out on their next possession, the Eagles got the ball at their 19-yard-line as Detmer completed a 21-yard pass to Irving Fryar to start the drive, then found Fryar again for 13 yards on 3rd & 13 to give Philadelphia a 1st down at the 50-yard-line.

Two runs by Watters collected 18 yards to give the Eagles a fresh set of downs at the Dallas 32-yard-line as Detmer threw three straight incomplete passes to bring up 4th & 10 when Rhodes decided to go for the 1st down instead of attempting a long field goal.

The gamble would not pay off as Detmer threw another incomplete pass to give the Cowboys the ball at their 32-yard-line as Smith ran for 24 yards to start the Dallas possession as the Cowboys drove to the Eagles' 18-yard-line as the first quarter came to a close.

Five straight running plays for 17 yards set up 3rd & goal at the Eagles' one-yard-line when Aikman fumbled the snap from center to which he recovered at the two-yard-line, allowing for the Cowboys to settle for a 19-yard field goal by Chris Boniol which gave Dallas a 10-7 lead with 11:12 remaining in the second quarter.

Following an exchange of punts, the Eagles got the ball back at their 20-yard-line as they would drive down the field behind the right arm of Detmer as he completed passes of 16 yards to Fryar, 18 yards to tight end Ed West, and 24 yards to Mark Seay to help put Philadelphia at the Cowboys' one-yard-line with a 1st & goal.

After a false start penalty pushed them back five yards, the Eagles would get into the end zone as Detmer ran it in on a quarterback draw for a six-yard touchdown to give Philadelphia a 14-10 lead with 59 seconds left in the first half.

The Cowboys would run out the clock to end the first half trailing 14-10 as the Eagles would get the ball to start the second half, only to punt it back to Dallas who would begin its initial possession of the second half at its 25-yard-line.

From there, the Cowboys would drive to the Eagles' 19-yard-line in seven plays until the Philadelphia defense hunkered down and did not permit another yard to force the Cowboys to settle for a 37-yard field goal by Boniol which cut the Eagles' lead to 14-13 midway  through the third quarter.

The Eagles would start their next possession at their 25-yard-line with a 17-yard run by Watters which was followed by the running back being dropped for a six-yard loss to bring up 2nd & 16 when Detmer found Fryar for 18 yards and a 1st down.

After a pass interference penalty on tight end Jason Dunn pushed the Eagles back 10 yards, Detmer hit Seay for 12 yards, then after a six-yard run by Watters made it 3rd & 2, Ty found Fryar again this time for 12 yards and a 1st down at Dallas 26-yard-line.

Five plays later, Detmer would connect with Fryar again, this time for a 14-yard touchdown which increased the Eagles' lead to 21-13 with 1:57 left in the third quarter.

The Cowboys would respond with a 13-play, 84-yard drive which saw Aikman passes of 17 and 11 yards to Irvin, 14 yards to Kelvin Martin, and 15 yards to Sanders, all leading up to a seven-yard touchdown run by Smith to make it 21-19 as Dallas would attempt a two-point conversion to tie the game.

The Cowboys would successfully make the two-point conversion as Aikman completed a pass to tight end Eric Bjornson to tie the game at 21 with 10:14 left in regulation.

Eagles quarterback Ty Detmer completed 19 of 33 passes for 217 yards and threw one touchdown run while for another.

Following a three-and-out by the Eagles, the Cowboys got the ball back at their 28-yard-line as two plays netted two yards to set up 3rd & 8 when Aikman was intercepted by safety James Fuller to give Philadelphia the ball at the Dallas 35-yard-line.

After Detmer completed a 10-yard pass to Fryar to begin the drive, Watters would get the ball on five straight plays, picking up 12 yards to set up 3rd & 9 from the Cowboys' 12-yard-line when Detmer would throw an incomplete pass trying to hit Fryar again.

This would bring out Gary Anderson to come on and attempt a 30-yard field goal which he made to give the Eagles a 24-21 lead with 3:19 remaining in regulation.

After Walker returned the ensuing kickoff 24 yards to the Dallas 28-yard-line, Aikman and the Cowboys' offense came onto the field hoping to at least drive for a game-tying field goal or even better a go-ahead touchdown.

Aikman came out firing as he completed three straight passes for 21 yards, which was followed by a six-yard run by Smith to put the Cowboys in Eagles territory at the Philadelphia 45-yard-line as an offsides penalty and a 10-yard pass from Aikman to Martin put the Cowboys at the Eagles' 30-yard-line.

An eight-yard run by Smith and an incomplete pass would bring up 3rd & 2 when Aikman found Bjornson for 19 yards to give Dallas a 1st & goal at the Eagles' three-yard-line as the Cowboys seemed on the doorstep of scoring the game-winning touchdown.

The Cowboys would try to punch it in with Smith as he picked up one yard on 1st down, then lost that one yard on 2nd down to set up 3rd & goal from the three-yard-line.

That is when  Aikman dropped back to throw a pass into the end zone when under pressure from defensive end William Fuller, fired a pass that was picked off by linebacker James Willis, who instead of taking a knee in the end zone, ran out to his 10-yard-line then lateraled the ball to cornerback Troy Vincent, who ran the remaining 90 yards to increase the Eagles' lead to 31-21 with just 15 seconds left.

Vincent's touchdown effectively ended the game as the Cowboys threw an incomplete pass on the final play of the game as the Eagles came away with the 31-21 win as Philadelphia retained sole possession of 1st place in the NFC East.

However, the win over the Cowboys would be the highlight of the Eagles' season as they would drop their next three games as Philadelphia finished the regular season with a 10-6 record as they finished in a tie with Dallas for the NFC East which the Cowboys won thanks to a tiebreaker.

The Eagles would fall to the San Francisco 49ers 14-0 in the Wild Card round while the Cowboys would easily dispatch of the Minnesota Vikings 40-15 in the same round before being eliminated by the Carolina Panthers 26-17 in the Divisional Round of the NFC playoffs.