Summary of the Denver gameTroy Aikman passed for two touchdowns and ran for another and Emmitt Smith rushed for 114 yards and a touchdown to lead the Dallas Cowboys to a 31-21 victory over the Denver Broncos in the Cowboys' home opener.
The win comes one day before the Cowboys (2-0) will officially announce the signing of All-Pro cornerback Deion Sanders to a lucrative multi-year contract. Sanders had four hits in the San Francisco Giants' 8-7 win over the Chicago Cubs today.
"Our football team has lots of things that could be distractions, but we know how to work through those things and take care of the business at hand," said Aikman. "I don't really know what's going to take place now. Deion will be joining us in a month and hopefully we won't have to answer more questions about that, but maybe I'm being a little naive."
"I liked our performance today," said Cowboys coach Barry Switzer. "Our defensive front controlled the football game really well. Really other than three plays, our defensive front totally dominated the football game. It was a tough, physical game. I think we wore them down in the second half."
Aikman hit fullback Daryl Johnston with a five-yard scoring pass and scored on a two-yard run in the second quarter to give the Cowboys a 14-0 halftime lead. Aikman also connected with tight end Jay Novacek on a seven-yard scoring play in the third quarter. Aikman completed 17-of-29 passes for 191 yards with one interception.
"He (Aikman) played great, as always," said Switzer of Aikman. "Steady Troy -- he gets the ball where you need to get it. He threw into double coverage to Michael Irvin, got it right to him."
Smith, who had 26 carries, scored on a one-yard run early in the fourth quarter to give the Cowboys a 28-14 lead. It is the second straight 100-yard-plus game for Smith, who had 163 rushing yards in Dallas' 35-0 rout of the New York Giants last Monday.
Anthony Miller caught scoring passes of 59, 11 and three yards for Denver (1-1). He finished with six receptions for 108 yards.
Denver's John Elway completed 11-of-24 passes for 152 yards and two touchdowns with one interception. Hugh Millen replaced Elway in the fourth quarter and was 6-of-11 for 70 yards and one touchdown.
"We wanted to keep him in the pocket, and not give him the chance to get out of the pocket and make those typical John Elway throws," said Cowboys defensive end Tony Tolbert. "We were able to contain him, but he still made some big plays. We were fortunate to get some pressure on him."
After a scoreless first quarter, Dallas' defense produced the first scoring opportunity when cornerback Larry Brown intercepted a deflected Elway pass and returned the ball 18 yards to the Denver six-yard line. One play later, Aikman hit Johnston with a touchdown 1:53 into the second quarter.
The Cowboys put together a 10-play, 93-yard scoring drive on their next possession capped by Aikman's touchdown run. Aikman hit Michael Irvin with passes of 29 and 16 yards in the drive. Irvin finished with six catches for 94 yards.
Elway hit Miller with an 11-yard scoring pass with 58 seconds left in the first half to pull Denver within 14-7. It was the 200th touchdown pass of Elway's career. Rookie Terrell Davis rushed for 42 yards on five carries in the 11-play, 80-yard drive.
The Cowboys then opened the second half with a 14-play, 77-yard drive which lasted more than seven minutes. Aikman's scoring pass to Novacek capped the drive and increased Dallas' lead to 21-7.
"We felt good with the touchdown near the end of the half," said Broncos coach Mike Shanahan. "We felt we were with them at that point. They came out in the third quarter and controlled the ball. I think we ran something like four plays in the third quarter."
Elway connected with Miller on a 59-yard scoring play 1:43 later to pull Denver within 21-14.
But Dallas responded again with a 13-play, 62-yard scoring drive that consumed nearly seven minutes. Smith scored from a yard out to give Dallas a 28-14 lead 42 seconds into the fourth quarter.
Chris Boniol added a 45-yard field goal in the fourth quarter for the Cowboys.
Millen connected with Miller on a three-yard scoring play with 47 seconds left in the game for the Broncos.
