Monday, December 14, 1998

Cowboys show very little in third straight loss

Scripps Howard News Service

By ANDY NEWBERRY

Scripps Howard News Service

KANSAS CITY, Mo. --The Dallas Cowboys will win the NFC East.

That's the good news.

The bad news is that Sunday's 20-17 loss to the mediocre Kansas City Chiefs was more evidence that their playoff stay will be very brief.

The Cowboys showed nothing on offense in the first three quarters, and couldn't stop retread running back Bam Morris in the second half.

Toss in two special teams mistakes -- a blocked punt and fumbled punt return -- and you've got the makings of a rout.

However, Rich Gannon is still Rich Gannon so this one was still in doubt until Morris broke off runs of 17 and 11 yards to help the Chiefs run out the clock.

Sure, Dallas was missing Deion Sanders for a third straight week. But that doesn't really explain 51 rushing yards by the Cowboys. Nor does it explain the season-high 137 yards by Morris.

The injury excuse is there, especially in the secondary, but Dallas has two weeks to clinch a division and get ready for a dangerous Tampa Bay team in the first round of the playoffs.

Three weeks ago the Cowboys were 8-3 and probably thinking they'd be 10-1 if not for Troy Aikman's injury. The two one-point losses to Chicago and Oakland were easily excused.

Fast forward back to the present and you've got an 8-6 team that can't move the ball against also-rans New Orleans and Tampa Bay.

"We challenged our football team about seven weeks ago to get on a roll, get on a streak and win a few in a row," Cowboys coach Chan Gailey said. "We've almost set ourselves back to that point again, and that's not a good feeling for our football team."

"It wasn't a lack of confidence," Dallas quarterback Troy Aikman said. "We just didn't play real well today. We've been without a lot of people, offensively and defensively, as well.

"It is part of the game. You've got to deal with that. You still have to execute."

Aikman was part of the problem Sunday, too. He was just 7 of 19 for 69 yards for three quarters as Dallas fell behind 17-3.

Aikman caught fire in the fourth quarter, hitting 11 of 16 for 130 yards and two touchdowns.

"Obviously, it was too little, too late," Gailey said.

It's not too late in the season. The Cowboys still have a magic number of one Dallas win or Arizona loss to clinch the NFC East.

It'd be hard to imagine the Cowboys losing at home to Philadelphia and Washington, but it's no longer a lock.

"I'm going back to that word I used earlier in the year, and that's consistency, and we're not there now," Gailey said.

I think the loss of Ernie Mills is hurting the Cowboys. The veteran had become a go-to guy for Aikman. The loss of Michael Irvin in the third quarter certainly didn't help the cause, either.

"To a man we're disappointed and I don't know what else to say," Irvin said.

The offense scored just six points in a seven-quarter span against the Saints and Chiefs. Despite that ugly stat, the defense better take its share of the blame.

Second-team cornerbacks Charlie Williams and Kevin Mathis did an admirable job against Gannon, one of the hottest QBs in the league the past three weeks.

The run defense was missing in action. Morris run roughshod in the second half with 91 yards on 19 carries for a final total of 137 yards on 27 tries. As a team the Chiefs averaged 4.8 yards on 38 rush attempts.

Kansas City averaged a paltry 3.4 yards per carry in its first 13 games.

"I thought we didn't tackle well," Gailey said. "I thought we had guys in position sometimes but Bam (Morris) just broke a bunch of tackles out there today. He's a big guy and he's hard to wrap up."

"We came out on defense and we played hard," Dallas linebacker Randall Godfrey said. "We had guys flying all over the field but we missed tackles. You can't do that.

"We have to get it corrected. We know what we are capable of. We just have to get it corrected."

Fortunately for the Cowboys they play in a weak division and they've got two more chances to get it going.

"We're going to go out like soldiers," Cowboys tackle Eric Williams said.

(Andy Newberry writes for the Wichita Falls Times Record News in Wichita Falls, Texas)