Last Dallas-Miami Meeting Left Johnson in Shock

By STEVEN WINE / AP Sports Writer (Oct. 25, 1996)

MIAMI (AP) - It'll be a cold day in Dallas before the Cowboys and Miami Dolphins play another game like their last one.

With a little help from Leon Lett, Miami handed Jimmy Johnson his final defeat as the Cowboys' coach. The teams face each other again Sunday, this time in Miami with Johnson on the Dolphins' sideline.

"The last time these two teams met," Johnson said, "I was somewhat in shock."

The game was memorable in part because it took place on a sleet-covered Texas Stadium field on Thanksgiving Day 1993.

"Just weather-wise, it was one of the most bizarre days I ever experienced in Dallas," Johnson said. "I don't know that I ever went through another day like that."

Miami, playing without an injured Dan Marino, trailed 14-13 when Dolphins kicker Pete Stoyanovich tried a 41-yard field goal with 15 seconds left. Jimmie Jones blocked the kick and the ball squirted toward the Dallas end zone.

Under NFL rules, the Cowboys were assured of possession - unless one of their players touched the ball before the play was blown dead.

"We were getting to ready to go talk to the press about how we had won the game," Johnson said.

But Lett, confused about the rules, scrambled after the ball and fumbled it. Miami center Jeff Dellenbach recovered at the 1-yard line and Stoyanovich kicked a 19-yard field goal on the final play for a 16-14 victory.

"I wasn't just disappointed; I was nauseated," Johnson said.

"I went in the locker room, and Leon was all distraught. Some guys said, 'He's liable to cut him.' Hey, you don't cut a 6-foot-6, 300-pounder who ends up being the best defensive lineman in the NFL."

The game marked a turning point for both teams, but not in the expected directions.

"After that game we were 7-4," Dallas quarterback Troy Aikman recalled. "It was a tough loss. We knew we had our backs against the wall for the remainder of the year."

The Cowboys didn't lose again, winning eight consecutive games and their second straight Super Bowl title under Johnson. He was fired by owner Jerry Jones after the season.

For Miami, the victory meant an NFL-best record of 9-2 at the start of December. But Marino's absence and injuries to other players caught up with the Dolphins, and they didn't win again, losing five in a row and failing to make the playoffs.

"The season just went down the tubes," said cornerback J.B. Brown.

Of the players in that game, eight are still with Miami and 21 - including Lett - remain with Dallas.

All will be happy to know that Sunday's forecast calls for partly cloudy skies with temperatures in the mid to upper 80s.

In other words, no sleet.