A new chapter in one of the NFL’s best rivalries will be written Sunday when the 49ers play the Dallas Cowboys at Levi’s Stadium.
This will be the ninth playoff meeting between storied franchises who have each won the Super Bowl five times. It’ll be just the third playoff meeting between the franchises that won’t send the winner directly to the Super Bowl. The winner of the divisional round game will need one more victory to get a shot at joining the Patriots and Steelers as six-time champs.
Dallas leads the playoff series 5-3, but the 49ers have won the past two meetings, including last year’s NFC wild-card game. That was the first playoff meeting between the teams in 28 years, a rare lengthy break in a series that has seen the teams play each other three years in a row during the 1970s and 1990s — and produced one of the NFL’s most iconic moments in 1981.
Here’s a look at the 49ers-Cowboys playoff history:
1970: Cowboys 17, 49ers 10 (NFC Championship) — The one that started it all between these two rivals. John Brodie passed for 262 yards at Candlestick Park, but was intercepted twice and the 49ers turned the ball over on downs on their final series. The win earned the Cowboys their first trip to the Super Bowl, where they lost to the Colts, 16-13.
1971: Cowboys 14, 49ers 3 (NFC Championship) — Cedrick Hardman sacked Roger Staubach 3.5 times, but Brodie was intercepted three times as the elusive first Super Bowl again eluded the 49ers. Dallas beat the Dolphins 24-3 in Super Bowl VI.
1972: Cowboys 30, 49ers 28 (NFC Divisional) – Staubauch rallied the Cowboys from 15 down in the fourth quarter at Candlestick Park in a game most 49ers fans painfully remember for Preston Riley’s fumble. With 1:28 left and the 49ers leading 28-23 Riley couldn’t handle a tricky hop. Dallas recovered, and a few plays later Staubach threw go-ahead TD.
1981: 49ers 28, Cowboys 27 (NFC Championship) – The biggest moment in 49ers history, Dwight Clark made “The Catch” of Joe Montana’s rolling third-down throw in the final minute to put San Francisco ahead. It still took huge defensive plays by Eric Wright and Jim Stuckey in the final seconds to finally punch San Francisco’s ticket to the Super Bowl. Bill Walsh’s team would go on to beat the Bengals for title No. 1.
1992: Cowboys 30, 49ers 20 (NFC Championship) – Steve Young hit Jerry Rice for a TD in the fourth quarter that cut the deficit to 24-20. But the 49ers’ bid for a third Super Bowl title in five years was thwarted by Emmitt Smith’s running (173 yards) and the passing of Troy Aikman, who threw for 322 yards and two TDs. Dallas won its first Super Bowl since 1977 by routing the Bills, 52-17.
1993: Cowboys 38, 49ers 21 (NFC Championship) – Aikman was knocked out of the game with a concussion, but this was a lopsided game that saw Dallas lead 28-7 at halftime. The Cowboys sacked Young four times and went on to beat the Bills for the second straight year in the Super Bowl.
1994: 49ers 38, Cowboys 28 (NFC Championship) – The third time was a charm, and Young took a victory lap around the field after throwing two TDs and rushing for another as the 49ers returned to the Super Bowl for the first time in five years and for the first time without Montana at QB. Young threw six TD passes against the Chargers in Super Bowl XXIX as the 49ers became the first franchise to win the title five times.
2021: 49ers 23, Cowboys 17 (Wild Card) – The team met for the first time in 28 years and fans ate up the rematch, which produced the highest TV rating for a wild-card game in seven years. Deebo Samuel was the 49ers’ offensive catalyst, rushing for 72 yards – including a 26-yard TD run that made it 23-7 late in the third quarter – to go with 38 receiving yards. The 49ers reached the NFC championship game, but lost to the Rams.
