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Sunday, November 30, 1997

Mark Stepnoski brings reasons for losses

By Bart Hubbuch / The Dallas Morning News

DALLAS -- Losing Mark Stepnoski two years ago is a major reason for what should be the Cowboys' first non-playoff season since 1990. He kindly wrote their epitaph after Thursday's 27-14 loss to Tennessee.

The Oilers' center, a perennial Pro Bowl pick whose exit from Dallas in 1995 opened the flood gate of free-agent departures, said the Cowboys' decline was inevitable.

No one stays good forever, Stepnoski said amid a jubilant Tennessee locker room. Sooner or later, you're going to lose. When you win three Super Bowls in five years, you really have nowhere to go but down.

And down is where the Cowboys obviously are headed with three games left in the season, mainly because they haven't replaced Stepnoski and other significant free-agent defections.

In particular, the Cowboys miss Stepnoski's tremendous quickness and technique up front. The aging Ray Donaldson was a two-year stopgap, but the undersized Clay Shiver is frequently overwhelmed.

As a result, quarterback Troy Aikman is on pace to be sacked 30 times (the most since 1991). He also is under constant pressure and recently suffered his first concussion in three years.

Stepnoski, though, blames the rapid fall of the Cowboys' empire on a brutal schedule -- statistically the NFL's toughest this season -- that had Dallas playing six of its first nine games on the road. The Cowboys are 1-6 away from Texas Stadium this year.

Realistically speaking, making the playoffs with that schedule would be a feat, he said. In reality, even with everyone healthy, that would be something to go 10-6.

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SANDERS AILING:

The Cowboys didn't appear optimistic about Deion Sanders after the Pro Bowl cornerback fractured a rib in the first quarter of Thursday's loss.

Sanders didn't return to the game and could barely walk from the locker room afterward. The Cowboys have 10 days before facing Carolina at Texas Stadium, but Sanders' availability -- perhaps for the rest of the season -- seems in doubt.

He'll be monitored week-to-week, but it (Sanders' recovery) is going to take a while, trainer Jim Maurer said Thursday.

If Sanders can't play in the final three games, rookie free agent Kevin Mathis or Wendell Davis likely will take his place at cornerback. Mathis probably would return punts.

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LETT-DOWN:

As well as virtually dousing the Cowboys' playoff hopes, the loss to Tennessee deflated Monday's much-anticipated return of defensive tackle Leon Lett from a one-year NFL drug suspension.

Lett, arguably the most dominant defensive lineman in the league, will be available for the Cowboys' final three games. But having him back now means little, and no one felt worse about that Thursday than linebacker Randall Godfrey.

It kills me, bro, he said. We were supposed to take care of business until Leon came back, but we didn't get the job done. It's very disappointing.

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BRIEFLY ...

Cowboys' owner Jerry Jones, who did not speak to reporters after Thursday's game, was unavailable again Friday. He is in Springfield, Mo., to attend the funeral of his father, Pat Jones, who died of heart failure Wednesday. ... Emmitt Smith is day-to-day after leaving Thursday's game in the third quarter with a bruised left shoulder. ... One hopeful sign for Dallas: The Cowboys are 6-1 in the 1990s in their first game after Thanksgiving.

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(c) 1997, The Dallas Morning News.

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