NFL Old School Game of the Week: Raiders Win Primetime Shootout With Cowboys

Raiders running back Marcus Allen would have 15 carries for 55 yards while catching seven passes for 67 yards in LA's win over the Cowboys.

NFL fans were in for a treat during Week 8 of the 1983 regular season as they got to see the 5-2 Los Angeles Raiders take on the 7-0 Dallas Cowboys in a rare Sunday night game(Sunday Night Football did not formally begin until 1987).

The Cowboys were the home team as they were one win away from matching their best start in team history when they went 8-0 to start the 1977 season which ended with a 27-10 win over the Denver Broncos in Super Bowl XII.

The biggest reason for the 7-0 start which led by quarterback Danny White and running back Tony Dorsett had averaged 28.8 points per game up to this point in the season which included a dramatic 31-30 win over the defending Super Bowl champion Washington Redskins in the first game of the season.

Despite the explosive offense, head coach Tom Landry, who was in his 24th season as the Dallas head coach, was worried about his defense as they had given up an average of 21 points per game during the first seven games of the season.

If the Cowboys were going to return to the Super Bowl, they would need their defense to shape up.

Meanwhile, the Raiders came into the game with a new starting quarterback as Marc Wilson had been taken over the job after a relief performance the week before in a 38-36 loss to the Seattle Seahawks as the incumbant starter, Jim Plunkett, had been benched after throwing 14 interceptions in the first two months of the season.

Raiders head coach Tom Flores was hoping that Wilson , who had started nine games during the 1981 season, could calm the Raiders' offense down as it featured second-year running back Marcus Allen and all-pro tight end Todd Christiansen on a unit that averaged 25.8 points during the first seven games of the season.

 After the Cowboys went three-and-out to start the game, the Raiders would get the ball at their 30-yard-line when disaster struck of the second play of the drive as Wilson fumbled the snap from center which was recovered by Cowboys defensive end Ed "Too Tall" Jones to give the Cowboys the ball at the Los Angeles 33-yard-line.

White would then complete a 16-yard pass to running back Ron Springs for a Dallas 1st down where Springs would get a carry that would go for two yards which was followed by an incomplete pass to bring up a 3rd & 8.

That is when the Cowboys went into their bag of tricks as Springs took a handoff and rolled to his left then stopped and threw a pass downfield to a wide open White who made the catch as he ran into the end zone untouched for a 15-yard touchdown to give Dallas a 7-0 lead.

The Raiders would pick up one 1st down before punting the ball to the Cowboys who would go three-and-out on their ensuing possession as they would punt the ball back to the Raiders who would get great field position for their next drive as Greg Pruitt ran the punt back 36 yards to the Dallas 26-yard-line.

The Cowboys defense would allow only seven yards on three plays as the Raiders would settle for a 37-yard field goal by Chris Bahr which cut the Dallas lead to 7-3 midway through the first quarter.

Following another Dallas three-and-out, the Raiders would begin their ensuing possession at the Cowboys' 45-yard-line as Wilson would complete passes of 18 yards to Malcolm Barnwell and 17 yards to Allen to help set up Wilson's two-yard touchdown pass to tight end Derrick Jensen to give Los Angeles a 10-7 lead with 95 seconds to go in the first quarter.

It seemed like the Raiders had seized control of the game especially after their defense forced another three-and-out from the Cowboys offense only to muff the ensuing punt as Pruitt fumbled the ball which was recovered by reverse defensive back Rod Hill to give Dallas the ball at the Los Angeles 38-yard-line.

White would then hit Drew Pearson for a 24-yard completion that got seven yards added to it as the result of a late hit by Raiders strong safety Mike Davis to give the Cowboys a 1st & goal at the Los Angeles seven-yard-line.

A two-yard run by Dorsett and an offsides penalty would move the ball to the two-yard-line where Springs would punch it in for the touchdown to give the Cowboys a 14-10 lead with 13:45 to go in the second quarter.

The Raiders would then give the ball right back to the Cowboys when on the first play of their ensuing possession, Allen fumbled the football after a hit by Dallas linebacker Anthony Dickerson, who would then make the recovery to give Dallas the ball at the Los Angeles 20-yard-line.

