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The Cowboys were bored last night. If you saw Charles Haley's face, you could tell he would rather be playing video games than the Eagles. If you saw the Cowboy's sloppy mistakes in the first half, you know they were interested in just getting off the field as quickly as possible.
Boredom is not a good sign for a team playing a quality opponent.
Too bad for the rest of the league.
The disinterested Cowboys sleepwalked to a decisive 34-12 victory over one of the better teams in the NFC. Philadelphia is a vastly improved team under Ray Rhodes, and threatened to make it a game on two occasions. The Eagles recovered an Emmitt Smith fumble on the opening series of the game and parlayed that into three point. They muscled their way through the Dallas defense early in the third quarter to cut a 17-6 halftime deficit to 17-12.
But each time it appeared the Eagles could come back, Dallas would concentrate just long enough to put up a score. The Cowboys threw lightning bolts at the Eagles; its three touchdown drives took 2:40, 2:11 and 5:11. On a night when many of its stars were hobbled by minor injuries, Dallas did just enough to get them off the field by the middle of the fourth quarter.
All week, speculation centered on the Dallas defense, and the potential damaging effects of the Leon Lett and Clayton Holmes suspensions. Later on, it was learned that Deion Sanders, Russell Maryland, Ray Donnaldson and Michael Irvin were suffering from various leg injuries, and might not play. Couple that with the emergence of a scrappy Eagle team, and a tussle seemed sure. This writer was so certain of such an outcome that he predicted a difficult nine point win.
But the Dallas players were so certain of themselves that they spent much of the rainy fourth quarter comparing stats; when Nate Newton appeared on ESPN's post-game report, he was able to quote Emmitt Smith's up to the minute rushing totals.
And what gaudy totals they were. Smith rushed 27 times for 158, and continued his dominance of the Eagles. Not to be outdone, Michael Irvin matched an NFL record by posting his seventh consecutive 100 yard receiving game; his eight catches for 118 yards also gave him the NFL lead in receptions. QB Troy Aikman, the third member of the Dallas "triplets" maintained his top quarterback rating with a 17-24 permance for 204 yards. Aikman threw one TD pass to Irvin, and suffered only one interception, which came on a tipped pass.
The Dallas defense, in turn, began to resemble the units that won Super Bowls in '92 and '93. The Cowboys contained the vaunted Eagle running game to a fair extent, but they won the contest by exposing the Eagle's passing game as a sham. Philadelphia QB Rodney Peete had decent protection for most of the game, but had a terrible time finding open receivers. He finished with only eleven completions in 26 attempts. His 133 yards passing was the best effort by the Dallas D since they shut Giant QB Dave Brown down in the season opener. Cowboy conoisseurs will delight in the fact that Peete completed few third down passes against the Dallas nickel defense, a unit missing Holmes. When the Cowboys have claimed titles, their nickel has excelled on third downs, keeping opponents from mounting many sustained drives.
These trends were not evident from the opening gun. Dallas accepted a touchback on the opening kickoff and started on its 20. On the first play from scrimmage, the Cowboys ran a reverse to Kevin Williams. The Eagles diagnosed the play and Williams was stopped for no gain. Williams lost the ball as he was hit, but the fumble rolled out of bounds.
The good fortune did not last, as Emmitt Smith fumbled on the next play. It appeared that Smith was down when he lost control, but replays showed that he was stuggling for more yards, when LB William Thomas stipped the ball.
The Eagles started on the Dallas 22, but fears of an early touchdown were quickly quelled. Ricky Watters gained three yards off right tackle on first. The Eagles emptied the backfield on second down, but WR Rob Carpenter dropped a short Peete toss. On third, Peete threw to TE Reggie Johnson, who was running into the left corner of the end zone, but Darrin Smith was blanketing Johnson, and the pass fell incomplete. Gary Anderson punched in a 36 yard field goal, and the Eagles had a quick lead.
Dallas would steal the lead in almost as quick a fashion. Williams returned the kickoff to the 31, and Dallas appeared to settle into its ball control approach; Smith took a lead draw right for three. On second down, Aikman threw to Irvin, who caught a comeback in front of Mark McMillian at the Dallas 46. Smith was then thrown for a two yard loss by the blitzing William Thomas, putting Dallas in second and twelve. Aikman found Novacek between Eagle backers in the right seam, and the tight end dove to the Eagle 39.
The next play was a lead draw right. Johnston cut a stunting Bill Romanowski in the hole, giving Emmitt a lane off right guard. RG Larry Allen locked up Andy Harmon and drove him past center to the left guard's lane. Center Ray Donnaldson locked up on MLB Kurt Goveia and drove him back a good five yards before throwning him to the turf. Smith dashed through this gaping hole and was five yards into the secondary before he was grabbed by a diving SS Michael Zordich. Smith hesitated, and threw Zordich with a swing of his hips. Smith then accelerated and pulled away from all pursuers. His 39 yard scamper and Chris Boniol's PAT gave Dallas its first lead at 7-3.
The Eagles came out in their two TE set and attacked the middle of the Cowboy line. With Russell Mayland in skivvies, the Cowboys lined up Chad Hennings and Hurvin McCormack at tackles. It made little difference to the Dallas line, as they stuffed the Eagles runs; on first down, Watters charged up the middle for two. On second down, he appeared to have room on a delay but was met head on and leveled by LB Dixon Edwards, who was seeing his first action in a month after suffering a pulled pectoral muscle. Edwards hit left the Eagles in third and six from the Dallas 27. Peete threw deep to slot receiver Kelvin Martin, who was matched up on safety Scott Case. Case was burned on a similar play by the Falcons last week, but this time he ran with Martin and the pass fell incomplete.
Jim Schwantz broke through the Eagle line and almost blocked the punt, which was fair caught by Williams at the Dallas 33. After an incompletion, Smith cut behind a Newton trap for 13 yards. Two plays later, Aikman found Novacek in the middle of the Eagle zone at the Eagle 42. Novacek was leveled by Zordich just after catching the ball, but hung on. Aikman hit Irvin for twelve yards on the next play, and Dallas was driving. Aikman tried for a score on the following play, as he again threw to Irvin, who was running a deep post. The pass was slightly behind the open Irvin, which allowed the CB McMillian to recover and bat the ball. Irvin batted it a second time, as he tried to get the pass under control, but he pushed it into the hands of the onrushing Bobby Taylor. Taylor grabbed the ball at the Eagle one and returned it the the Philadelphia 35 before he was pushed out of bounds.
The Eagles tried spreading the field with three receiver sets but this strategy also failed. Peete hit TE Ed West for five yards, but McCormack tripped up Watters for one yard on a second down draw. Peete's third down pass sailed high, and Philadelphia had to punt again.
With Deion Sanders nursing a strained hamstring, it seemed unlikely that he would appear on offense or special teams this week. But he sprung out of nowhere, as Kevin Williams fielded the punt and handed it to
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