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Monday, December 15, 1997

Cowboys eliminated from the playoffs

By JOE KAY

Associated Press

CINCINNATI - Elimination didn't sit well with the Dallas Cowboys.

The Cowboys were knocked out of playoff contention Sunday with a 31-24 loss to the Cincinnati Bengals. They knew coming in that they had only a minuscule chance to win a wild-card berth. Even that vanished Sunday, leaving them with unanswerable questions and an uneasy feeling.

"A lot of guys feel we've got the talent to at least be in the playoffs and have a chance at making the Super Bowl," 15-year veteran Bill Bates said. "Well, we haven't done that. We veterans have to look back and say, 'Were we really good enough to do that, or were we fooling ourselves?' "

It looked like they had all it would take when they beat the Steelers in Pittsburgh 37-7 to open the season. That was the high point of their season.

As the season went along, the Cowboys' offense deteriorated and dragged the team along. Dallas is one of the worst in the league at scoring inside the 20-yard line and has scored 24 or fewer points in each of the last six games.

Emmitt Smith topped 1,000 yards rushing for the seventh consecutive season on Sunday and Michael Irvin topped 1,000 yards receiving for the sixth time in seven seasons, but the offense once again couldn't get the results it needed.

"Let's not sit here and fool each other and say what would have happened if we got into the playoffs," Irvin said. "We're not playing good football and that's the bottom line.

"I think we have found out a lot about ourselves this season, who we can and cannot win with. We found out what we can and cannot do. Have we wasted a season? No. But if we don't find out what we did wrong and correct if for next year, then you better believe we have wasted a season."

The Cowboys' chances of making the playoffs were so slim coming into the game Sunday that many of them figured the season was over anyway.

"That was quite a feeling coming into this game with nothing on the line, with no postseason aspirations," Irvin said. "It was something that I haven't prepared for or a lot of us have prepared for in quite a while."

"The one thing I asked our football team (was) not to lay down, to fight and give effort," coach Barry Switzer said. "And we did that all the way. We came up short. It was a total collapse of the defense in the second and third quarters."

Now the Cowboys can prepare for an offseason of change, possibly starting with Switzer. He and owner Jerry Jones will talk about the team's direction after the season.

"I definitely believe the future of the Dallas Cowboys is still bright, regardless of what this season shows," Smith said. "We've got to put this one behind us and do all we have to do to try to overcome it."