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Cowboys humble Steelers

By HANK GOLA

New York Daily News

PITTSBURGH - After the Cowboys had finished shoving the Steelers around on Sunday in a 37-7 rout, a few things became abundantly clear.

n The Cowboys do have options when a team takes away Emmitt Smith (69 yards on 26 carries). Their names are Troy Aikman, who fired four TD passes; Michael Irvin, who had seven catches, 153 yards and two touchdowns and Anthony Miller, who made his Cowboy debut with one 31-yard gain and one TD.

n Every cornerback, punt returner and part-time baseball player ought to have a bulging disc like Deion Sanders'. Too injured to swing a bat, the Reds outfielder landed violently on his head in the first quarter, then didn't allow a pass to be caught against him and set up a TD with a 45-yard punt return.

n Kordell Stewart still isn't ready to take the league by storm. His stunning preseason was one thing, but Sunday he was 13 for 28 for 104 yards and one interception.

"We didn't play as well as we could but we made some plays," Barry Switzer said with uncharacteristic modesty. "Troy had all the time in the world to throw and I do believe that Michael can still play.

"This football team made a statement today... that we have a chance to be very good."

The chance starts with Irvin, who began '96 on drug suspension. The Cowboys started 2-3 without him and finished 8-3 with him.

"Did this game mean a little more to me? I will tell you it did," Irvin ventured. "I watched the way we started last year. On my couch...one, two, three, four, five times."

The Cowboys took a quarter to get going before scoring on six straight possessions as they snuffed out the Steelers' zone blitz and were presented with Irvin in man-to-man mismatches.

No. 88 burned free agent CB Donnell Woolford on a stop-and-go pattern for a 42-yard score, blew past the helpless Chad Scott for a 51-yard gain that set up a late first-half field goal and scored again in the third quarter by going over Scott's back to pull in a pass.

Aikman (19 of 30, 295 yards, 218 by halftime) said he couldn't remember getting hit all day.

As for Stewart, there wasn't much he could do with the way the Cowboys were playing defense. They put a spy on him and he suddenly lost his will to run (his only gain was a 4-yard scramble). With Stewart safely ensconced in the pocket, the Dallas DBs gave him nowhere to go with the ball.

Offensive coordinator Chan Gailey said he couldn't have imagined this kind of day "in my worst nightmare."

Said Bill Cowher, "Kordell Stewart was introduced to the National Football League today."