The

Dallas Cowboys The Dallas Cowboys are a professional American football team based in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex. The Cowboys compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East divisi ...

season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperate and pol ...

was the franchise's 52nd season in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL), the third playing their home games at

Cowboys Stadium AT&T Stadium, formerly Cowboys Stadium, is a retractable-roof stadium in Arlington, Texas, United States. It serves as the home of the Dallas Cowboys of the National Football League (NFL), and was completed on May 27, 2009. It is also the hom ...

and the first full season under head coach

Jason Garrett Jason Calvin Garrett (born March 28, 1966) is a former American football player and coach and current broadcaster. He previously served as the head coach of the Dallas Cowboys for the 2010s from 2010-2019. Garrett has also been offensive coordi ...

. The team improved on their 6–10 record from

2010 File:2010 Events Collage New.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2010 Chile earthquake was one of the strongest recorded in history; The Eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland disrupts air travel in Europe; A scene from the opening ceremony of ...

, but missed the playoffs for the second consecutive season due to their week 17 loss to the eventual

Super Bowl The Super Bowl is the annual final playoff game of the National Football League (NFL) to determine the league champion. It has served as the final game of every NFL season since 1966, replacing the NFL Championship Game. Since 2022, the game ...

champion

New York Giants The New York Giants are a professional American football team based in the New York metropolitan area. The Giants compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member club of the league's National Football Conference (NFC) East division. ...

2011 draft class

Notes The Cowboys forfeited its original seventh-round selection after selecting

defensive tackle A defensive tackle (DT) is a position in American football that will typically line up on the line of scrimmage, opposite one of the offensive guards, however he may also line up opposite one of the tackles. Defensive tackles are typically the la ...

Josh Brent in the

Supplemental Draft The National Football League Draft, also called the NFL Draft or (officially) the Player Selection Meeting, is an annual event which serves as the league's most common source of player recruitment. Each team is given a position in the drafting o ...

. *The Cowboys later acquired a new seventh-round selection in a trade that sent wide receiver

Patrick Crayton Patrick Jamel Crayton (born April 7, 1979) is a former American football wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL) for the Dallas Cowboys and the San Diego Chargers. He played college football at Northwestern Oklahoma State. Early y ...

to the

San Diego Chargers The San Diego Chargers were a professional American football team that played in San Diego from 1961 until the end of the 2016 season, before relocating to Los Angeles, where the franchise had played its inaugural 1960 season. The team is now ...

Schedule

Preseason

The Cowboys' preseason schedule was announced on April 12, 2011.

Schedule

Game summaries

Week 1: at New York Jets

Week 2: at San Francisco 49ers

Week 3: vs. Washington Redskins

Week 4: vs. Detroit Lions

With their second loss to the Lions at home in five years, the Cowboys fell to 2–2.

Week 6: at New England Patriots

The Cowboys' blue uniforms returned after a 1-year hiatus, and they blew a 3-point fourth quarter lead, and lost to the 2011 AFC champion New England Patriots.

Week 7: vs. St. Louis Rams

This game is notable for DeMarco Murray, in his first NFL start, setting the Cowboys single game rushing record.

Week 8: at Philadelphia Eagles

Week 9: vs. Seattle Seahawks

Week 10: vs. Buffalo Bills

Week 11: at Washington Redskins

Week 12: vs. Miami Dolphins

Thanksgiving Day game Coming off their thrilling overtime road win over the Redskins, the Cowboys went home, donned their throwback uniforms, and played a Week 12 interconference duel with the

Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member team of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The team pla ...

in the annual Thanksgiving game. Dallas trailed early in the first quarter with Dolphins kicker

Shayne Graham Michael Shayne Graham (born December 9, 1977) is an American football coach and former placekicker. Graham played 15 seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Virginia Tech. He made his professional debut in Ma ...

getting a 26-yard field goal, yet the Cowboys would answer in the second quarter with a 26-yard field goal from kicker Dan Bailey, followed by quarterback

Tony Romo Antonio Ramiro Romo (born April 21, 1980) is an American sportscaster and former American football quarterback who played in the National Football League (NFL) for 14 seasons with the Dallas Cowboys. He played college football at Eastern Illino ...

finding wide receiver

Laurent Robinson Laurent Robinson (born May 20, 1985) is a former American football wide receiver in the National Football League for the Atlanta Falcons, St. Louis Rams, Dallas Cowboys and Jacksonville Jaguars. He was drafted by the Atlanta Falcons in the thir ...

on a 5-yard touchdown pass. Miami would close out the half with Graham making a 28-yard field goal. The Dolphins retook the lead in the third quarter with Graham booting a 27-yard field goal, followed by quarterback Matt Moore completing a 35-yard touchdown pass to wide receiver

Brandon Marshall Brandon Tyrone Marshall (born March 23, 1984) is an American former professional football player who was a wide receiver for 13 seasons in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the UCF Knights, and was drafted by ...

. Afterwards, Dallas regained the lead in the fourth quarter with Romo connecting with Robinson again on an 18-yard touchdown pass. Miami struck back with Graham making a 23-yard field goal, but Bailey rescued the Cowboys by nailing the winning 28-yard field goal. With the win, Dallas improved to 7–4. Bailey (2/2 on field goal, including game-winning 28-yarder) and linebacker

DeMarcus Ware DeMarcus Omar Ware (born July 31, 1982) is an American former football outside linebacker in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football at Troy University and was drafted by the Dallas Cowboys with the 11th overall pick in th ...

(1 assist and a fumble recovery) were named

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainmen ...

' All-Iron Award winners.

Week 13: at Arizona Cardinals

With seconds left in regulation with the score at 13-13,

called a time out before Dan Bailey was set to kick a 49-yard field goal that would have ended the game (commonly referred to as "icing the kicker"); Bailey ended up missing the field goal and the Cowboys lost the game in overtime.

Week 14: vs. New York Giants

Week 15: at Tampa Bay Buccaneers

Week 16: vs. Philadelphia Eagles

Week 17: at New York Giants

With the loss, the Cowboys finished at 8–8 and missed the playoffs for a second consecutive year.

Standings

Staff

Rosters

Opening preseason roster

Week one roster

Final roster

References

External links

*
Pro Football Hall of Fame

Dallas Cowboys Official Site
{{2011 NFL season by team

Dallas Dallas () is the List of municipalities in Texas, third largest city in Texas and the largest city in the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, the List of metropolitan statistical areas, fourth-largest metropolitan area in the United States at 7.5 ...

Dallas Cowboys seasons

2010s in Dallas