Tuesday, September 22, 1998

Unlikely heroes - the Cowboys - control NFC East

By Tim Cowlishaw

The Dallas Morning news

(KRT)

EAST RUTHERFORD, N.J. - The Cowboys are in the driver's seat now. Somebody call for a breathalyzer.

The team that came up a mile short in Denver last week didn't have Troy Aikman on Monday night, didn't have Emmitt Smith for two quarters, and didn't have any trouble burying the New York Giants.

What the Cowboys lacked in other areas, they made up for with the presence of one great player. Deion Sanders had the first two-touchdown game of his NFL career, reaching the end zone twice as often as the Giants encountered it. He wasn't the only reason, but he was the big reason it was a 31-7 Dallas blowout at Giants Stadium on Monday.

Sanders scored on a 59-yard punt return early and 71-yard interception return late. He caught a 55-yard pass. He threw up. He healed the lame, or at least he tried to when teammate Nate Hemsley went down with an ankle injury.

"He's a special athlete," said Jason Garrett, who had a special night of his own, winning his first NFL start in four years. "Those are great guys on coverage teams trying to stop him, and he just runs around them."

With his best attempt at deadpan humor, Garrett added, "He's got a pretty good chance if he keeps working."

The Cowboys have a chance to dominate their division. It's true. Even minus two of their biggest stars, they still have more playmakers than the rest of the NFC East, and Sanders never put on a better show in a Dallas uniform.

But the show nearly closed after one act when Sanders lost his lunch or pre-game meal, something (we don't really need to know what) on the Dallas bench. That came after his punt return had put Dallas ahead, 7-0, in the second quarter. It assured that this would not be a repeat of Sunday night when another NFC East matchup Arizona-Philadelphia went scoreless for three quarters and provided all the fireworks of a good bowling tournament.

Sanders recovered. The Giants never did.

For the second time in three weeks, the Cowboys tried to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that last season's 6-10 record was an aberration. Of course, last week in Denver they offered no such proof, but then there aren't any more Denvers on the Dallas schedule.

Against the Giants they had no Aikman, and except for seven carries, they had no Smith. So you knew the Cowboys' offense was going to blow hot and cold. Mostly cold. But the notion that the Giants would blitz Garrett into early submission was faulty.

On the game's key offensive play, the Giants made the brutal mistake of rushing only three linemen and Garrett hooked up with Billy Davis for an 80-yard touchdown when safety Tito Wooten wiped out two Giants' defenders while missing Davis.

Garrett later hit Sanders for a 55-yard gain, showing timing and touch on the deep ball he wasn't supposed to possess.

Sherman Williams, a back who didn't even get a tryout with another club after his summer release by the Cowboys, ran for an 18-yard touchdown. The unlikely heroes came from all over, and they all came from the visitors' sideline.

Here's what it all means. The Cowboys are alone in first place in the NFC East, and there's more to it than that. The Cowboys are in command.

Check the schedule. Dallas' next five opponents are Oakland, Washington, Carolina, Chicago and Philadelphia.

Combined record: 1-13.

"I know this gives us the lead," coach Chan Gailey said. "But you've got to play the games week in and week out. You've still got to prove it."

The Cowboys aren't yet a member of the NFL's elite. They still have some defensive holes that were well disguised against a Stone Age offense like the one the Giants showcased. Excuse me, is it Jim Fassel or Jim Fossil on the New York sidelines?

But the Cowboys have a real opportunity to put some distance between themselves and their pursuers. Anyone who sat through three hours of Eagles-Cardinals on Sunday night has my pity, but those witnesses know the Eagles and Cardinals are not in the Cowboys' league. Washington is a battered 0-3 team, already on the ropes.

The Giants are the Cowboys' only real competition in the NFC East, and on their home field Monday night, they were no competition. These guys are the defending champions in the division, but that fact is looking more and more like a future trivia question and last year's title looking like the cheap product of a fifth-place schedule.

(c) 1998, The Dallas Morning News.

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