It is Day 50 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 now at the halfway point, Day 50. of our 100-day countdown to kickoff, so let’s make this one special and revisit a game that combined a comfortable Cowboys win with a major franchise milestone. Dallas hosted the St. Louis Rams in Week 3 of the 2013 season needing a bounce-back performance after a road loss to Kansas City. The Cowboys got exactly that behind DeMarco Murray’s rushing, Tony Romo’s efficiency, and a defensive front that overwhelmed Sam Bradford all afternoon. But this game also became the moment a franchise record was set.
Sunday, September 22, 2013 — 1:00 p.m. ET
AT&T Stadium, Arlington, Texas
Final Score: Dallas Cowboys 31, St. Louis Rams 7
The tone was set early. Dallas opened with a strong Murray-led drive, and Romo finished it with a two-yard touchdown pass to Dez Bryant. Dan Bailey added a short field goal later in the first quarter, and the Cowboys led 10-0 after holding St. Louis to only two total yards in the opening period. That was the shape of the game from the start.
The Cowboys kept building in the second quarter. Murray continued to punish St. Louis on the ground, and Dallas put together a 10-play, 67-yard drive that ended with Murray diving to the pylon for a touchdown. By halftime, the Cowboys led 17-0 and had turned the game into exactly the kind of physical, low-stress afternoon Jason Garrett’s team needed.
The third quarter brought more of the same. Murray ripped off a 41-yard run early in the half, setting up Romo’s 24-yard touchdown pass to rookie tight end Gavin Escobar. The Rams finally got on the board when Bradford found Austin Pettis for a touchdown, but that was their only real scoring threat of the day. Dallas answered in the fourth quarter when Romo hit Dwayne Harris for a 24-yard touchdown, closing out the 31-7 rout.
Murray was the offensive star, rushing 26 times for 175 yards and a touchdown. Romo did not need volume to control the game, finishing with 210 passing yards and three touchdown throws to three different receivers. Jason Witten led Dallas with five catches for 67 yards, while the Cowboys’ offense finished with 396 total yards and controlled the game from the first drive.
But the lasting headline belonged to DeMarcus Ware. Ware had two sacks, giving him 115 for his Cowboys career and moving him past Harvey Martin for the most sacks in franchise history. His first sack tied Martin’s mark, and his second put the record in Ware’s hands alone. For one of the greatest defensive players the franchise has ever had, it was a fitting record-setting performance.
This game belongs on the countdown because franchise records matter, especially when they involve a player like Ware passing a legend like Harvey Martin. The Cowboys have had elite defenders across generations, from Martin and Randy White to Charles Haley, Ware, and Micah Parsons. On this day, Ware officially climbed to the top of the sack list, while Dallas turned the Rams into a footnote on a milestone afternoon. So for this halfway point of the countdown, we dedicate it to great and powerful Demarcus Ware.
Interesting Facts About the Game
Ware finished with two sacks, six tackles, and two additional quarterback hits. His second sack gave him 115 career sacks, passing Martin for the franchise record, where that record still stands today.
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, 62, 61, 60, 59, 58, 57,56, 55, 54, 53, 52, 51