Dallas would advance to the Los Angeles five-yard-line before the drive stalled as Rafael Septien would come on to kick a 23-yard field goal to extend the Cowboys' lead to 17-10.

Cowboys quarterback Danny White would throw for 240 yards and two touchdowns while catching the first touchdown pass of his career.

The Raiders would get great field position to start their next drive as Cleo Montgomery would return the ensuing kickoff 48 yards to the Los Angeles 46-yard-line as fullback Frank Hawkins, filling in for an injured Kenny King, would make his presence felt.

The drive would begin with a nine-yard run by Hawkins, followed by an incomplete pass to bring up 3rd & 1 when Hawkins busted loose for a 32-yard run to give the Raiders a 1st down at the Cowboys' 13-yard-line.

An illegal use of hands penalty would push the Raiders back 10 yards to the Dallas 23-yard-line when Hawkins got another carry as he took around it the left side and run untouched for the 23-yard touchdown that with the extra point tied the game at 17.

The Cowboys would respond with an eight-play, 76-yard drive which saw White complete a 20-yard pass to Pearson to move Dallas into Raider territory followed by a 27-yard pass to tight end Doug Cosbie to advance to the red zone where White would connect with Butch Johnson for a 15-yard touchdown to put the Cowboys back on top with a 24-17 lead with 5:27 to go in the second quarter.

The Raiders would begin their next possession at their 23-yard-line as Wilson would hit tight end Todd Christiansen on two completions for 28 yards and Branch for 11 yards to help move Los Angeles to the Dallas 35-yard-line where on 3rd & 12, Wilson scrambled for 18 yards to give the Raiders a 1st & 10 at the Cowboys' 17-yard-line.

Wilson would then threw his second touchdown of the game, a 17-yarder to Hawkins to cap off an 11-play,77-yard drive and tie the game at 24 with 2:19 to go before halftime.

The first half fireworks would continue on the ensuing kickoff as Ron Fellows' 50-yard return would give the Cowboys the ball at the 50-yard-line as White would hit Johnson for 19 yards on a 2nd & 22 which was followed by a 11-yard pass to Tony Hill to move the sticks to the Raiders' 32-yard-line.

Two plays later, White would be intercepted by Raiders defensive back Odis McKinley to give Los Angeles the ball at their 22-yard-line with 44 seconds to go in the first half.

Instead of going into the halftime break with the score tied, the Raiders were aggressive as Wilson would complete three consecutive passes for a total of 48 yards to move Los Angeles to the Dallas 30-yard-line where the Raiders would line up for a 48-yard field goal by Bahr with nine seconds to go in the half.

But it was a fake as Wilson, who was also the holder, took the snap and then fired a pass downfield to tight end Don Hasselbeck who made it all the way to the end zone as the pass fell incomplete at the 10-yard-line.

However, Hasselbeck had been tackled by Dickerson in the end zone which resulted in a pass interference penalty to give Los Angeles a 1st & goal at the one-yard-line with three seconds left.

Flores would gamble once again as he would go for the touchdown instead of the field goal as Wilson found Christensen in the back of the end zone for the touchdown as time expired in the first half to give the Raiders a 31-24 lead after a second quarter which saw a combined 38 points scored between the two teams.

The second half would begin with both teams going three-and-out on their opening possessions as the Raiders would drive from their 46-yard-line to the Cowboys' 11-yard-line until Wilson was intercepted by Jones on a screen pass intended for Allen to end the Los Angeles scoring threat.

Following another exchange of three-and-outs, the Cowboys had the ball at their 27-yard-line when White was sacked by Raiders nose tackle Archie Reese, forcing a fumble that was recovered by defensive end Howie Long to give Los Angeles the ball at the Dallas 20-yard-line.

An 11-yard run by Allen would help the Raiders move to the Dallas six-yard-line where the drive would stall as Los Angeles would settle for a 24-yard field goal for the only points of the third quarter as the Raiders increased their lead to 34-24.

The Cowboys would begin their next possession at their 18-yard-line as it looked like the Raiders had taken a 41-24 lead when on 3rd & 10, cornerback Lester Hayes picked off a White pass and returned it 30 yards for an apparent touchdown.

