Wild Card Round: Los Angeles Rams at Dallas Cowboys (Texas Stadium), the bracket opens here. Kickoff: Sun December 28, 1980 at 1:30pm. Winner advances to the divisional round. Loser starts the offseason early.[1][2]
Wild card weekend is the most chaotic football the calendar produces. Los Angeles Rams at Dallas Cowboys at Texas Stadium is the kind of game that decides whether a season was a long buildup or a quick exit. These are the games where the second-tier playoff teams have to prove they belong. Most don't. The few who do define the rest of January.
The bracket has narrowed to the teams that survived the regular season. Los Angeles Rams and Dallas Cowboys are two of them; the rest of the league is in scouting mode for the offseason. What happens in Texas Stadium shifts the rest of the tree: a road favorite winning rearranges seeding expectations; a home upset shows the bracket math underweights heart.
Los Angeles Rams versus Dallas Cowboys in the Wild Card Round. The teams who reach this round have already proven they survive a long schedule; the stats that matter most now are the ones that compress: scoring differential, red-zone efficiency, turnover margin. At this stage of the year, the simple math is that defenses tighten and the team that protects the ball wins more often than the team that scores the most. Whichever side of Los Angeles Rams-Dallas Cowboys cleans up the careless plays first usually walks out with the result. Conservative-game expectations should not surprise the reader; both staffs know exactly what worked all season and will lean hard on what travels. The early answer is the kicking game, where any swing of field position compounds.
| Team | Rec | Strk |
|---|---|---|
| Cleveland Browns | 11-5 | W1 |
| Houston Oilers | 11-5 | W3 |
| Pittsburgh Steelers | 9-7 | L1 |
| Cincinnati Bengals | 6-10 | L1 |
| Team | Rec | Strk |
|---|---|---|
| Buffalo Bills | 11-5 | W1 |
| New England Patriots | 10-6 | W2 |
| Miami Dolphins | 8-8 | L1 |
| Baltimore Colts | 7-9 | L3 |
| New York Jets | 4-12 | W1 |
| Team | Rec | Strk |
|---|---|---|
| Oakland Raiders | 11-5 | W2 |
| San Diego Chargers | 11-5 | W2 |
| Denver Broncos | 8-8 | W1 |
| Kansas City Chiefs | 8-8 | W1 |
| Seattle Seahawks | 4-12 | L9 |
| Team | Rec | Strk |
|---|---|---|
| Atlanta Falcons | 12-4 | L1 |
| Los Angeles Rams | 11-5 | W2 |
| San Francisco 49ers | 6-10 | L2 |
| New Orleans Saints | 1-15 | L1 |
| Team | Rec | Strk |
|---|---|---|
| Detroit Lions | 9-7 | W2 |
| Minnesota Vikings | 9-7 | L1 |
| Chicago Bears | 7-9 | W1 |
| Green Bay Packers | 5-10-1 | L4 |
| Tampa Bay Buccaneers | 5-10-1 | L3 |
| Team | Rec | Strk |
|---|---|---|
| Dallas Cowboys | 12-4 | W1 |
| Philadelphia Eagles | 12-4 | L1 |
| Washington Redskins | 6-10 | W3 |
| St. Louis Cardinals | 5-11 | L2 |
| New York Giants | 4-12 | L2 |
| Team | Play | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Cowboys | Rafael Septien 28 yard field goal | 0-3 |
| Rams | Jewerl Thomas 1 yard rush | 6-3 |
| Team | Play | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Cowboys | Rafael Septien 29 yard field goal | 6-6 |
| Rams | Preston Dennard 21 yard pass from Vince Ferragamo (Frank Corral kick) | 13-6 |
| Cowboys | Tony Dorsett 12 yard rush (Rafael Septien kick) | 13-13 |
| Team | Play | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Cowboys | Tony Dorsett 10 yard pass from Danny White (Rafael Septien kick) | 13-20 |
| Cowboys | Butch Johnson 35 yard pass from Danny White (Rafael Septien kick) | 13-27 |
| Team | Play | Score |
|---|---|---|
| Cowboys | Drew Pearson 11 yard pass from Danny White (Rafael Septien kick) | 13-34 |
Dallas Cowboys defeated Los Angeles Rams 34-13 at Texas Stadium in the Wild Card Round. The final scoring play was Cowboys: Drew Pearson 11 yard pass from Danny White (Rafael Septien kick). The 21-point margin made it a one-sided afternoon. Top line of the day: Danny White: 190 pass yards on 12-of-25, 3 TD, 3 INT. Dallas Cowboys advance to the divisional round.[1][2]
Dallas Cowboys walked out of Texas Stadium as the team that survived a Wild Card Round Los Angeles Rams will replay in its head for the entire offseason. The scoreboard says 34-13. This was a 21-point margin, which is unusual for this round of the postseason and tells a story about which staff out-prepared the other from the opening series. The final scoring play came from Cowboys: Drew Pearson 11 yard pass from Danny White (Rafael Septien kick). Whether it was the game-decider or just the period at the end of the sentence depends on what the camera caught earlier. Dallas Cowboys advance to the divisional round.
