The Cowboys still possessed a great offense, but suffered defensive losses as defensive tackle Jethro Pugh retired, safety Charlie Waters missed the season with injury, Ed "Too Tall" Jones left the team while he embarked on a professional boxing career (Jones would return in 1980), and Thomas "Hollywood" Henderson was cut in November for erratic play and behavior.
The Cowboys were upset at home in the divisional playoff by the Los Angeles Rams 21–19 and Staubach retired after the season.
The last remaining active member of the 1979 Dallas Cowboys was offensive lineman Tom Rafferty, who retired after the 1989 season.
This game would turn out to be one of Roger Staubach's finest moments as well as his last great comeback in his Cowboys career.
From the Redskins' one-yard line, Ron Springs made up for his earlier fumble as he scored the Cowboys' first touchdown of the game.
Early in the fourth quarter the Redskins drove to the Cowboys' 7-yard line where they had to settle for a Mark Mosley 24-yard field goal.
The penalty placed the ball at the Cowboys' one-yard line where John Riggins scored to give the lead back to the Redskins, 27–21.
Riggins then raced away from Cowboys cornerback Dennis Thurman down the right sideline and scored from 66 yards for a 34–21 Redskins lead.
Springs caught the pass at the five-yard line and dragged Redskins cornerback Ray Waddy into the end zone.
Rookie Ron Springs, who started in place of the injured Tony Dorsett, rushed for 79 yards and a touchdown.
"[3] Harvey Martin, still in full uniform, threw a wreath that had been sent to the Cowboys' facility before the game (later discovered sent by a Dallas fan but from a florist address in Rockville, Maryland) into the Redskins' locker room right after the comeback victory.
Two weeks after beating the Redskins, the Cowboys were back in Texas Stadium for the divisional round of the playoffs against the Los Angeles Rams.
Now it was the playoffs and the winner would advance to the NFC Championship game with hopes of making it to Super Bowl XIV.
Roger Staubach and the offense couldn't get anything going against the Rams' defense to start the game, except for a 27-yard rush by tight end Billy Joe Dupree.
Once again the Rams could not put a drive together and lined up for a Frank Corral field goal attempt that he missed from 44 yards.
But behind the running of Wendell Tyler and Cullen Bryant, the Rams quickly were able to drive to the Cowboys' 36-yard line where they faced a 4th and 1.
Tyler caught the pass at the 15-yard line and outraced the Cowboys' defense to the end zone for the score.
The drive stalled at the 16-yard line and Rafael Septién connected on a 33-yard field goal to get the Cowboys closer, 7–5.
Ferragamo quickly completed two straight passes and the Rams found themselves at the Cowboys' 43-yard line with 17 seconds left.
The pass made its way into the end zone where Rams wide receiver Ron Smith came down with the ball while covered by two Cowboys defenders.
The Rams' defense in the first half was able to control the Cowboys' running game and was able to limit any big plays from Staubach.
As the second half got started, it seemed as though everyone was waiting for that moment that the Cowboys would come alive and make their move.
Then Staubach threw into the end zone for Tony Dorsett and was intercepted, but the Rams were called for pass interference and that put the Cowboys at the one-yard line.
As the fourth quarter started, the Cowboys' offense quickly drove inside the Rams' 10-yard line off the Harris interception.
Then, from the 2-yard line, Staubach found tight end Jay Saldi wide open for the go-ahead score with 12:46 left in the game.
The Rams got the ball with 4:22 left and Ferragamo connected with wide receiver Billy Waddy for a 36-yard gain to the Cowboys' 44-yard line.
On the first play Ferragamo fired a pass over the middle to Billy Waddy who caught it on the run at the Cowboys' 28-yard line.
There was only 1:57 remaining, the Cowboys had two timeouts, any kind of score would win the game and the great Roger Staubach was under center to work his magic that he had done so many times before in his career.
Staubach dropped back and threw a pass directly at offensive lineman Herbert Scott, who caught the ball.
The Staubach magic also ended that day: on March 31, 1980, he announced his retirement from the Cowboys and the NFL after 11 seasons and two Super Bowl Championships.