Gailey would revitalize the Cowboys offense, particularly the running game, which had seen a recent decline despite the presence of running backEmmitt 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, CornerbackDeion 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. It was an outstanding season for Sanders, who played so well on defense and special teams during a win over the New York Giants that a "primetime" award for him.
Troy Aikman was injured in a week two loss at Denver and missed the next 5 games. Jason Garrett started all games during Aikman's absence and went 3–2 as the starting quarterback.