Dallas Cowboys 34, Los Angeles Rams 13.
Round: Wild Card Round.
Q1: 2 scoring plays.
Q2: 3 scoring plays.
Q3: 2 scoring plays.
Q4: 1 scoring play.
Top performers:
- Danny White: 190 pass yards on 12-of-25, 3 TD, 3 INT
- Tony Dorsett: 160 rush yards on 22 carries
- Preston Dennard: 6 catches for 117 yards
Wild Card Round, played at Texas Stadium. Final: Los Angeles Rams 13, Dallas Cowboys 34, with Dallas Cowboys taking the result by 21.
First quarter
- Cowboys: Rafael Septien 28 yard field goal
- Rams: Jewerl Thomas 1 yard rush
Second quarter
- Cowboys: Rafael Septien 29 yard field goal
- Rams: Preston Dennard 21 yard pass from Vince Ferragamo (Frank Corral kick)
- Cowboys: Tony Dorsett 12 yard rush (Rafael Septien kick)
Third quarter
- Cowboys: Tony Dorsett 10 yard pass from Danny White (Rafael Septien kick)
- Cowboys: Butch Johnson 35 yard pass from Danny White (Rafael Septien kick)
Fourth quarter
- Cowboys: Drew Pearson 11 yard pass from Danny White (Rafael Septien kick)
Top performers
- Danny White: 190 pass yards on 12-of-25, 3 TD, 3 INT
- Tony Dorsett: 160 rush yards on 22 carries
- Preston Dennard: 6 catches for 117 yards
The 21-point margin says most of what needs saying about how the day went; the box score is the rest.
| Rams | Cowboys | |
|---|---|---|
| Team totals | ||
| First Downs | 15 | 29 |
| Total Yards | 260 | 528 |
| Turnovers | 3 | 3 |
| Passing | ||
| Comp/Att | 14/30 | 12/25 |
| Pass yards | 176 | 190 |
| Pass TD | 1 | 3 |
| Interceptions | 3 | 3 |
| Sacks taken | 1 | 0 |
| Sack yards lost | 8 | 0 |
| Net pass yards | 168 | 190 |
| Rushing | ||
| Rushes | 24 | 46 |
| Rush yards | 92 | 338 |
| Rush TD | 1 | 1 |
| Discipline | ||
| Fumbles | 1 | 2 |
| Fumbles lost | 0 | 0 |
| Penalties | 5 | 11 |
| Penalty yards | 50 | 79 |
| Player | C/A | Yds | TD | Int | Rate |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| RAM | |||||
| Vince Ferragamo | 14/30 | 175 | 1 | 3 | 36.8 |
| DAL | |||||
| Danny White | 12/25 | 190 | 3 | 3 | 73.7 |
| Player | Att | Yds | TD | Long |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| RAM | ||||
| Jewerl Thomas | 14 | 48 | 1 | 12 |
| Cullen Bryant | 10 | 44 | 0 | 14 |
| DAL | ||||
| Tony Dorsett | 22 | 160 | 1 | 23 |
| Ron Springs | 4 | 58 | 0 | 32 |
| Robert Newhouse | 11 | 46 | 0 | 16 |
| James Jones | 5 | 38 | 0 | 22 |
| Timmy Newsome | 2 | 34 | 0 | 19 |
| Danny White | 2 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| Player | Rec | Yds | TD | Long |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| RAM | ||||
| Preston Dennard | 6 | 117 | 1 | 32 |
| Jewerl Thomas | 3 | 26 | 0 | 20 |
| Terry Nelson | 1 | 12 | 0 | 12 |
| Billy Waddy | 1 | 9 | 0 | 9 |
| Cullen Bryant | 2 | 7 | 0 | 5 |
| Mike Guman | 1 | 5 | 0 | 5 |
| DAL | ||||
| Drew Pearson | 4 | 60 | 1 | 19 |
| Jay Saldi | 2 | 52 | 0 | 37 |
| Butch Johnson | 1 | 35 | 1 | 35 |
| Tony Dorsett | 3 | 28 | 1 | 15 |
| Tony Hill | 1 | 8 | 0 | 8 |
| Billy Joe DuPree | 1 | 7 | 0 | 7 |
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