Madden Moment - 1994 NFC Championship Game - Valdarez's Blog

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Madden Moment - 1994 NFC Championship Game

Posted on April 11, 2010 at 12:59 AM.

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Madden 09 contained a feature called Madden Moments. Now, I can't claim to have played it, but there's one game that I always replay with every football game I own year in and year out, and that's the 1994 NFC Championship game (actually played in January of 1995) where the Dallas Cowboys faced the San Francisco 49ers. I watched this game, I screamed at this game, and the outcome was one that to this day I wish I could change. It's a Madden Moment I would definitely play over and over agian if it found it's way to Madden 11.

This was the third consecutive season that the Cowboys and the 49ers met in the NFC Championship Game, with Dallas winning the first two conference title games. San Francisco quarterback Steve Young still faced the pressure of "never being able to win the big ones", while Dallas quarterback Troy Aikman entered the game with a 7�0 win-loss record as a starter in the playoffs.

Although the Cowboys eventually held a 451�294 advantage in total offensive yards, the 49ers converted three turnovers into three touchdowns in the first quarter en route to the 38�28 victory. On the third play of the game, San Francisco cornerback Eric Davis intercepted Aikman's pass and returned it 44 yards for a touchdown. Cowboys wide receiver Michael Irvin lost a fumble on the next Dallas possession, setting up a 29-yard touchdown pass from Young to running back Ricky Watters, who eluded several Cowboys defenders high-stepping his way down the sideline en route to the goal line in spectacular showboating fashion. Dallas returner Kevin Williams then fumbled the ensuing kickoff, San Francisco kicker Doug Brien recovered the ball at the Cowboys 35-yard line, and running back William Floyd scored on a 1-yard touchdown to give his team a 21�0 lead with 7:33 left in the first quarter.

Cowboys Were Down 21-0 in 1st Quarter

A 44-yard touchdown pass from Aikman to Irvin cut the lead 21-7 going into the second quarter. Brien then kicked a 34-yard field goal, but Dallas countered with a 4-yard rushing touchdown by running back Emmitt Smith. In the closing minutes of the first half, Aikman threw three straight incompletions, and a short punt by the Cowboys set up Young's 28-yard touchdown completion to All-Pro wide receiver Jerry Rice (which during the halftime show, Terry Bradshaw said was one of the best passes he had ever seen), who made a diving catch in the back-left corner of the end zone with 8 seconds remaining in the first half.

In the third quarter, Smith scored on a 1-yard touchdown, but was countered with Young's 3-yard rushing touchdown. In the final quarter, Smith, who compiled 24 yards, departed with an injured hamstring, which he had already injured before this game, it got enough wear and tear to the point he couldn't play anymore. Aikman then completed a 10-yard touchdown to Irvin in the final quarter, but Dallas could not score again. Although Aikman broke an NFC Championship Game record with 380 yards passing, and Irvin also broke an NFC Championship Game record with 192 receiving yards, ultimately the first-quarter turnovers were too much to overcome.

Sourced from Wikipedia