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Red-zone failures leave Cowboys green

By Jim Reeves

Knight-Ridder Newspapers

(KRT)

IRVING, Texas - The answer to the most frequently asked question in North Texas - "What's wrong with the Cowboys?" - has finally been uncovered.

They're color-blind.

The entire NFL and most of the civilized world understands that in football, the stretch of no-man's land that starts at an opponent's 20-yard line and extends to the goal line is "the red zone."

Barry Switzer - and thus most of the rest of the Cowboys - call it "the green zone."

Green as in "go."

Backward.

Imagine how psychologically confusing this must be to the poor Cowboys, who have met with such frustration in their attempts to score the occasional touchdown instead of making Richie Cunningham a national household name.

Oops, he already is, isn't he?

Well, happy days are almost here again for the Cowboys. They need only change their in-house terminology to clear up the confusion and correct this ongoing problem.

If only things could be solved so easily for the rest of us who mope around with our Cowboys neuroses on our sleeves.

Who can blame us? They play poorly and win. They play good - well, better anyway - and lose. Is it any wonder that Cowboys fans are ready for the rubber rumpus room?

They beat Philadelphia and get slapped with two-a-day practices to start an off-week. They lose to the Giants Sunday and get two days off. Go figure.

"Sometimes you can almost try too hard," special-teams captain Bill Bates said in a nearly deserted locker room yesterday at Valley Ranch. "That's one of the reasons I think we're getting (yesterday) and (today) off. Maybe guys need refreshing.

"There are so many players on this team, including myself, who want to win so bad. We've been there before and we know what it takes. Sometimes when you've been there like we have you have to find some fun in it. When you've been grinding like we've been grinding, maybe we need to pause a couple of days and remember that we're supposed to be having fun, too."

Sunday should have been one of those fun days.

The offense finally snapped out of a three-week daze to ring up 428 yards of offense, 27 first downs and control the clock for almost 41 minutes.

And the Cowboys still came up at least one second short.

There was a semblance of a running game and quarterback Troy Aikman set team records for completions (34) and attempts (52). The offensive line was much better in picking up the blitz the few times the Giants tried it and offensive coordinator Ernie Zampese threw in some new wrinkles with spread formations, four-receiver sets and sweeps by Emmitt Smith.

So how did they manage to turn such an innovative and dominating performance into a crushing loss?

Aikman threw two huge interceptions (perhaps trying to force something that wasn't there), there were too many key penalties and the special teams had its worst game of the season.

And then there was that "red zone" thing.

"It's definitely the area that's probably the most frustrating and the one we have to correct as quick as possible," fullback Daryl Johnston said. "When you run the ball as well as we did yesterday and you throw the ball well and you still have trouble in the red zone, it can really cost you."

At least "he" got the color right.

"Maybe it's a mental thing," Johnston added. "We're getting down there and the first time we get in, we kick a field goal and we think, 'Gosh, here we go again.' It's like a mental block. We get down there and if we don't succeed the first time, it puts us in a state of, 'it's the same old thing.' We're working on it but we haven't made much headway because it's one of the things that cost us the game.

"We're moving the ball effectively from 20 to 20, but we're stalling out once we get in the red zone. (Sunday) was like it's been in the last three games. We had an opportunity to build a 10-0 or 14-0 lead and that really puts a different perspective on the game as compared to 6-0, when (the Giants) are only one play away from taking the lead."

Switzer said the Cowboys can take heart from knowing they played better and will feel better about themselves this week because of it.

"They played well enough to win," Switzer said. "That's the way I hope they play every week."

One rather critical problem: They didn't.

"What position would you rather be in, play poorly and win like we did last Sunday and the Monday night before that, or go out and play well and lose?" Johnston asked, before providing his own answer. "The bottom line around here is winning football games."

To do that, they'd best solve their "red zone" or "green zone" - whatever color you care to label it - problems and do it fast.

Where the Cowboys are concerned, it's really more like the "pink zone." And a pale pink at that.

(c) 1997, Fort Worth Star-Telegram

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