It is Day 94 of our 100-day countdown to kickoff. We are looking back at the 100 most iconic games in Dallas Cowboys history. The countdown will leads us right up to the opening game of 2026. Our look back doesn’t depend on just one criteria for our rankings. We take into consideration things like how big the game was for the organization, how memorable the game was, games that had unusual events take place, games that are a part of NFL lore, Cowboys firsts, and games where the Cowboys just plain dominated. Variety is the spice of life and we have all different kind of Cowboys games to review. At the bottom, we’ll link each day of the countdown so you can go back and check out any you missed.
On Day 94 of our 100-day countdown to kickoff we revisit a Cowboys-Eagles game that made NFL history almost before anyone had settled into their seat. The 2003 Cowboys were still early in the Bill Parcells rebuild, but they entered this Week 6 matchup at 3-1 and already looked far more credible than expected. Philadelphia, meanwhile, came in at 2-2 and tried to steal momentum immediately with a surprise onside kick. It backfired in the most spectacular way possible.
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Sunday, October 12, 2003 — 1:00 p.m. ET
Texas Stadium, Irving, Texas
Final Score: Dallas Cowboys 23, Philadelphia Eagles 21
David Akers opened the game by trying to catch Dallas sleeping. Instead, Randal Williams fielded the onside attempt cleanly and raced 37 yards into the end zone. Officially, the touchdown came three seconds into the game, making it the fastest touchdown in NFL history. It remains one of the strangest and most iconic opening plays the league has ever seen thanks to the Eagles being overly aggressive to start, and the Cowboys were up 7-0 before their offense had even touched the ball.
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The rest of the game was much tighter than that opening suggested. Philadelphia tied it in the second quarter on a five-yard Brian Westbrook touchdown run, but Dallas answered before halftime with a 51-yard Billy Cundiff field goal to take a 10-7 lead. In the third quarter, Troy Hambrick punched in a one-yard touchdown to make it 17-7, only for Donovan McNabb to answer almost immediately with a 52-yard touchdown pass to Duce Staley.
The fourth quarter became a grind. Cundiff hit from 22 yards to push Dallas ahead 20-14, but the Eagles finally took their first lead when Correll Buckhalter scored from 20 yards out with just over five minutes remaining. That made it 21-20 to Philadelphia and put pressure on Quincy Carter and forced the Cowboys offense to respond.
Dallas did respond, even if it was not pretty. Carter and the offense moved the ball far enough for Cundiff to knock through a 28-yard field goal with 1:11 left to give the Cowboys a 23-21 lead. The defense finished the job from there, and Dallas escaped with one of the more memorable regular-season wins of the Parcells era.
This game belongs on the countdown because it combined rivalry stakes, Parcells-era toughness, and a record that still jumps off the page. The Cowboys did not dominate offensively but they made the game’s defining play three seconds in and then survived the rest of the afternoon.
Interesting Facts About the Game
Randal Williams’ touchdown is listed by Guinness World Records as the fastest touchdown in NFL history at just three seconds, and with the new kickoff rules now in place it’s extremely likely this record will never be broken.
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Countdown To Kickoff by day:
100, 99, 98, 97, 96, 95
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