Monday, September 14, 1998

Cowboys still have chance with Jason Garrett

By TIM COWLISHAW

The Dallas Morning News

DENVER - Ernie Zampese told Jerry Jones last fall that Jason Garrett was ready to advance from No. 3 quarterback to No. 2. Garrett's ability to pass himself off as No. 1 over the next month will chart the course of the Cowboys' season.

And it's far from over.

When Troy Aikman slammed his left shoulder into the Mile High Stadium turf Sunday, it looked bad. The fractured left collarbone makes him a spectator for the next four to eight weeks, the Dallas medical staff says.

But even with the injury to their one indispensable player coming in the midst of a 42-23 execution by the Broncos, the Cowboys' season didn't curl up and die here.

Desperate? Oh, yes. Given the way the Cowboys defense escorted Terrell Davis and Shannon Sharpe to the end zone, the subtraction of Aikman says the Cowboys are clearly desperate.

The Cowboys also are tied for first in the NFC East, a ragged collection of teams that lost to Denver, Seattle, Atlanta and Oakland on Sunday by a combined score of 112-66. Washington has to wait until tonight to record its loss to San Francisco.

"I can't tell you what happens now," wide receiver Michael Irvin said. "Nobody can tell you what happens now. I'm disappointed and hurt that Troy's out. You know it kills him. He's been so happy with the way things are going this year.

"But I'm not quitting."

The dropoff from Aikman to Garrett can be summed up like this. Aikman has won three Super Bowls. Garrett, who is actually older than Aikman, has started two NFL games.

"It's a big blow," owner Jerry Jones said. "I'd like to be going to New York (next Monday) with Aikman. But I've got confidence we can win with Jason Garrett."

Here's why the Cowboys might. Assume Aikman misses six games. The opponents are the Giants, Oakland, Washington, Carolina, Chicago and Philadelphia. Four of those teams are winless. The Raiders aren't winless, just clueless. The toughest team in the group is the Giants, and they just lost to the Raiders.

If the Cowboys go 3-3 through that stretch, hit mid-season at 4-4 and get Aikman back, they are in the hunt. In the NFC East, they might still be tied for first.

Teams do win in this league without elite quarterbacks. Baltimore won Sunday with Eric Zeier, New Orleans with Danny Wuerffel, Cincinnati with Neil O'Donnell.

It can be done.

Then again this is also a team that couldn't win half its games last year with Aikman.

Any thoughts of picking up another quarterback to function as a starter are foolish. By the time a new quarterback learned the offense, Aikman would be back.

This will be the longest stretch without Aikman the Cowboys have endured since 1991 when Steve Beuerlein led Dallas to four straight regular-season wins and a playoff victory in Chicago. In recent years, the Cowboys have been spoiled. Aikman has missed only five starts the last six years with Dallas going 3-2.

"I really liked the way things were going," said Aikman. "I liked the way Chan was calling plays today, so this is very frustrating. But if I've learned anything over the course of my career, it's that the team moves on. And I'm not out for the year."

How do the Cowboys move with Garrett? More methodically. Garrett doesn't zip the ball like Aikman. Although his completion percentage Sunday was higher than Aikman's, Garrett's yards per attempt were lower. Garrett's first pass went to Irvin for 32 yards but 10 of his next 13 completions were for seven yards or fewer.

"I hate to use the word devastating," Gailey said. "I would say this hurts our football team. At the same time, they're not going to cancel the games. We plug Jason in and go on.

"This changes us a little because of the experience factor, but we will ask him to do a lot of the same things we ask of Troy."

One unsolicited suggestion: Let's see more of Toby Gowin in the extreme shotgun. The Cowboys' punter had the club's longest run of the day with his 33-yard romp.

A creative mind and a sense of daring, like the fourth-and-one bomb from Garrett to Irvin that nearly worked, are what this team has to have. Its chances of beating even the Bears and Panthers of this world on shear talent are gone - for at least four to eight weeks.