The 1990 season was the Dallas Cowboys' 31st season in NFL. The Cowboys rebounded from a 1-15 season in 1989 to a 7-9 record. Jimmy Johnson won AP's NFL coach of the year honors.

The season began with a win over San Diego, breaking a 14 game home losing streak. The Cowboys showed some early season fight with two wins over Tampa Bay and a near-miss against Philadelphia, but still stood only 3-7 after ten weeks, and were seemingly out of playoff contention. However, the team caught fire in late November, winning four games in a row (including impressive wins over the Redskins and Saints, and a blowout win over the Cardinals). The Cowboys entered the season's final two weeks needing only one win or Saints' loss to make the playoffs as a wildcard. However, in game 15 quarterback Troy Aikman separated his shoulder early against the Eagles and was replaced by Babe Laufenberg (The Cowboys had traded backup Steve Walsh early in the season and Lauferberg was elevated from 3rd string to backup). With Aikman injured, the Cowboys mustered little offense against the Eagles and lost, 17-3. Meanwhile the Saints upset the 49ers (handing the Niners only their second loss) to keep the Cowboys from clinching in game 15. The next week, with Laufenberg again leading the offense, the Cowboys were thoroughly beaten, 26-7, by the 4-11 Atlanta Falcons. When the Saints beat the Rams the next night, the Cowboys were eliminated from playoff contention.

This season featured the debut of running back Emmitt Smith. Smith held out during training camp and was only a minimal contributor in the season's early games, but began to show his future greatness with a 100-plus performance in a week 5 win against Tampa Bay and had a few other outstanding games during the season.

Offseason

NFL Draft

Pick #	NFL Team	Player	Position	College
17	Dallas Cowboys	Emmitt Smith	Running Back	Florida
27	Dallas Cowboys	Alexander Wright	Wide Receiver	Auburn
65	Dallas Cowboys	Jimmie Jones	Defensive Tackle	Miami
222	Dallas Cowboys	Kenneth Gant	Defensive Back	Albany State, Ga.

Regular season

Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Result	Venue
1	1990-09-09	San Diego Chargers	W 17-14	Texas Stadium
2	1990-09-16	New York Giants	L 28-7	Texas Stadium
3	1990-09-23	at Washington Redskins	L 19-15	Robert F. Kennedy Memorial Stadium
4	1990-09-30	at New York Giants	L 31-17	Giants Stadium
5	1990-10-07	Tampa Bay Buccaneers	W 14-10	Texas Stadium
6	1990-10-14	at Phoenix Cardinals	L 20-3	Sun Devil Stadium
7	1990-10-21	at Tampa Bay Buccaneers	W 17-13	Tampa Stadium
8	1990-10-28	Philadelphia Eagles	L 21-20	Texas Stadium
9	1990-11-04	at New York Jets	L 24-9	The Meadowlands
10	1990-11-11	San Francisco 49ers	L 24-6	Texas Stadium
11	1990-11-18	at Los Angeles Rams	W 24-10	Anaheim Stadium
12	1990-11-25	Washington Redskins	W 27-17	Texas Stadium
13	1990-12-02	New Orleans Saints	W 17-13	Texas Stadium
14	Bye
15	1990-12-16	Phoenix Cardinals	W 41-10	Texas Stadium
16	1990-12-23	at Philadelphia Eagles	L 17-3	Veterans Stadium
17	1990-12-30	at Atlanta Falcons	L 26-7	Fulton County Stadium

Standings

NFC East
Team	W	L	T	PCT	PF	PA
New York Giants	13	3	0	.813	335	211
Philadelphia Eagles	10	6	0	.625	396	299
Washington Redskins	10	6	0	.625	381	301
Dallas Cowboys	7	9	0	.438	244	308
Phoenix Cardinals	5	11	0	.313	268	396

Porkchop Bowl

The Porkchop Bowl was the NFL matchup between the Philadelphia Eagles and Dallas Cowboys which followed the infamous Bounty Bowl II.

Even though almost a year had transpired since the notorious "Bounty Bowl" games, the vitriolic rivalry between the two teams was still firmly in Cowboys fans' memories. And this was the first encounter since Cowboys players and coaches were relentlessly pelted by snowballs during that last meeting at Philadelphia's Veterans Stadium.

The week before game day in Dallas, Philadelphia head coach Buddy Ryan and Ted Plumb, his offensive coordinator were out for dinner. Coach Ryan was dining on pork chops and started to choke. Fortunately, Plumb quickly initiated the Heimlich maneuver and saved Ryan's life. Word of the incident spread in Dallas, and hatred by Dallas fans was so fevered towards Ryan that former Cowboys' president Tex Schramm dubbed the pending game on October 28 the "Porkchop Bowl." When the game began, Dallas fans tossed pork chops and similar simulated meat products from the stands toward the Eagles bench.

The final score was 21-20 in favor of the Eagles.

Awards and records

• Jimmy Johnson, National Football League Coach of the Year Award
• Emmitt Smith, National Football League Rookie of the Year Award

References

• http://www.pro-football-reference.com/teams/dal1990.htm