The 2012 season was the Dallas Cowboys' 53rd in the National Football League (NFL), their fourth playing home games at Cowboys Stadium and their second full season under head coach Jason Garrett. The Cowboys matched their win total from 2011, but missed the playoffs for a third consecutive season after losing their final game for the second straight season, this time to the Washington Redskins.
2012 draft class
2012 Dallas Cowboys draft Round Selection Player Position College 1 6 Morris Claiborne CB LSU 3 81 Tyrone Crawford DE Boise State 4 113 Kyle Wilber LB Wake Forest Matt Johnson S Eastern Washington 5 152 Danny Coale WR Virginia Tech 6 186 James Hanna TE Oklahoma 7 222 Caleb McSurdy LB Montana Compensatory selection Notes The Cowboys traded their original first and second-round selections to the St. Louis Rams in order to move up in the first-round and select Morris Claiborne.
Staff
Rosters
Opening preseason roster Dallas Cowboys 2012 opening preseason roster Quarterbacks Rudy Carpenter Stephen McGee Kyle Orton Tony Romo
Running backs Shaun Chapas FB Lance Dunbar Felix Jones DeMarco Murray Jamize Olawale RB/FB Phillip Tanner Lawrence Vickers FB Ed Wesley
Wide receivers Miles Austin Cole Beasley Tim Benford Dez Bryant Saalim Hakim Dwayne Harris Andre Holmes Donavon Kemp Kevin Ogletree Raymond Radway
Tight ends James Hanna John Nalbone John Phillips FB Andrew Szczerba Jason Witten Offensive linemen Jeff Adams T Levy Adcock T David Arkin G Phil Costa C Doug Free T Harland Gunn G Ronald Leary G Nate Livings G Pat McQuistan T Bill Nagy G Tyrone Novikoff T/G Jermey Parnell T Tyron Smith T
Defensive linemen Ben Bass DE Josh Brent NT Rob Callaway NT Kenyon Coleman DE Tyrone Crawford DE Clifton Geathers DE Jason Hatcher DE Sean Lissemore DE/NT Jay Ratliff NT Marcus Spears DELinebackers Alex Albright OLB/ILB Baraka Atkins OLB/DE Victor Butler OLB/DE Bruce Carter ILB Dan Connor ILB Isaiah Greenhouse ILB/FB Adrian Hamilton OLB/DE Sean Lee ILB Orie Lemon ILB Caleb McSurdy ILB Anthony Spencer OLB/DE DeMarcus Ware OLB/DE Aston Whiteside ILB/OLB Kyle Wilber OLB
Defensive backs Mario Butler CB Brandon Carr CB Barry Church SS Morris Claiborne CB Matt Johnson SS/FS Isaac Madison CB Danny McCray FS Akwasi Owusu-Ansah CB/FS Brodney Pool SS Orlando Scandrick CB Gerald Sensabaugh FS Mana Silva SS Lionel Smith CB Justin Taplin-Ross FS/CB Eddie Whitley FS Teddy Williams CB/WR C. J. Wilson CB
Special teams Delbert Alvarado P Dan Bailey K Charley Hughlett LS Chris Jones P L. P. Ladouceur LS Reserve lists Mackenzy Bernadeau G/C (Active/PUP) Danny Coale WR (Active/PUP) Mike Jenkins CB (Active/PUP) Kevin Kowalski C/G (Active/PUP)
90 active, 0 inactive
Week one roster Dallas Cowboys 2012 week one roster Quarterbacks Kyle Orton Tony Romo
Running backs Felix Jones DeMarco Murray Phillip Tanner Lawrence Vickers FB
Wide receivers Miles Austin Cole Beasley Dez Bryant Dwayne Harris Andre Holmes Kevin Ogletree
Tight ends Colin Cochart James Hanna Jeremy Phillips FB Jason Witten Offensive linemen David Arkin G Mackenzy Bernadeau G/C Ryan Cook C Phil Costa C Derrick Dockery G Doug Free T Nate Livings G Martin Parnell T Tyron Smith T
Defensive linemen Josh Brent NT Kenyon Coleman DE Tyrone Crawford DE Jason Hatcher DE Sean Lissemore DE/NT Jay Ratliff NT Marcus Spears DELinebackers Alex Albright OLB/ILB Victor Butler OLB/DE Bruce Carter ILB Dan Connor ILB Sean Lee ILB Anthony Spencer OLB/DE DeMarcus Ware OLB/DE Kyle Wilber OLB
