It was kind of a nostalgic experience for me. Watching Troy Aikman, Emmitt Smith, Michael Irvin, Deion Sanders, Larry Brown, Leon Lett, Nate Newton, Darryl "Moose" Johnston, Larry Allen, Chris Boniol and Charles Haley (injured on the sidelines) playing against the old Packers Brett Favre (who looked like a little kid), Reggie White, Antonio Freeman, and Robert Brooks -- it was really kind of fun.
As I watched the game, I realized how different that team was compared to the recent Cowboys. They were fundamentally solid. Their offensive line completely ran over people, allowing the offense to grind out yards and eat the clock -- not relying on big flashy plays to the wide receivers (though those certainly came too... Michael Irvin scored the 'Boys' first two touchdowns). There were other noticeable differences too, some involving the effort that the players seemed to give versus what we see today (but that's not entirely fair to everyone -- Marion Barber works as hard as any player I've ever seen). I think the biggest difference I saw was that the Cowboys of 13 years ago stepped on the field knowing that they were better than the other guys. In everything they do, even when they're tied and the other team is driving, they carry themselves with confidence, knowing that they have the ability to take over the game. I couldn't say the same thing about the team today.
On a final note, I know there are an awful lot of people who have the life mission of pointing out to every Cowboys fan how lousy T.O. is, and how arrogant he is and how flashy and egotistically he plays... but I guarantee that if you watch T.O. play a game today and compare it to watching Deion Sanders play a game from a decade ago, you'd hate Sanders MUCH more. He had way more of that kind of presence on the field than T.O. does.
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