DALLAS 23, CINCINNATI 20 --- October 30, 1994

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   10-29-94 (c) Copyright the News & Observer Publishing Co. and The
   Associated Press, 1994 
   
   
   
   
   CINCINNATI (AP) -- Jeff Blake didn't get the upset that would have
   made him part of NFL lore. He did get the thing he wanted most Sunday:
   respect.
   
   Blake turned his first NFL start into a first-rate scare for the
   Dallas Cowboys, stunning them with a pair of long touchdown passes.
   But the Cowboys showed why they're two-time Super Bowl champions,
   regrouping from the two-touchdown deficit for a 23-20 victory over the
   winless Cincinnati Bengals.
   
   Troy Aikman shook off another blow to the head just one week after
   sustaining a concussion and threw a pair of first-half touchdown
   passes. Chris Boniol kicked three second-half field goals to give
   Dallas (7-1) its seventh straight road win, matching the club record.
   
   More important, it avoided a major embarrassment for the defending
   champions.
   
   "I hope there won't be any partying tonight," coach Barry Switzer
   said. "There shouldn't be. There's not much to be damn happy about."
   
   Switzer warned the Cowboys all week about taking the Bengals (0-8) too
   lightly in this matchup between the NFL's best and worst. Evidently,
   they didn't listen.
   
   "I told them this week ... that we don't want to live a nightmare that
   becomes reality -- that a team like this can win," the first-year
   coach from Oklahoma said. "Even Iowa State played my rear end off
   several times and we had to come from behind and win."
   
   Blake nearly turned it into a nightmare at Riverfront Stadium.
   
   The third-string quarterback was forced to start because of injuries
   to David Klingler and Don Hollas. No one expected much from the
   third-year pro, who had virtually no NFL game experience. He wound up
   with the second-best passing game this season by a Bengal.
   
   Blake threw for 247 yards and caught the NFL's best defense
   flat-footed twice. He threw touchdown passes of 67 and 55 yards to
   Darnay Scott -- the longest passes allowed this season by the league's
   best pass defense -- for a 14-0 lead one play into the second quarter.
   
   Blake completed 14 of 32 passes without an interception. Klingler, out
   with a sprained knee, has thrown for 247 yards only once in his
   career.
   
   "We didn't expect their offense to come out and perform the way they
   did today," Aikman said. "Blake hasn't started in the league, and you
   don't expect a guy to go out and play as well as he played."
   
   Even though he didn't pull a Gus Frerotte -- Washington's rookie
   quarterback who won his first start last week -- Blake was impressive
   enough to make the Bengals think of him as a solid backup when
   Klingler is healthy.
   
   "That's all I really wanted, some respect," Blake said. "I think I got
   that today.
   
   "I'm trying not to let my head get too big, because I know where I
   came from. I know how hard I had to work to get here. The situation
   I'm in now people dream of being in. I'm just grateful for it."
   
   Aikman started the Cowboys' turnaround by hitting Alvin Harper in
   double coverage for a 27-yard touchdown pass to culminate a four-play,
   65-yard drive in the second quarter.
   
   The Bengals then reverted to bumbling late in the first half, helping
   the Cowboys put together a 13-play drive that ended with Aikman's
   10-yard TD pass to Michael Irvin. Linebacker James Francis hit Aikman
   on the chin with a forearm after he threw a fourth-down incompletion,
   giving the Cowboys a reprieve with the roughing-the-passer penalty.
   The Bengals also had 12 men on the field during the drive.
   
   The hit by Francis came just one week after Arizona's Wilber Marshall
   knocked Aikman out with a hard hit to the chin. Francis said he was
   pushed into Aikman; the quarterback said the hit didn't affect him.
   
   "He got a good lick on me, but I came out OK," Aikman said. "I feel it
   was a call that was warranted."
   
   Boniol was good from 37 and 43 yards in the third quarter, tying it at
   20, and hit a 38-yarder with five minutes left for the game-winning
   points.
   
   The Bengals had one more chance, but consecutive incompletions by
   Blake and a punt gave the ball back to Dallas. The Cowboys ran out the
   clock.
   
   Aikman was 20 of 33 for 272 yards and one interception. Emmitt Smith
   rushed for 92 yards on 25 carries behind a banged-up offensive line
   missing Pro Bowl tackle Erik Williams.
   
   It was hard to tell which was the best and which was the worst in the
   first half. The Cowboys, who led the league with just seven turnovers,
   had a fumble and interception; Boniol was wide right on a 28-yard
   field-goal attempt; and the Dallas defense gave up a pair of
   improbable big plays.
   
   On the Bengals' first touchdown, Blake had Russell Maryland wrapped
   around his legs as he let fly a floating, wobbling pass down the
   middle of the field. Scott caught the ball with Kevin Smith on his
   back, slipped free at the 30-yard line and jogged the rest of the way.
   
   Scott got behind the coverage -- cornerback Larry Brown was expecting
   help -- for an easy 55-yard touchdown pass on the first play of the
   second quarter for a 14-0 lead. Blake celebrated by running down the
   field with index finger raised.