Thanksgiving at Texas Stadium in 1974 gave the Cowboys one of the most improbable finishes in franchise history, and it came with an unlikely name attached to it: Clint Longley.
Dallas was in trouble from the start against Washington on Thursday, November 28, 1974. The Cowboys were 6-5 and needed the win to stay in the playoff race, while Washington came in at 8-3 and had already beaten Dallas 11 days earlier. For most of the afternoon, the rematch looked like it would end the same way, with Washington in control and Dallas making life harder on itself through turnovers.
Efren Herrera got the Cowboys on the board first with a 24-yard field goal, but Washington answered with three Mark Moseley kicks from 45, 34 and 39 yards to take a 9-3 halftime lead. In the third quarter, Billy Kilmer hit former Cowboys running back Duane Thomas on a nine-yard touchdown pass to stretch the margin to 16-3.
Then came the hit that changed everything. Roger Staubach was knocked out after a heavy shot from linebacker Dave Robinson, and the Cowboys’ starting quarterback had gone just three of 11 for 32 yards with an interception before leaving. Into that mess stepped Longley, a rookie backup with barely any experience.
He didn’t look like a placeholder. Longley entered with 9:57 left in the third quarter and immediately sparked Dallas.
First he found Billy Joe DuPree for a 35-yard touchdown, cutting the deficit to six. Then he led a 70-yard drive that finished with Walt Garrison punching in a one-yard score, flipping the Cowboys in front 17-16.
Washington answered fast, reclaiming the lead 94 seconds into the fourth quarter when Thomas broke loose for a 19-yard touchdown run. The Redskins still had chances to push away, but rookie defensive end Ed “Too Tall” Jones blocked a short field-goal attempt and kept Dallas within striking distance.
Dallas nearly let the moment slip. Drew Pearson fumbled after a 20-yard catch, and the Cowboys were left with one last shot at their own 25-yard line, 1:45 on the clock, and no timeouts.
On fourth-and-six, Longley found Bob Hayes just far enough to extend the drive. Then, after an incompletion, Pearson beat the Washington secondary with an inside fake and took off downfield.
Longley let it fly, and Pearson hauled in a 50-yard touchdown in stride. Herrera’s extra point put Dallas ahead 24-23 with 28 seconds left.
Longley finished 11 of 20 for 203 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions, good for a 123.5 passer rating. More than the numbers, though, it was the kind of game that sticks in Cowboys lore: a 16-3 comeback, five turnovers, the loss of the starting quarterback, and a rookie backup who seized the moment on Thanksgiving.
Blaine Nye later called it a “triumph of the uncluttered mind.”
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