It is Day 66 of our 100-day countdown to kickoff. We are looking back at the 100 most iconic games in Dallas Cowboys history. The countdown will leads us right up to the opening game of 2026. Our look back doesn’t depend on just one criteria for our rankings. We take into consideration things like how big the game was for the organization, how memorable the game was, games that had unusual events take place, games that are a part of NFL lore, Cowboys firsts, and games where the Cowboys just plain
dominated. Variety is the spice of life and we have all different kind of Cowboys games to review. At the bottom, we’ll link each day of the countdown so you can go back and check out any you missed.
We welcome you to Day 66 of our 100-day countdown to kickoff, when we revisit a regular-season chess match between the two teams that defined the NFC in the early 1990s. Dallas entered this Week 7 meeting in 1993 still working its way back from the strange 0-2 start caused by Emmitt Smith’s holdout. San Francisco came in off its bye, looking to prove that the previous season’s NFC Championship loss had not shifted the balance of power permanently.
Sunday, October 17, 1993 — 4:00 p.m. ET
Texas Stadium, Irving, Texas
Final Score: Dallas Cowboys 26, San Francisco 49ers 17
The game did not start great for Dallas. San Francisco struck first when Eric Davis returned a Cowboys fumble 47 yards for a touchdown, giving the 49ers a 7-0 lead. Eddie Murray answered with a 48-yard field goal, but Mike Cofer added a 25-yarder late in the first quarter to put San Francisco up 10-3. In a game between teams this good, falling behind early could have been dangerous.
Dallas responded in the second quarter with the kind of patient, physical football that defined the dynasty years. Murray hit a field goal from 39 yards, Emmitt Smith punched in a one-yard touchdown, and Murray added another field goal from 29 yards just before halftime. The Cowboys had turned a 10-3 deficit into a 16-10 lead, not through fireworks, but through control, pressure, and the steady return of their offensive identity.
San Francisco answered in the third quarter when Steve Young found Brent Jones for a 12-yard touchdown, putting the 49ers back in front 17-16. That was the exact type of moment that made this rivalry so great. Young, Jerry Rice, Ricky Watters, and George Seifert’s group were too talented to disappear, and Dallas had to answer with something more than field goals.
The answer came almost immediately. Troy Aikman found Michael Irvin for a 36-yard touchdown late in the third quarter, putting Dallas back ahead 23-17. Murray added an 18-yard field goal in the fourth, and the Cowboys defense closed the door. San Francisco finished with more total yards, but Dallas won the turnover battle, controlled the key moments, and got just enough from its stars to beat another elite opponent.
This game belongs on the countdown because it was another regular-season installment in the rivalry’s heavyweight phase. From 1992 through 1994, Cowboys-49ers was not just a matchup it was the NFC’s power struggle. Dallas had already beaten San Francisco in the previous NFC Championship Game, would beat them again in the next one, and this October win helped reinforce the idea that Jimmy Johnson’s Cowboys were not a one-year champion. They were the new standard.
Interesting Facts About the Game
The rivalry was at its peak in this era. Dallas and San Francisco met in three straight NFC Championship Games from the 1992 through 1994 seasons, with the winner going on to win the Super Bowl each time.
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