I already talked about the last game of this season. The one when Dallas beat Denver in the Super Bowl. But one regular season game from that year has also stayed with me. It was in an era when games seemed to end 16-6 and 9-3. Defense reigned supreme, for the most part. But on this day, both offenses picked apart the defenses.
Jim Plunkett and his San Francisco team played host to an ailing Roger Staubach and the Cowboys. Roger turned in an almost perfect performance and led his team to a high scoring victory. I don't know why this game stands out in my mind so much, but it does. Even with all the history that these two teams have with each other, from "The Catch" to "How 'bout them Cowboys!" when I hear the 49ers mentioned, this is the first game I think of.
You have to remember that this was before Bill Walsh had turned San Francisco into a juggernaut. They weren't even very good. But on this day they put up 35 points on the Doomsday defense that the next week would hold the best team in the AFC (Denver) to just 6.
But even a magnificent offensive display such as it was, it fell short. Roger and the Cowboy offense put up 7 more, for a total of 42. Tony Dorsett also became the best rookie running back in team history (and still is, including Emmitt or anyone else you want to consider), both in yards and touchdowns. The next week, he would become only the second RB in club history to eclipse 1000 yards (Calvin Hill had done it twice before). You can be sure that he will make another appearance or two in the Greatest Memories series.
But the great day at Candlestick Park will forever be burned into my memory, for it was the highest scoring game I had ever watched, that I remembered. You can read about it here.
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