The Tackle

The 1982 NFC Championship Game is rightfully remembered for "The Catch", which occurred 37 years ago today. But what we all forget is that Dallas came without a fingertip of immediately scoring to take the lead, thanks to an absolute perfect pass by Danny White into triple coverage. How much would the futures of both teams have been different throughout the 80's if not for this miracle tackle?

Via extensive internet research (ie Wikipedia):

This game was a watershed in the historic fortunes of both the 49ers and the Cowboys. The 49ers began the 1970s winning three consecutive NFC West titles (1970–1972), but spent the remainder of the decade as a losing team. San Francisco went on to win four Super Bowls in the 1980s, and made the playoffs eight out of the next ten seasons, making the 49ers a dynasty. 49ers quarterback Joe Montana went on to gain a reputation as a clutch performer.

Meanwhile, the Cowboys, one of the most successful NFC teams in the 1970s with five Super Bowl appearances (and two wins), never made it back to the Super Bowl in the 1980s. In the following season, the Cowboys reached their third straight NFC Championship Game, where they were defeated 31–17 by their archrival Washington Redskins. After their 31–17 loss to the Redskins, the Cowboys managed to make the playoffs in two of the next three seasons, only to be knocked out in the first round. They never made it to postseason for the rest of the decade. In fact, beginning in 1986, the Cowboys went on to suffer losing seasons for the remainder of the decade,

Great Joe Cool quote, tho:

According to Clark, Jones reacted to the play by stating "You just beat America's Team" to Montana after the pass was caught, to which Montana replied to Jones, "Well, you can sit at home with the rest of America and watch the Super Bowl."