The 1967 season brought a new team to the NFL – the New Orleans Saints. With 16 teams now in the NFL, two divisions became four.
Gone was the West and East divisions. They were replaced the four C’s.
The Central, Coastal, Century, and Capitol divisions. The Saints found themselves in the Capitol along with the Cowboys, Eagles, and Redskins.
This division landscape would hold for three seasons, until the merger of the NFL and AFL to begin the 1970 season.
For the first time, a four-team playoff would determine who would claim the NFL championship and advance to play the AFL champion in January.
In a display of parity, only five of the 16 teams would post a winning record. Without a wildcard format, that meant one team drew the short straw.
Both the Colts and Rams would finish 11-1-2 in the Coastal Division in 1967. The teams had tied in their first meeting.
But the Rams won the second meeting, handing Los Angeles the division and a ticket to the playoffs. With the new four-team format, the Colts didn’t even get the consolation prize of playing in the Playoff Bowl.
Drafting Toward Success
Coming off the 1966 season, where they did not lose back-to-back games, the Cowboys looked to keep the momentum going.
They didn’t have a pick in the first two rounds of the draft. None of their picks in the 3rd, 4th or 6th (they didn’t have a 5th rounder either) panned out.
But in the 7th round they found a Hall of Famer in Rayfield Wright. Drafted originally as a tight end, Wright would eventually move to offensive tackle and his career took off from there.
For the second straight year the Cowboys took a late round flyer on a basketball player. The selected a wide receiver in the 11th round from Kentucky.
Like Lou Hudson the year before, Pat Riley never saw a down of NFL football. Be he did go on to have a stellar career as a championship winning player, coach and general manager in the NBA.
Building On The Previous Season’s Momentum
For the first time in franchise history, the Cowboys began a season on the road. But starting the season in Cleveland didn’t seem to faze Dallas.
Don Meredith throw a pair of touchdowns and Chuck Howley returned an interception for another score for a 21-17 win over the Browns.
After falling behind 10-0 to the Giants at home, Dallas rallied behind four Meredith touchdown passes for a 38-24 win.
Roman Gabriel would lead the Rams to a 35-13 win at the Cotton Bowl in Week 3. Gabriel would score twice with his legs and the Rams defense would add another score on an interception return.
Dallas would need a fourth-quarter, 36-yard touchdown pass from Meredith to Dan Reeves to escape D.C. with a 17-14 win over the Redskins.
The following week, with Meredith sidelined, Craig Morton started against the expansion Saints. The game ended a lot closer than most expected.
A Morton interception returned for a touchdown tied the game early. Morton broke the tie with a 20-yard pass to Lance Rentzel for a 14-7 halftime lead.
The Saints tacked on a field goal to trim the lead to 14-10 and the Cowboys defense kept them off the board after that. Morton was unable to put any more points on the board either.
Morton fared better in his second straight start, leading Dallas to a 5-1 record with a 24-21 win over the Steelers. But it took a late Morton pass to Pettis Norman to secure the come-from-behind win.
Morton’s third straight start was a train wreck. Throwing three interceptions, the Cowboys fell behind 21-0 and couldn’t rally in 21-14 loss to the Eagles.
Meredith Returns
At 5-2 at the midway point, but with a few shaky wins on the board, the Cowboys were happy to welcome back Meredith to the starting line up in Week 8.
Meredith wasted little time in carving up the visiting Falcons, hitting Dan Reeves on scoring passes of 60 and seven yards.
Lee Roy Jordan added a 33-yard interception return for a 21-0 lead and Reeves added two rushing touchdowns enroute to a 37-7 victory.
The Cowboys made it two in a row with a 27-10 win in New Orleans. While Meredith struggled against the Saints defense, the Cowboys got rushing touchdowns from Reeves, Don Perkins and Frank Clarke.
Dallas would alternate wins against the Cardinals and Eagles around losses to the Redskins, Colts, and 49ers. But at the end, Dallas would win the division at 9-5, a full two-and-a-half games ahead of the Eagles.
The Playoffs Begin
During the regular season, rookie running back Craig Baynham touched the football a total of six times. He had three carries for six yards and a touchdown to go with three catches for 13 yards.
But against the Browns in the divisional playoff game, Baynham caught a three-yard pass to open the scoring. He would add two one-yard rushing touchdowns.
Baynham had 13 carries for 50 yards and Meredith tossed an 86-yard touchdown to Bob Hayes as Dallas rolled to a 52-14 victory.
The Cowboys were on their way back to Green Bay for a second straight NFL Championship game.
The Ice Bowl
For the second straight year, the Packers jumped out to a quick 14-0 lead. But this time, the Cowboys battled all the way back.
Despite 13-below temperatures at Lambeau Field, the Cowboys defense rose up and put Dallas on the board with a fumble recovery for a score.
A short field and a 50-yard pass from Dan Reeves to Lance Rentzel put Dallas up 17-14 with just under five minutes remaining. A meeting with the AFL champion Raiders was in the Cowboys’ grasp.
But Bart Starr had other ideas, driving the Packers methodically downfield. With 16 seconds left, on the goal line and out of timeouts, Starr dove for the endzone.
If he comes up short, Dallas wins. He doesn’t and the Cowboys lose a second-straight NFL championship.
