Monday, November 9, 1998

Cowboys defeat Giants

By David Moore

The Dallas Morning News

(KRT)

IRVING, Texas - The Cowboys flaunted their superiority over the NFC East in the first half of the season.

They began the second half by showing when the outcome hangs in the balance, they can make the plays to tip the scales in their favor.

The Cowboys' 16-6 victory over the New York Giants on Sunday afternoon at Texas Stadium wasn't pretty. But then, neither was the lacerated right index finger that affected quarterback Troy Aikman for the final three quarters. Neither were a pair of 13-12 losses to Oakland and Chicago that forced Dallas to hover around mediocrity for the first seven weeks of the season.

It wasn't pretty, but Sunday's effort vaulted Emmitt Smith ahead of Tony Dorsett in the club's career rushing list and nudged the Cowboys (6-3) three games above .500 for the first time since the end of the 1996 season. It continued Dallas' inexorable drive toward the division title and allowed the team to match its victory total from last season.

Receiver Michael Irvin acknowledged the Cowboys cleared a mental barrier. But he wouldn't concede much more.

"This is only our sixth win," Irvin said. "We are nowhere near where we wish we would be or where we want to be. There is work to do."

The Giants forced Dallas to work harder Sunday than at any time during its initial run through the division. The Cowboys were undefeated against the NFC East in the first half, outscoring their rather lame competition, 134-27.

A game against a desperate New York team took on a much different tone. If not for a crucial sack by safety Darren Woodson, a couple of key receptions by Ernie Mills and a two-yard touchdown pass to Eric Bjornson with 8:44 remaining, the Cowboys' dominance of the division could have come to an end on a dreary November afternoon.

"I was proud of the way our guys made some plays and went out to try to win the game," Dallas coach Chan Gailey said. "They really made a point to win the game rather than letting the game come to them.

"That's what you have to do to be a good team. You have to go win games that are tight. I felt our team may have taken a step in that direction."

No one took more steps this afternoon than Smith. He finished with 29 carries for 163 yards to bump Dorsett from the top of the club's all-time rushing list. Smith rushed for 43 yards on the opening series - which is more than he had in three of the last four games against the Giants' defense - to serve notice the record would fall.

"It wasn't just today," Gailey said. "He has proved throughout the season that he is a great football player."

It took more than Smith to win this game. It took Aikman fighting through a numb, disfigured finger on his throwing hand to complete 11 of 12 passes for 132 yards and a touchdown in the second half. It took the Dallas defense to hold an opponent without a touchdown for the second consecutive game.

It took big plays by Woodson and others.

The Giants had a first-and-goal from the one-yard line late in the second quarter. Defensive end Kavika Pittman and middle linebacker Fred Strickland stuffed Gary Brown for no gain on first down. On second down, Woodson nailed quarterback Danny Kanell on a safety blitz, setting up a third-and-goal from the eight-yard line.

New York wound up settling for a 23-yard field goal from Brad Daluiso and a 6-6 tie.

"That was a straight blitz," Woodson said. "I'm surprised that nobody picked me up."

Mills came up big in the second half. He burned cornerback Conrad Hamilton for a 32-yard reception late in the third quarter to set up the field that gave Dallas a 9-6 lead. His 27-yard reception on third-and-three from the New York 28-yard line set up the game's only touchdown.

That was scored when Gailey dug deep into the Cowboys' playbook and called a 134 sub pass. Gailey watched Dallas sting Pittsburgh with that play in the Super Bowl three years ago to score a touchdown with Jay Novacek. This time, the two-yard pass went to a wide-open Bjornson to clinch the outcome.

"Fortunately, I came through unscathed," said Bjornson, who last remembers Dallas running that play - unsuccessfully - against Carolina in the '96 playoffs. "Sometimes, you get knocked off course and it ruins the whole play. There's really no other option. You have to throw it out of end zone if you're not open.

"Luckily, I went through there scot-free."

The Cowboys aren't scot-free as far as the schedule is concerned. But they can tie up all of the division tie-breakers with a victory over Arizona next Sunday and have won four of their last five games.

"You seldom become a championship team without hitting at least one good, solid streak in there somewhere," Gailey said. "We've got a chance right now.

"I don't know if we will, but we've got a chance."

(c) 1998, The Dallas Morning News.

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