Defensive backs Mario Butler CB Brandon Carr CB Barry Church SS Morris Claiborne CB Mike Jenkins CB Matt Johnson SS/FS Danny McCray FS Orlando Scandrick CB Gerald Sensabaugh FS Mana Silva SS
Special teams Dan Bailey K Chris Jones P L. P. Ladouceur LS Reserve lists Donavon Kemp WR (IR) Kevin Kowalski C/G (PUP) Caleb McSurdy ILB (IR)
Practice Squad Ben Bass DE Tim Benford WR Rob Callaway NT Danny Coale WR Lance Dunbar RB Ronald Leary G Orie Lemon ILB Jamize Olawale RB/FB
53 Active, 3 Inactive, 8 PS
Final roster Dallas Cowboys 2012 final roster Quarterbacks Kyle Orton Tony Romo
Running backs Lance Dunbar Felix Jones DeMarco Murray Phillip Tanner Lawrence Vickers FB
Wide receivers Miles Austin Cole Beasley Dez Bryant Dwayne Harris Kevin Ogletree
Tight ends James Hanna John Phillips Jason Witten Offensive linemen David Arkin G Mackenzy Bernadeau G Ryan Cook C Derrick Dockery G Doug Free T Kevin Kowalski C Ronald Leary G Nate Livings G Jermey Parnell T Tyron Smith T Darrion Weems T
Defensive linemen Rob Callaway NT Tyrone Crawford DE Jason Hatcher DE Sean Lissemore NT Jay Ratliff NT Brian Schaefering DE Marcus Spears DELinebackers Alex Albright OLB Victor Butler OLB Dan Connor ILB Brady Poppinga ILB Ernie Sims ILB Anthony Spencer OLB DeMarcus Ware OLB Kyle Wilber OLB
Defensive backs Brandon Carr CB Morris Claiborne CB Michael Coe CB Eric Frampton SS Mike Jenkins CB Danny McCray SS Sterling Moore CB Charlie Peprah SS Gerald Sensabaugh FS
Special teams Dan Bailey K L. P. Ladouceur LS Brian Moorman P Reserve lists Ben Bass DE (IR) Josh Brent NT (NF-Ill.) Bruce Carter ILB (IR) Barry Church SS (IR) Kenyon Coleman DE (IR) Phil Costa C (IR) Matt Johnson FS (IR-DFR) Chris Jones P (IR) Donavon Kemp WR (IR) Sean Lee ILB (IR) Orie Lemon ILB (IR) Caleb McSurdy ILB (IR) Orlando Scandrick CB (IR)
Practice Squad Vince Agnew CB Tim Benford WR Danny Coale WR (IR) Andre Holmes WR Ikponmwosa Igbinosun DE Micah Pellerin CB Brashton Satele LB Andre Smith TE Monte Taylor LB
53 Active, 14 Inactive, 8 Practice Squad
Schedule
Preseason Week Date Opponent Result Record Game site NFL.comrecap 1 August 13 at Oakland Raiders W 3–0 1–0 O.co Coliseum Recap 2 August 18 at San Diego Chargers L 20–28 1–1 Qualcomm Stadium Recap 3 August 25 St. Louis Rams W 20–19 2–1 Cowboys Stadium Recap 4 August 29 Miami Dolphins W 30–13 3–1 Cowboys Stadium Recap
Regular season Week Date Opponent Result Record Game site NFL.comrecap 1 September 5 at New York Giants W 24–17 1–0 MetLife Stadium Recap 2 September 16 at Seattle Seahawks L 7–27 1–1 CenturyLink Field Recap 3 September 23 Tampa Bay Buccaneers W 16–10 2–1 Cowboys Stadium Recap 4 Chicago Bears L 18–34 2–2 Cowboys Stadium Recap 5 Bye 6 October 14 at Baltimore Ravens L 29–31 2–3 M&T Bank Stadium Recap 7 October 21 at Carolina Panthers W 19–14 3–3 Bank of America Stadium Recap 8 October 28 New York Giants L 24–29 3–4 Cowboys Stadium Recap 9 November 4 at Atlanta Falcons L 13–19 3–5 Georgia Dome Recap 10 November 11 at Philadelphia Eagles W 38–23 4–5 Lincoln Financial Field Recap 11 November 18 Cleveland Browns W 23–20 5–5 Cowboys Stadium Recap 12 November 22 Washington Redskins L 31–38 5–6 Cowboys Stadium Recap 13 December 2 Philadelphia Eagles W 38–33 6–6 Cowboys Stadium Recap 14 December 9 at Cincinnati Bengals W 20–19 7–6 Paul Brown Stadium Recap 15 December 16 Pittsburgh Steelers W 27–24 8–6 Cowboys Stadium Recap 16 December 23 New Orleans Saints L 31–34 8–7 Cowboys Stadium Recap 17 December 30 at Washington Redskins L 18–28 8–8 FedExField Recap Note: Intra-division opponents are in bold text.
