Today in 1975 - Dallas Cowboys vs Philadelphia Eagles

October 26, 1975 – Today in 1975, the Philadelphia Eagles hosted the Dallas Cowboys at the Vet in a Week 6 contest.

The Eagles scored first on a 1 yard touchdown pass from Roman Gabriel to Harold Carmichael.  Philly led at the end of the first quarter 7-0.

Dallas scored on a special teams play.  Golden Richards returned  a Spike Jones punt 43 yards for a touchdown and the score was tied.  Philly retook the lead on an 18 yard touchdown pass from Gabriel to Carmichael.  The Cowboys answered with a 20 yard field goal by Toni Fritsch.  The Eagles led at halftime 14-10.

After a scoreless third quarter, Philly increased its lead on a Horst Muhlmann 28 yard field goal to 17-10.  But Dallas didn’t give up.  Roger Staubach threw a 21 yard touchdown pass to Drew Pearson and tied the game.  The Cowboys put the game away on a 42 yard Fritsch field goal.  The Dallas Cowboys beat the Philadelphia Eagles 20-17.

For the Eagles, Roman Gabriel passed 9-23 for 166 yards and 2 touchdowns.  Carmichael had 3 receptions for 26 yards and 2 touchdowns.  For the Cowboys, Roger Staubach passed 27-49 for 314 yards, a touchdown and an interception by John Outlaw.  Jean Fugett had 7 receptions for 93 yards.  Drew Pearson caught 4 passes for 48 yards and a touchdown. 

Philadelphia went to 1-5 on the season.  They finished the season at 4-10, last in the NFC East.  Dallas went to 5-1 and finished the season at 10-4, second in the NFC East to the St. Louis Cardinals.  They made the playoffs and lost Super Bowl X to the Pittsburgh Steelers 21-17.

Trivia

• There were 7 Hall of Famers present: special teams coach Dick LeBeau and head coach Mike McCormack for the Eagles and Roger Staubach, Rayfield Wright, Mel Renfro, Randy White, and head coach Tom Landry for the Cowboys.
  
• Mike McCormack was in his last season coaching the Eagles.  He coached the team from 1973-75.  He later coached the Baltimore Colts and the Seattle Seahawks.
  
• This was Tom Landry’s 16^th season coaching the Cowboys.  He was the team’s first head coach and he coached the team from 1960-88.
  
• Dick LeBeau was the head coach of the Cincinnati Bengals from 2000-02.
  
• McCormack was replaced the next season by Dick Vermeil.
  
• Landry and McCormack faced each other as players in 1954 and 1955.  McCormick was a right tackle for the Cleveland Browns and Landry was a punter and defensive coordinator with the New York Giants.  McCormack’s Browns won both meetings.

Here are some historical scores on this day for teams facing each other this week, on October 26,

1947 – Cleveland 14 – San Francisco 7

1975 – Los Angeles Rams 38 – New Orleans 14

1997 – Philadelphia 13 – Dallas 12

2003 – Cincinnati 27 – Seattle 24

Game stats can be found on Pro-Football-Reference.com at

Dallas Cowboys vs Philadelphia Eagles - October 26, 1975.