Tuesday, August 18, 1998

Patriots manhandle Cowboys

By Jean-Jacques Taylor

The Dallas Morning News

(KRT)

MEXICO CITY The first-team offense was bad. So was the defense. So were the special teams.

And so was the result.

New England outplayed the Cowboys every way possible to record an easy, 21-3, victory Monday night before a crowd of 106,424 at Azteca Stadium in American Bowl '98. It was the second-highest attendance for any game in NFL history. The Cowboys-Houston Oilers pre-season game in 1994, also at Azteca Stadium, drew 112,376 fans.

The score would have been even worse if the Patriots had not had two touchdowns negated because of penalties. The Cowboys (0-3) played so poorly, the heavily partisan crowd began booing them late in the first half.

New England is 1-2.

"We made too many mistakes offensively to be able to generate any kind of consistency," Cowboys quarterback Troy Aikman said. "It's disappointing because we wanted to move the ball better."

The first-team offense, which has not scored a touchdown since the third quarter of the pre-season opener against Seattle, had one excuse.

Running backs Emmitt Smith and Chris Warren did not play because the Cowboys were concerned about the quality of the field. Soft grass can cause muscle strains and pulls because it doesn't have the traction firm grass does, which can lead to slipping.

Warren and Smith each are nursing minor injuries that wouldn't cause them to miss a regular-season game. Smith, who practiced this week, has a bruised quadriceps. Warren, who missed three practices, has a strained left groin.

While Dallas' first-team offense improved on last week's performance it would have been hard not too considering they didn't record a first down they still struggled.

The first-team offense did not produce more than one first down on any of their three possessions, and the Cowboys rushed for only 12 yards on six carries in the first quarter.

Aikman did complete five of six passes for 34 yards, but he threw most of those passes under duress. New England defensive tackle Chad Eaton blew past right guard Everett McIver on three consecutive plays and drilled the quarterback.

The offensive line also failed to create movement on a fourth-and-one play from their own 39.

After a screen pass to rookie seventh-round pick Tarik Smith picked up seven yards, Gailey opted to work on his short-yardage offense instead of punting.

It was an abject failure.

The Patriots collapsed the middle of the Cowboys' line, where center Clay Shiver and left guard Nate Newton attempted to open a hole, and stuffed fullback Daryl Johnston for a one-yard loss.

The Patriots used the short to field to put together their first scoring drive.

Sedrick Shaw completed the drive with nine-yard run around left end for a 7-0 lead with 1:25 left in the quarter. Shaw extended the lead to 14-0 with a one-yard touchdown run midway through the second quarter.

In between, penalties negated apparent New England touchdowns on a 52-yard screen pass to Lake Highlands graduate Derrick Cullors and a 70-yard punt return by Troy Brown.

New England seized complete control, when cornerback Ty Law timed Jason Garrett's pass to Eric Bjornson on an out route and intercepted it. He returned 26 yards for a touchdown, giving New England a 21-0 lead with 1:08 left in the first half.

The Cowboys didn't even move past midfield until 13 seconds were left in the half. Even then, it took a fourth-down pass from Garrett to Bjornson to do it.

A 23-yard completion to Billy Davis, who made a nice leaping catch while managing to keep his feet in-bounds, moved the ball to the 23 with one second left. Richie Cunningham kicked a 40-yard field as time expired, pulling Dallas within 21-3.

Dallas plays St. Louis on Saturday and Gailey has said he will play his starters at least a half.

Gailey had hoped the game might give him some insight into who will be the No. 2 receiver, but it didn't look as though he received much.

Davis, starting his first game, dropped a pass and was penalized for offensive pass interference in addition to his one catch. Ernie Mills caught his first two passes of the pre-season for 16 yards.

The Cowboys' first-team defense wasn't much better.

The Patriots, awful last week in a 34-0 loss to Minnesota, looked comfortable using former Cowboys' offensive coordinator Ernie Zampese's scheme against the Cowboys.

Shaw rushed 14 times for 50 yards in the Cowboys' first game without defensive tackle Leon Lett, who sprained his left knee Tuesday in a scrimmage against New Orleans.

Quarterback Drew Bledsoe completed nine of 14 passes for 69 yards, but twice he overthrew wide open receivers for what probably would have touchdown passes of more than 50 yards.

As usual, the Cowboys could not create pressure on Bledsoe with blitzing. Even when they did blitz, Bledsoe still had time to look for his second and third options.

(c) 1998, The Dallas Morning News.

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