But a pass interference penalty was called on the Raiders to nullify the touchdown and give the Cowboys a 1st down at their 36-yard-line as a 20-yard pass from White to Johnson and a 27-yard run by Dorsett help move Dallas to the Los Angeles 17-yard-line as the third quarter came to an end.

After an incomplete pass was thrown to start the 4th quarter, White would hit wide receiver Doug Denley for the 17-yard touchdown that would cut the Raiders' lead to 34-31.

The Raiders would get the ball back at their 20-yard-line as a 14-yard pass from Wilson to Allen on 3rd & 11 gave Los Angeles a 1st down at its 33-yard-line when Wilson was sacked for a 13-yard loss by Dickerson which jarred the ball loose as linebacker Mike Hegman would pick up the fumble and run it in for a nine-yard touchdown to give the Cowboys a 38-34 lead with 13:05 left in the fourth quarter.

Wilson would help atone for his fumble on the Raiders' ensuing possession as he scrambled for 23 yards on one play while completing two passes for 28 yards to help move Los Angeles to the Dallas eight-yard-line where Bahr would come on to kick a 26-yard field goal that trimmed the Cowboys' lead to 38-37 with 9:35 left in the game.

Following a Dallas three-and-out, the Raiders got the ball at the 50-yard-line when Wilson completed a 18-yard pass to wide receiver Dokie Williams who would fumble the football after a hit by Cowboys cornerback Dennis Thurman as strong safety Dexter Clinkscale would make the recovery to give Dallas the ball at their 35-yard-line.

The Cowboys picked up one first down until White was sacked by Raiders linebacker Matt Millen, leading to a 3rd & 15 situation at the Dallas 48-yard-line when White was intercepted by Raiders cornerback Ted Watts, whose 13-yard runback would give Los Angeles the ball at its 25-yard-line with 3:09 to go in the game and a chance to drive for the winning score.

Raiders quarterback Marc Wilson would complete 26 of 49 passes for 318 yards with three touchdown passes while running for 46 yards on five carries.

The drive would begin with an eight-yard pass from Wilson to Christiansen as Allen would carry the ball on the next two plays, gaining three yards to give the Raiders a 1st down at their 36-yard-line as the two-minute warning hit.

After the timeout, Wilson would hit Allen for eight yards, then connected with Williams for 18 yards and a 1st down at the Dallas 38-yard-line as a nine-yard pass to Christiansen followed by a three-yard run by Hawkins put the Raiders at the Cowboys' 26-yard-line.

That is when Wilson found Williams again for 18 yards to give the Raiders a 1st & goal as three runs by Hawkins that netted zero yards would bleed the clock until Bahr would come to kick a 26-yard field goal to give the Raiders a 40-38 lead with 20 seconds left in the game.

The Cowboys would get a chance to pull off a miracle but White would throw three straight incomplete passes to end the game as the Raiders prevailed with the 40-38 win to hand the Cowboys their first loss of the season.

The game with the Raiders would be a microcosm of the Cowboys' season as their offense would put up a ton of points while the defense would give up too many as Dallas would end the regular season with a 12-4 record, good enough to earn a spot in the NFC Wild Card game.

In that game, the defense would play well but four turnovers committed by the offense would lead to a 24-17 defeat at the hands of the other Los Angeles team, the Rams, to end Dallas' season as their streak of consecutive postseason appearances would end the following year before the Cowboys won the NFC East in 1985 in what would the final trip to the playoffs under Landry.

As for the Raiders, Wilson would start the next two games until he suffered a broken left shoulder in a 28-20 win over the Kansas City Chiefs as Plunkett would reclaim the starting quarterback job for the rest of the season as Los Angeles won the AFC West division with a 12-4 record.

In the playoffs, the Raiders would knock off the Pittsburgh Steelers 38-10 in the divisional round then defeat the Seahawks 30-14 in the AFC Championship Game to earn a trip to Super Bowl XVIII where they would destroy the Washington Redskins 38-9 behind Allen's MVP performance as the Raiders claimed their third Lombardi trophy in eight years.