Day 33 of the Cowboys’ 100-day countdown to kickoff takes us back to one of the franchise’s defining playoff escapes: the “Duel in Dixie” against the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday, January 4, 1981.
Dallas walked into Atlanta-Fulton County Stadium in a transition year, with Roger Staubach retired and Danny White stepping into the spotlight. The Cowboys still finished 12-4, but Philadelphia won the NFC East, sending Dallas into the postseason through the Wild Card round. After knocking off the Los Angeles Rams, the Cowboys traveled to meet an Atlanta team that had also gone 12-4 and claimed the NFC’s top seed.
The Falcons came out sharp and made their home-field edge count early. Tim Mazzetti opened with a 38-yard field goal, then Steve Bartkowski hit Alfred Jenkins on a 60-yard touchdown. Dallas answered with a Rafael Septién field goal, but Atlanta still owned a 10-3 lead after one quarter.
Danny White helped pull the Cowboys even when he found Billy Joe DuPree on a five-yard touchdown pass. Atlanta answered right back with Lynn Cain’s one-yard run, and the Falcons nearly added more before halftime, only for Steve Wilson to intercept Bartkowski and keep Dallas within reach at 17-10.
The game tightened even more after the break, and then slipped further away for a moment. Preston Pearson caught a short pass and got into Atlanta territory, but he was run down and fumbled at the Falcons’ 15-yard line. Atlanta cashed in when Bartkowski connected with William Andrews for a 12-yard touchdown, pushing the lead to 24-10.
That’s where the comeback started to take shape. Dallas put together a long march that stretched across the third-quarter break, and Robert Newhouse finished it with a one-yard touchdown to cut the margin to seven. Atlanta answered with a Tom Pridemore interception that led to another Mazzetti field goal, and suddenly the Cowboys were staring at a 27-17 hole late in the fourth quarter.
White didn’t blink. He guided a 62-yard touchdown drive and capped it with a 14-yard strike to Drew Pearson, trimming the Falcons’ lead to 27-24 with 3:04 left. The Dallas defense then got the stop it needed, handing White one more chance.
Starting from his own 30-yard line with the season hanging in the balance, White went right back to Pearson. This time it was the dagger: a 23-yard touchdown pass with 47 seconds left that put Dallas ahead for good in a 30-27 win.
The game earns its place in the countdown because it showed the Cowboys could still be a force in the postseason after Staubach’s retirement. White was under huge pressure, and he answered a 14-point fourth-quarter deficit by leading three touchdown drives. It was a statement performance that helped cement him as Staubach’s successor and launched a stretch of three straight NFC Championship Game appearances with White at quarterback.
One more note from the game: Ed “Too Tall” Jones helped set up the defensive stop that gave Dallas its final possession. His sudden movement before an Atlanta snap caused confusion on the Falcons’ offensive line, but he stayed onside and helped bring the drive to an end.
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