1998 Dallas Cowboys season
| 1998 Dallas Cowboys season | |
|---|---|
| Head coach | Chan Gailey |
| Home field | Texas Stadium |
| Results | |
| Record | 10–6 |
| Division place | 1st NFC East |
| Playoff finish | Lost Wild Card Playoffs (Cardinals) 20–7 |
The 1998 Dallas Cowboys season would mark their 39th in the NFL and team owner Jerry Jones would hire former Pittsburgh Steelers offensive coordinator Chan Gailey to be the fourth head coach of the Dallas Cowboys franchise.
Gailey would revitalize the Cowboys offense, particularly the running game, which had seen a recent decline despite the presence of running back Emmitt Smith. The trio of Smith, Troy Aikman, and Michael Irvin helped the Cowboys be the first ever NFC East team to sweep their division en route to capturing the NFC East title, the team's sixth of the 90's. The Cowboys would later encounter the Arizona Cardinals for the third time that season in the NFC Wild Card Game, but would lose in a stunning upset in the first round at Texas Stadium. Ironically, Cornerback Deion Sanders would suffer an injury to his toe in a regular season victory over Arizona and made a surprise return against the same team in the playoff loss.
Troy Aikman was injured in a week two loss at Denver and missed the next 5 games. Future Cowboys Head Coach Jason Garrett started all games during Aikman's absence and went 3–2 as the starting quarterback.
Notable additions to the team that year include defensive end Greg Ellis and offensive tackle Flozell Adams. Ellis was drafted with the 9th pick in the first round, and many were stunned that the Cowboys didn't draft Randy Moss (most likely for off the field issues).
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