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Tuesday, November 18, 1997

Cowboys' Michael Irvin picks up the pace

By Jean-Jacques Taylor

Dallas Morning News

(KRT)

IRVING, Texas - The Cowboys found a way to get Michael Irvin the ball Sunday on their most important drive of the season.

Now, they have to figure out how to keep doing it.

Although Irvin caught seven passes for 91 yards and a touchdown in a 17-14 victory over Washington, he is still having a bad season based on his lofty standards.

He's on pace to catch 77 passes for 1,175 yards, which would be his lowest totals over an entire season since 1990.

More important, even when quarterback Troy Aikman does throw Irvin the ball, he's had trouble completing passes.

Over the past three seasons, Aikman has never completed fewer than 60 percent of his passes to Irvin. This season, Irvin has caught only 53 of 98 passes (54 percent) thrown to him.

"It's killing me, man. It's killing me," said Irvin, ranked ninth in the NFL in receptions and yardage.

The inability to get the ball to Irvin consistently has contributed to the struggles of the Cowboys' offense, which has scored one touchdown or fewer in seven of 11 games.

He has only two 100-yard games and none during the past seven weeks, the third longest streak of his career. Dallas is 33-7 (2-0 this season), when Irvin has at least 100 yards receiving.

"It's just hard to get him the ball. If he got single coverage all of the time, we'd get him the ball more," coach Barry Switzer said. "Michael has always drawn double-coverage."

And Aikman, the third-most accurate passer in NFL history, can be disciplined to a fault. He's not inclined to force the ball into coverage, which is one reason he has thrown more interceptions than touchdown passes once in the past six seasons.

When teams double-cover Irvin, said Aikman, he looks for the more favorable match-up. That usually means throwing to Anthony Miller or Eric Bjornson.

Receivers coach Hubbard Alexander said Irvin is double-covered about 75 percent of the time.

The New York Giants double-covered Irvin 43 times in 52 pass attempts last month in the Cowboys' 20-17 loss. He finished that game with six receptions for 86 yards.

Aikman, who has completed more than 60 percent of his passes the past six seasons, is at 57.4 percent this season. That's primarily the result of a sub-par running game and injuries on the offensive line.

Aikman is on pace to be sacked more than 30 times for the first time since 1990.

"Troy is doing he right thing. He needs to try to throw the ball to the better matchup," Irvin said. "To say Anthony Miller one-on-one with someone or Stepfret Williams one-on-one is not a better matchup is not true. We have to play smart football and not force the ball."

But the Cowboys still found a way to get him the ball with the season on the line against Washington. Irvin caught four passes for 64 yards and a touchdown on the improbable 11-play, 97-yard drive against the NFL's third-ranked pass defense.

After the game, Aikman dismissed any notion that he purposely tried to go to Irvin. But Irvin said offensive coordinator Ernie Zampese called plays designed to get him the ball.

"They didn't have to force it to me on the last drive because Washington gave us some opportunities," Irvin said. "I expected them to double-cover me a little more, but they have confidence in their corners."

(c) 1997, The Dallas Morning News.

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