Wednesday, September 4, 1996
49ers should not get too happy about Cowboys'
problems just yet
By Bud Geracie
Knight-Ridder Newspapers
(Sept. 4, 1996)
(KRT) -- If you're a 49ers fan, and you watched the Dallas-Chicago
game Monday night, you might be gloating.
Don't.
As weak as the Cowboys looked Monday night - and they were weak
beyond your wildest dreams - they remain a strong contender,
maybe the strongest, for the NFL championship. Don't be rushing
off to Vegas to double your bet on the 49ers' season. (However,
if you can still get money down on Green Bay, go now.)
Don't let Monday night fool you, folks. The Cowboys are still
the team to beat. The only thing that could change that is the
condition of Emmitt Smith, and he checked out (of a Chicago hospital)
fine Tuesday.
Smith, for those of you who didn't see the game, did something
pretty stupid Monday night. With the game gone - the Cowboys
trailed 22-3 with four minutes to play - the star running back
executed a fake handoff so passionately that he dived over the
line of scrimmage and came down on his head.
Simply put, he lost control of his body after having lost control
of his emotions.
The anger and frustration that propelled Smith over the line
was completely understandable. The Cowboys had played so poorly,
had been so humbled. If you'd just arrived here from Mars (a
real possibility now, as I understand it), you could not have
been convinced that these were the reigning champions of the
sport.
The Cowboys were expected to struggle without Michael Irvin and
Jay Novacek, but they didn't struggle Monday night - they stunk.
They had the look of a team in disarray, a champion in ashes.
Without Novacek (physically unable to perform) and Irvin (criminally
unable to perform) on the field, the Dallas offense has been
stripped of all but one threat: Emmitt. Even Aikman, the great
quarterback, has been neutered; he has nobody to throw to.
Hats off to Deion Sanders, who played both ways (107 plays) Monday
night and caught nine Aikman passes for 87 yards.
But if you play him right, which is to say "soft,"
Deion can't hurt you. He can only hurt you on the deep ball.
If you commit to hitting him after the catch, as the Bears did,
you will contain him, because he goes down easy. Deion's dislike
for contact, the rap on him as a defensive back, will be revealed
beyond a shadow of a doubt when he plays wide receiver.
With no threats wide, and no Novacek at tight end, the Cowboys
can be blitzed like mad. That's another thing the Bears did.
But the Bears are smarter than most teams - their coach, Dave
Wannstedt, knows the Cowboys the way Packers Coach Mike Holmgren
knows the 49ers - and the Bears are better than most people thought.
As for the Cowboys, they've still got Emmitt (by the grace of
God), that huge offensive line and a good defense. For all their
shortcomings Monday, they got beat on two plays - a fake punt,
and a receiver throwing a pass.
By the time they get to Candlestick Park in Week 11, they will
be the Cowboys you have come to hate. Irvin will be back, Deion
will be the most dangerous secondary receiver in football, and
the 'Boys will be the 'Boys.
In the meantime, they will struggle. After beating the New York
Giants (misnomer) next Sunday, Dallas plays Indianapolis, Buffalo
and Philadelphia in succession.
But this is no time for the 49ers or their fans to gloat. This
is a time for making hay and - oh, all right then, quiet celebration.
Write Bud Geracie at 750 Ridder Park Drive, San Jose 95190; call
(408) 920-5389; fax (408) 920-5244; or e-mail budgeracie(at)sjmercury.com
(Bud Geracie is a sports columnist for the San Jose Mercury News.
Write to him at: San Jose Mercury News, 750 Ridder Park Drive,
San Jose, Calif. 95190.)
All content copyright 1996, KRT, The
Abilene Reporter-News and Reporter OnLine
|
