"THROUGH THE EYES OF A FAN"
THE LONG ROAD BACK TO THE TOP
FOR THE DALLAS
The Cowboys started their 1993 playoff run against the Packers at Texas Stadium. With Emmitt Smith still hurting from his separated shoulder, the Cowboys focused more on the passing of Troy Aikman. He threw touchdown passes to Alvin Harper and Jay Novacek in the first half and built a 17-3 halftime lead.
The Cowboys opened up a 24-3 lead in the third quarter when Aikman threw his third touchdown pass of the game, this time to Michael Irvin. When the final gun sounded the Cowboys walked away with a 27-17 victory over the Packers to advance to the NFC Championship game. Emmitt Smith only carried the ball 13 times for 60 yards, but since the Cowboys were in control most of the game there was no need to risk further injury with Smith.
Since becoming a fan I had never seen the Cowboys play an NFC Championship game at Texas Stadium until 1993. In years past they were always on the road in Philadelphia, Washington and San Francisco. For the second straight season the Cowboys and the 49ers would meet in the NFC Championship game where the winner would advance Super Bowl XXVIII in Atlanta.
During the week before the NFC Championship game Jimmy Johnson made his own newspaper headlines by guaranteeing a victory over the 49ers. He had grown tired of all the talk and called into a sports radio show to voice his opinion on the game.
"We will win the ballgame, and you can put it in three-inch headlines"
Needless to say, the 49ers did not appreciate Johnson's guarantee and before kickoff both teams got into a shoving match on the field.
The Cowboys first drive of the game resulted in a five yard touchdown run by Emmitt Smith that put the Cowboys ahead 7-0. The 49ers answered back with their own touchdown drive, as Steve Young connected with Tom Rathman on a seven yard touchdown pass to tie the score at 7-7. The second quarter is when the Cowboys put an end to the 49ers hopes of getting to the Super Bowl as they scored three touchdowns and took a commanding lead.
The Cowboys started the second quarter scoring with a four-yard touchdown run by Daryl Johnston to take a 14-7 lead. Then Emmitt Smith and Jay Novacek caught touchdown passes from Troy Aikman to increase their lead to 28-7 at halftime. Troy Aikman was having a great first half until he was kicked in the head by a 49ers defender and had to leave the game with a concussion. Before his injury he had completed 14 out of 18 passes for 177 yards and two touchdowns. Bernie Kosar would once again be called on to take over for the injured Aikman and lead the Cowboys back to the Super Bowl.
The 49ers did come out early in the third quarter and scored to get within 28-14. Bernie Kosar stepped in for Aikman and increased the Cowboys lead to 35-14 when he connected with Alvin Harper on a 42 yard touchdown. The 49ers scored a touchdown late in the fourth quarter, but the game was already over at that point. The Cowboys beat the 49ers for the second straight season in the NFC Championship, 38-21 and advanced to Super Bowl XXVIII.
Even with all the excitement of making it to the Super Bowl two years in a row, there was much concern for Troy Aikman and the concussion he suffered. After the game he had said that he remembered nothing about what happened in the game, but didn't see any reason that he couldn't play in the Super Bowl. Emmitt Smith's rushed for 88 yards and scored once and also caught seven passes for 85 yards and a score.
In 1993 there was only one week between the Championship game and the Super Bowl, unlike past years when there were two weeks. During the week off the Bills seemed like they were trying to convince themselves that all the pressure was on the Cowboys, even though this was the Bills fourth straight Super Bowl appearance and had yet to win. They said that nobody expected them to win, so this was just another game to them. After losing three straight Super Bowls I’m sure there had to be some amount of pressure on the Bills team.
As Super Bowl Sunday got closer, Troy Aikman said that he was fine and that he was not going to miss the game. Emmitt Smith's shoulder also seemed fine. So the Cowboys were as healthy as they could be and were ready to defend their Super Bowl title.
To be continued...
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