Tuesday, September 29, 1998

Destiny was lining up opposite Cowboys on Sunday

By Randy Galloway

Knight Ridder Newspapers

(KRT)

IRVING, Texas - They had played bad enough to lose. They had also played good enough, yet still lost. No surprise then that those dazed faces in the Dallas Cowboys' postgame locker room all seemed to carry a confused look of "What the heck happened?"

Easy and convenient answer - Jason Garrett. It's a fast game and the fall from NFL grace can be even faster. How could a guy from Princeton fail Decision-Making 101? Besides, Garrett was so smart just six days ago.

But beyond the obvious, meaning a couple of gift-wrapped interceptions from the arm of Mr. Garrett, Sunday's final outcome, favoring Oakland by a score of 13-12, almost seemed preordained. Just ask Deion Sanders, who claims to be involved these days in divine work.

When Sanders, the fastest football player this side of heaven, is overhauled from behind on his end zone-bound punt return, there's a message there somewhere.

And when cornerback Kevin Smith has perfect coverage, and still ends up burned on a 75-yard TD bomb, the football gods are trying to tell you something. In fact, the gods are coming in loud and clear when that pass bounced off Kevin Smith's shoulder pads and into the arms of receiver James Jett, who had clear sailing ahead.

Oakland scored one touchdown all day, "and it was that fluke thing with Kevin," said Cowboys defensive coordinator Dave Campo, shaking his head. Giving up 13 points, Campo's defense provided Garrett with what he should have needed to survive a career-first, consecutive starts in the NFL. But no ...

Then again, what about Richie Cunningham and his chili-dipped, 37-yard field-goal miss early in the fourth quarter. Cunningham being off-target from inside the 40 is unheard of, and a six-point swing resulted when the Raiders came right back with a field goal, taking a 13-3 lead.

As Troy Aikman heals for at least one more game, the Cowboys had to provide the overmatched Garrett with tons of extra support. Like last week in New Jersey. Garrett, of course, has to also provide self-support, like last week in New Jersey. Neither happened here Sunday, making this a game the Cowboys were destined to lose.

"They came in here and stole one from us," Campo claimed. Maybe, but the police report will show it was also an inside job.

In the postgame mingle of players and coaches on the Texas Stadium carpet, an obscure special-teams player for the Raiders found himself approached by Dallas' prime minister of prime time.

Sanders wanted to know one thing from third string safety Calvin Branch. "He says, "What are you doing catching me from behind?' " smiled Branch, a Colorado State product who hails from the Houston area.

Deion was 60 yards into an apparent TD run with a punt when Branch, who had a slight angle, did a Corvette number on Sanders. "I forgot it was Deion who was running, I just knew I had to catch him," said Branch, who ended up making one of the day's biggest plays, preventing what would have been a 10-10 tie.

Sanders might have come up end-zone short, thanks to Branch, but he still left Garrett and Co. at the Oakland 14. Three futile plays later, Cunningham skunked the 37-yarder, this coming on the possession after Dallas had first-and-goal at the Raiders' 8-yard line and Garrett threw an end-zone interception by misreading a Michael Irvin curl route. Two killer possessions that resulted in no points.

Chan Gailey usually displays minimal, if any, public emotion. But Sunday, the frustration was obvious, and if there hadn't been enough already, Garrett's final throw of the day was the headache finale for the head coach.

A field goal brings overtime, but needing maybe two short completions to give Cunningham his redemption attempt, Garrett threw deep into double coverage for Billy Davis. It was picked off at the goal line.

Plenty of time on the clock (1:40), good field position (the Oakland 43), and Garrett had Michael Irvin open on a curl over the middle. The attempted throw to Davis made no sense.

"It's all part of it," said Gailey. "We live with quarterbacking decision in this business."

Yes, and the Cowboys' offensive line, unable to consistently spring Emmitt Smith, made Garrett's decisions even more important. Everyone runs on the Raiders. The Cowboys couldn't and paid for it when Garrett had to throw to win, a definite no-no.

Otherwise, Sunday's game actually had the two factors Dallas had hoped for, namely ugly and low-scoring. The Raiders have an offense capable of fireworks, but the fuse was never lit. The Raiders also have a quarterback well-known for self-destruction, but Jeff George was turnover free.

Garrett, however, gave up the football, and then other bad and unusual things eventually left the Cowboys both confused and defeated.

(c) 1998, Fort Worth Star-Telegram

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