Wednesday, September 4, 1996

Emmitt Smith's injury is latest blow to troubled team
By Ed Werder
The Dallas Morning News
(Sept. 4, 1996)

DALLAS (KRT) - Cowboys' running back Emmitt Smith returned to Dallas on Tuesday, wearing a cervical collar as he cautiously stepped from Jerry Jones' private plane. Unfortunately for Coach Barry Switzer, a shiftless Cowboys' offense that desperately needs Smith has made no such progress.

Smith was released from Northwestern Memorial Hospital after spending the night undergoing a series of tests, including an MRI and CT scan.

Those sophisticated tests determined he had suffered no serious neck or back injuries when he dived and awkwardly landed on the his head while carrying out a fake in the final 4:31 of the team's 22-6 loss to the Chicago Bears.

Smith reported only normal post-game stiffness and soreness. The Cowboys maintain there is some possibility he could play Sunday's home-opener against the New York Giants. He is listed as doubtful with a bruised neck and back.

Sherman Williams is expected to start if Smith cannot play.

The same assessment could pertain to whether a once-prolific Cowboys' offense that currently ranks 19th in the NFL can return to form without suspended wide receiver Michael Irvin, injured tight end Jay Novacek and, possibly without Smith. Those players were responsible for 40 of the 47 offensive touchdowns that Dallas produced while winning the Super Bowl last year.

"If we don't turn the football over and don't make the mental mistakes, our defense plays well enough for us to win - which they are - then we can maybe get some ugly wins," Switzer said. "But it's a level playing field."

A shrinking talent pool has forced the Cowboys to reshape their offense without Troy Aikman's two most dependable receivers - Irvin and Novacek.

In their first game without those players, the Cowboys committed an uncharacteristic four turnovers, were plagued by nine penalties that Switzer attributed to a lack of discipline, and failed to score a touchdown for the first time in five years.

"The penalties, mental mistakes, discipline on routes and formations, the line up, all those those things made us look ugly," he said. "Those things are inexcusable. That is a lack of discipline and, as I told our team, that starts with me, from the top on down through the coaching staff.

"It's a different offense, a different look. Where's the tight-end passing game? Where is the four- or five-yard route on the inside linebacker? It's not there because those people aren't there. Where were the post routes, things outside? Where were the deep crossing routes? It's not the same offense."

The preliminary results are strikingly different. Aikman, under constant pressure and appearing confused, averaged a meager 5.19 yards per pass attempt and completed only 56.8 percent of those throws. Third last year in the NFL quarterback ratings, he currently ranks 22nd with a 59.7 ranking.

The Cowboys converted four of 13 third downs without Irvin and Novacek, who were third-down specialists. Aikman completed only two of nine passes for 17 yards on third downs and was sacked and lost a fumble for a touchdown. But the Cowboys were not terribly productive on first and second downs either. Nine of those situations were third-and-five or longer.

Deion Sanders, starting his first NFL game at wide receiver, sometimes ran his routes shorter than designed as the Bears played soft coverage and prevented the deep ball. Kevin Williams could not get open against Donnell Woolford's single coverage. The Cowboys lacked a tight end to work seams underneath.

The Cowboys remain seriously concerned about an offense that has been depleted by such significant long-term personnel losses. But Dallas owner Jerry Jones said the perception among Bears' players and national media that the Cowboys are stuck in an irreversible downward spiral is misconception.

"We should get ready, that when we play teams and get beat it's the beginning of their dynasty and the end of ours," he said. "Well, dynasties don't begin that easily and they don't end that easily.

"We have a football team here that has probably as good a chance to compete for a Super Bowl as we've had. It's going to be tough. We're challenged, but we're going to be all right."

(c) 1996, Dallas Morning News. Distributed by Knight-Ridder/Tribune Information Services.

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