It is Day 62 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’re at Day 62 of our 100-day countdown to kickoff, when we revisit a playoff win defined by defense, timely offense, and one of the great individual postseason performances in Cowboys history. The 1982 season had been warped by the players’ strike, shortened to nine regular-season games, and followed by a special 16-team “Super Bowl Tournament” playoff format. Dallas entered as the NFC’s number two seed, Green Bay as the third, and Texas Stadium hosted a second-round playoff game between two franchises with plenty of postseason history.
Sunday, January 16, 1983 — 4:00 p.m. ET
Texas Stadium, Irving, Texas
Final Score: Dallas Cowboys 37, Green Bay Packers 26
The Cowboys started fast, but in an unusual way. Rafael Septién kicked a 50-yard field goal on Dallas’ opening drive, then Green Bay’s Del Rodgers fumbled the ensuing kickoff. Jeff Rohrer recovered for the Cowboys, and Septién added another field goal from 34 yards. Dallas led 6-0 and had run 19 straight offensive plays before Green Bay even recorded a first down.
The Packers eventually answered when Lynn Dickey hit James Lofton for a six-yard touchdown, giving Green Bay a 7-6 lead. Dallas responded with an 80-yard drive capped by a two-yard Timmy Newsome touchdown run. Then came the play that started turning Dennis Thurman’s afternoon into franchise lore. With 1:13 left in the half, Thurman intercepted Dickey and returned it 39 yards for a touchdown. Dallas went into halftime ahead 20-7.
Green Bay did not go quietly. Jan Stenerud kicked field goals from 30 and 33 yards, and Septién answered from 24 to make it 23-13 Dallas. Then Lofton struck again, this time on a 71-yard touchdown run off a reverse. The missed extra point left Dallas ahead by a 23-19 score, but the Packers were very much alive.
Danny White and the Cowboys answered with a seven-yard touchdown pass to Doug Cosbie, stretching the lead to 30-19. But Green Bay had one more counterpunch. Mark Lee intercepted White and returned it 22 yards for a touchdown, cutting Dallas’ lead to 30-26 midway through the fourth quarter. Suddenly, a game Dallas had controlled was hanging by a thread.
That is when Thurman finished it. His third interception of the day set up a 74-yard Cowboys scoring drive. The biggest play of that possession was pure Landry-era creativity. Drew Pearson took a lateral from White and threw a 49-yard pass to Tony Hill, down to the Green Bay one-yard line. Newsome scored on the next play, and Dallas had its closing touchdown in a 37-26 playoff win.
This game belongs on the countdown because Thurman’s performance was historic and because the win sits in a fascinating place in Cowboys history. Dallas was still a postseason regular under Tom Landry, but the dynasty years of the 1970s were beginning to fade. On this day, though, Texas Stadium still had playoff magic and a that defense made the biggest plays when it mattered most.
Interesting Facts About the Game
This was the final playoff win of Tom Landry’s coaching career. It was also the Cowboys’ last playoff victory until the 1991 season.
Countdown To Kickoff by day:
100, 99, 98, 97, 96, 95, 94, 93, 92, 91, 90, 89, 88, 87, 86, 85, 84, 83, 82, 81, 80, 79, 78, 77, 76, 75, 74, 73, 72, 71, 70, 69, 68, 67, 66, 65, 64, 63
