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Cowboys at mid-season

By Jean-Jacques Taylor

Dallas Morning News

(KRT)

IRVING, Texas - Troy Aikman thought long and hard Monday afternoon as he searched for positives from the first half of the Cowboys' season.

About 10 seconds later, Aikman laughed. The quarterback was stumped.

"I guess I need a little more time," he said.

That about sums up the 4-4 Cowboys midway through the season. Searching for answers. Hard-to-recall highlights. A little more time.

After a streamlined training camp many in the organization called the best in years, and the off-season acquisition of receiver Anthony Miller, the Cowboys figured to be primed for another Super Bowl run.

Instead, they're fighting for a playoff spot.

"I think we have a team that, if we can progress and get better, hasn't eliminated itself from being a Super Bowl contender," Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said. "But I don't want to dig such a hole that if we get where want to be in the last quarter of the season, we can't get in the hunt. That would bother me."

There is little talk in the locker room of winning a sixth consecutive NFC East championship. There is even less talk of winning a fourth Super Bowl this decade.

Nor should there be.

After losing three of the past four games, the Cowboys are more concerned with simply winning a game.

Dallas plays hard and with intensity, but it hasn't been good enough to overcome a plague of mental mistakes.

"The goal of this football team has not changed. We still want to get to the Super Bowl," Aikman said. "But championship teams make plays. We're not a championship team because we haven't made plays at the end of games."

The Cowboys, 8-7 in their past 15 games, probably need to go at least 6-2 to make the playoffs, 7-1 to win the NFC East.

No team has taken the East with fewer than 10 wins since the AFL and NFL merged in 1970. With four losses already in the division, tie-breakers don't favor the Cowboys.

"We still feel like we can do win the East ," Aikman said. "Just considering the NFC East, we're not in that bad of shape."

Well, here's what the Cowboys need to do to accomplish their goal:

Score touchdowns inside the 20

Dallas used to be one of the NFL's best at reaching the end zone once inside its opponent's 20-yard line.

Now, the Cowboys are one of the worst. It's costing them games.

Dallas has three offensive touchdowns and 13 field goals in the four losses.

"If we can start making some touchdowns, wins start to take care of themselves," Jones said. "If we don't make touchdowns, we're not going to go the Super Bowl."

The Cowboys have scored only nine touchdowns in 32 trips inside the 20. "It's the same thing every week," Aikman said. "We've gotten down there as much as anyone in the league, but our inability to get into the end zone is what's so frustrating."

The frustrations are numerous. "Penalties, negative yardage on first down, and we've had some mental breakdowns. We have to be...sharper."

When Emmitt Smith scored a league-record 25 touchdowns in 1995, Dallas scored 66 percent of the time it moved inside the 20. This season, Smith has one touchdown and Dallas ranks 29th in touchdown percentage.

"We have to run the ball," guard Nate Newton said. "Once we run the ball, that takes care of everything."

Sweep through the East

For five years, Dallas has owned the NFC East. The lease appears to be up.

The Cowboys enter the second half with a 1-4 record against divisional opponents. All losses came on the road.

To have any chance for a sixth consecutive East championship, the Cowboys must win their last three games (all at home) against divisional opponents: Arizona (Nov. 9), Washington (Nov. 16) and New York (Dec. 21).

It will be a difficult task. The Cowboys' aura of invincibility has vanished. Dallas is 11-10 in its past 21 games against the East.

Washington has beaten Dallas in four of the past five meetings, the Giants have won two of the past three games and Arizona ended a 13-game losing streak with a victory Sept. 7.

Dallas has not had a losing record against the East since 1990, also the last time the Cowboys finished below .500.

"It's realistic to think we could win those remaining division games," Jones said. "There's nothing to say we couldn't finish up with the best record. In fact, I'm planning on it."

More production from Anthony Miller

Jones signed free-agent receiver Anthony Miller because he thought the five-time Pro Bowl selection would stretch defenses and make big plays in the passing game.

It hasn't happened.

Miller has contributed one catch of more than 25 yards this season, none in the past seven games. More important, Miller has failed to consistently beat one-on-one coverage.

For example, the Giants double-covered Michael Irvin 43 times in 52 passes. Miller responded with three catches for 28 yards.

Although he is tied for the team-lead with four touchdowns, Miller has not been an impact player.

The reasons: A hyper-extended knee kept him from practicing full-speed until three weeks ago, Aikman has overthrown him several times and Miller has dropped passes.

Of the 41 passes Aikman thrown to Miller, only 17 were completed. That's a team-low 41.4 percent.

"He hasn't gotten open as much as you would like," receivers coach Hubbard Alexander said, "but he's going to do a good job for us. He just needs to have breakout game where he catches six or seven passes and gets a 100 yards."

Avoid age-old injury bug

Old players get hurt more often and take longer to recover. That's a fact of life in the NFL.

With 18 players at least age 30, it's a reality the Cowboys continue to face.

Dallas played Philadelphia on Sunday without four starters, three at least 30.

"When you sign premier players, you have to anticipate there are going to be periods of time when they're not on the field," Jones said. "I'm disappointed when we go into games without Chad Hennings or Darren Woodson, but we're supposed to win games without various players on any given Sunday. It's just not enough to say they didn't play well because someone was hurt."

Still, the Cowboys can't afford any more injuries.

Protect Aikman in the pocket

For years, Jones has said if the Cowboys have a healthy Aikman in the playoffs, he likes their chances of winning a Super Bowl.

That's why it's imperative Aikman receives better protection.

Cowboys quarterbacks are on pace to be sacked 40 times this season.

A big reason: continued problems picking up the blitz. The more the Cowboys struggle, the more teams blitz.

"Ain't nobody stopping us. We've been stopping ourselves," Newton said. "That's the nature of the beast within the Cowboys. We've made mistake after mistake after mistake."

With speed-rushing defensive end Chris Doleman playing for San Francisco, coach Barry Switzer said the Cowboys on Sunday probably will continue to use guard Larry Allen for George Hegamin at tackle in obvious passing situations.

"Larry Allen is better at one-on-one pass blocking," Switzer said. "George did well in the running games, but it's just like using a specialist at receiver on third down. In a passing situation, why not put the best blocking tackle on the left side?"

(c) 1997, The Dallas Morning News.

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