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Sunday, December 29, 1996

Sanders says Cowboys team to beat; Irvin says maybe

By JAIME ARON / AP Sports Writer (Dec. 29, 1996)

IRVING, Texas (AP) - The Dallas Cowboys may have won three of the last four Super Bowls, but the way they had played lately didn't scare many people going into this postseason.

Following Saturday's 40-15 wild-card drilling of the Minnesota Vikings, Deion Sanders demanded that attitude change.

"I have a statement to make," Sanders said. "The Dallas Cowboys are the team to beat."

Other players were less bold, but offered the same message.

Emmith Smith said the performance spoke for itself. Troy Aikman said nobody can beat the Cowboys when they play like this. Nate Newton hinted he's ready to have his hand sized for another ring.

Then Michael Irvin was asked if the message was sent.

And he went bonkers.

"The only statement to be made comes in late January," Irvin said. "That's the reality of it. We can say all we want to say, think all we want to think, but if we're not there in late January, then you haven't made a statement to nobody but yourself."

The first-round victory earned Dallas a trip to Carolina next weekend to play the Panthers. Every member of that organization saw the Cowboys finally come together, and several Dallas players said their foes had to be impressed.

Again, Irvin disagreed.

"You think Carolina truly (cares) about how we beat Minnesota?" Irvin said, laughing at the thought. "You think they're looking at that film saying, 'Whoo, they look good?' They're looking at that film saying 'We're going to tear them up.'

"You don't make a statement in the NFL. That sounds good, but that's not reality."

Nonetheless, the Cowboys did finally show some semblance of their former selves, gaining 438 yards on offense and creating six turnovers.

Maybe they are able to "turn it on" in the postseason, or maybe it was the week of rest most of the starters got by skipping the regular-season finale.

Whatever it was, something finally clicked.

"It's more focus," Newton said. "We don't want to make mistakes early that will give them momentum. We took care of the little things and covered up our weaknesses."

Newton and his offensive linemates were a big reason the Dallas offense broke out. They blasted holes that allowed Smith to run for 116 yards, Sherman Williams for 67 and Herschel Walker for 62.

"We just got on our blocks and stayed on 'em," Pro Bowler Larry Allen said. "We're the Super Bowl champs and we've got to get back. We did what we had to today."

The domination up front enabled the Cowboys to keep the ball twice as long as the Vikings, which meant some much-needed time off for the defense.

"The defense has been giving us opportunities all year long and we weren't taking advantage of it," Irvin said. "Today, we turned some into touchdowns."

As efficient as was the Dallas offense, Smith would like to see some more.

"We showed a better side of our offense than we have all year," he said. "But we also have a lot of room to improve, especially in the red zone."

Aikman, who improved to 11-1 as a playoff starter, wanted to consider Saturday as merely a good first step.

"We won today, but they're not ready to hand us anything yet," Aikman said. "We've got a lot of work to do."