Game summaries
Week 1: at New York Giants
The Cowboys opened its 2012 campaign at MetLife Stadium in the Annual Kickoff Game against their NFC East foe, the defending Super Bowl champion New York Giants. After a scoreless first quarter, the Giants picked up the season's first points as kicker Lawrence Tynes kicked a 22-yard field goal in the second quarter. Dallas would close out the half with quarterback Tony Romo finding wide receiver Kevin Ogletree on a 10-yard touchdown pass.
In the third quarter, the Cowboys added onto its lead. Romo hooked up with Ogletree again with a 40-yard touchdown pass. New York answered with a 10-yard run from running back Ahmad Bradshaw, yet Dallas responded in kind with a 33-yard field goal from kicker Dan Bailey. The Cowboys pulled away for good in the fourth quarter with Romo connecting with wide receiver Miles Austin on a 34-yard touchdown pass. The Giants closed out the game with quarterback Eli Manning completing a 9-yard touchdown pass to former Dallas tight end Martellus Bennett.
With the win, the Cowboys began the season at 1–0.
Week 2: at Seattle Seahawks
With the huge loss, the Cowboys fell to 1–1.
Week 3: vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Hoping to rebound from their tough road loss to the Seattle Seahawks, the Cowboys returned to Arlington to host their home opener against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, a team that they had blown out a year before. This game, however, was a close one throughout. In the first quarter, Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo tossed an interception to Aqib Talib, which set up for a 1-yard touchdown pass from Tampa Bay quarterback Josh Freeman to tight end Luke Stocker for Tampa Bay to take the first lead. Dallas would immediately respond after a Sean Lee interception set up Cowboys running back DeMarco Murray for an 11-yard touchdown run to tie the game. Shortly before the half, kicker Dan Bailey booted a 32-yard field goal for Dallas to take the lead, 10–7. After a scoreless third quarter, Dallas pulled away with Dan Bailey knocking in a pair of field goals, one from 26 yards and another from 22 yards to make the game 16–7. Tampa Bay attempted a furious rally to take the game back after a 28-yard field goal by Connor Barth, but Dallas would recover the following onside kick and effectively took a knee to end the game.
With the victory, Dallas improved their season to 2–1.
Week 4: vs. Chicago Bears
With the loss, the Cowboys enter their bye week with 2–2. Dallas quarterback Tony Romo had a forgettable game, tossing 5 interceptions, including 2 that were run back for touchdowns.
Week 6: at Baltimore Ravens
With the loss, the Cowboys fell into 2–3 and dropped to 0–4 all-time against the Ravens. Horrible clock management by head coach Jason Garrett on the final drive left Dallas' kicker with a 50+ yard field goal attempt that he pushed wide as time expired.
Week 7: at Carolina Panthers
The Cowboys beat the Panthers to improve to a .500 record.
Week 8: vs. New York Giants
With the loss, the Cowboys fell to 3–4 on the season and 0–4 at Cowboys Stadium against the Giants. A late go-ahead touchdown catch by Dez Bryant was overturned on review as it showed that as Bryant's hand came down to brace his landing, barely a tip of one finger came down on the end line, thus ruling him out of bounds.
Week 9: at Atlanta Falcons
During this game, Jason Witten's 7 receptions brought him to a franchise record of 754, surpassing Michael Irvin's previous record of 750.
With the loss, the Cowboys fell to 3–5.
Week 10: at Philadelphia Eagles
With the win, the Cowboys improved to 4–5.
Week 11: vs. Cleveland Browns
After being down 13–0 against the Browns in the first half, the Cowboys outscored the Browns 20–7 to send the game into overtime. The Cowboys kicked the game-winning field goal and improved to 5–5 on the season and 2nd place in the NFC East.
Week 12: vs. Washington Redskins Thanksgiving Day game