THROUGH THE EYES OF A FAN, Part 8 of 16

"THROUGH THE EYES OF A FAN"

THE LONG ROAD BACK TO THE TOP

FOR THE DALLASCOWBOYS

The Cowboys focused on defense in the first two rounds of the 1992 draft. They had two first round picks and selected cornerback Kevin Smith and linebacker Robert Jones. They also added Darren Woodson in the second round. Then Jimmy Johnson and Jerry Jones made a big move before the season started that some people said was the missing piece to their team. They traded for defensive end Charles Haley from the San Francisco 49ers. Haley brought an added toughness to the Cowboys defense along with championship experience having won two Super Bowls with the 49ers in 1988 and 1989.

After a long absence the Cowboys were back on Monday Night Football to start the 1992 season. They were hosting the World Champion Redskins at Texas Stadium. It was the defense that came up with the first points of 1992, as Issiac Holt blocked a Redskins punt and the ball rolled out of the end zone for a safety and a 2-0 lead. Then Emmitt Smith scored to give the Cowboys a 9-0 lead and they never looked back. Smith would rush for 140 yards in the game. Kelvin Martin added a 79 yard punt return for a touchdown and the Cowboys went on to beat the Redskins 23-10.

In Week 2 the Cowboys traveled to play the Giants. The Cowboys came out and played a first half like they have never played before. They poured on the points with Emmitt Smith scoring first, than cornerback Robert Williams returned a blocked punt for a touchdown. Kicker Lin Elliott kicked a couple of field goals. Troy Aikman added a touchdown pass to Jay Novacek and at halftime the Cowboys had an amazing 27-0 lead.

The Cowboys came out in the third quarter and scored again when Troy Aikman connected with Michael Irvin on a 27 yard touchdown pass to increase their lead to 34-0. I guess the Cowboys thought that they had the game won easily at that point and the Giants took full advantage of it. Phil Simms started to mount a second half comeback. He threw three touchdown passes and before anyone could blink the Giants had closed the gap to 34-28. I remember watching on television from home and the hearing the crowd going crazy. The Giants Stadium scoreboard operator decided to get the crowd of 76,430 even more involved. Midway through the fourth quarter the scoreboard operator put up the final score that read, GIANTS, 35, COWBOYS, 34. The crowd went wild, but in the end the Cowboys were able to hold off the Giants for a 34-28 victory.

With the victory over the Giants, that put the Cowboys at 2-0 with the Cardinals and Eagles up next. The Cowboys beat the Cardinals 31-20 fairly easily as Troy Aikman threw three touchdown passes and Emmitt Smith rushed for 112 yards and a touchdown. Michael Irvin had an incredible game with 210 yards receiving and three touchdowns.

The fourth week was a visit to Veterans Stadium to play the Eagles. It was said by many that the Eagles were the best team in the NFL and they showed it against the Cowboys in this game. It was the bright lights of Monday Night Football and the Eagles dominated the Cowboys 31-7.

The Cowboys bounced back from the Eagles loss with impressive wins over the Seahawks, 27-0, Chiefs 17-10 and the Raiders 28-13.   These victories improved the Cowboys record to 6-1.

The first game of November would be the rematch against the Eagles. Just a month earlier the Eagles had smacked around the Cowboys. Now it was the Cowboys turn. The Cowboys defense attacked the Eagles from the very start. It got so bad for the Eagles Randall Cunningham that he was benched in the second half with only 13 yards passing.

Emmitt Smith and the Cowboys offensive line dominated as Smith rushed for 163 yards. Troy Aikman added two touchdown passes and the Cowboys won easily 20-10 to improve to 7-1.

The following week the Cowboys traveled back to Detroit with the 38-6 playoff loss from 1991 still fresh in their minds. The Cowboys dominated and beat the Lions 37-3. Emmitt Smith led the way with three touchdowns. Michael Irvin caught five passes for 114 yards and a touchdown.

The Cowboys rolled into Thanksgiving with a 9-2 record. The division rival Giants were on the schedule for turkey day in 1992. The Cowboys dominated and won 30-3. Once again it was Emmitt Smith leading the way as he scored twice and rushed for 120 yards. His second touchdown of the third quarter came on a 68 yard run. The Cowboys defense recorded four sacks and held the Giants offense to 207 total yards. The victory over the Giants gave the Cowboys a three game lead in the NFC East with a 10-2 record.

Week 14 the Cowboys suffered a horrible loss to the Redskins in Washington. The Cowboys were leading 17-13 late in the game when Troy Aikman fumbled the ball in his own end zone and the Redskins recovered it for a touchdown. It was one of four turnovers for the Cowboys and they lost the game 20-17.

The 11-3 Cowboys traveled to Atlanta the following week to take on the Falcons on Monday Night Football. A victory would give the Cowboys the NFC East title for the first time since 1985. The Falcons had no answer for Emmitt Smith as he rushed for 174 yards and two touchdowns. It was also the game that Smith had arguably the best run of his career. He got caught in the middle of Falcons defenders and somehow bounced out and sprinted down the right sideline for the touchdown, beating Deion Sanders to the end zone. Troy Aikman was just as impressive as he connected on 18 out of 21 for 239 yards and three touchdowns. The Cowboys beat the Falcons 41-17 and earned themselves the NFC East Championship.

The Cowboys did not finish the 1992 regular season on a positive note. After building a 27-0 lead on the Bears at Texas Stadium, the Cowboys got sloppy. Jimmy Johnson, who was pulling his starters during the game, ended up putting some of them back in. He was not happy with the team's second half performance at all. He even cut backup running back Curvin Richards after the game for fumbling twice. The Cowboys did win the game 27-14 as Emmitt Smith rushed for 131 yards and scored on a 31 yard touchdown run. On that touchdown run Smith captured his second straight rushing title with 1,713 yards in 1992.

The Cowboys finished the 1992 season with a 13-3 record and a division championship. It was the most regular season wins in team history. Troy Aikman had his best season since coming into the NFL as he threw for 3,445 yards and 23 touchdowns. Michael Irvin had another impressive season with seven touchdowns and 1,396 receiving yards.

For the third time in 1992 the Cowboys and Eagles would be matched up against each other and for the second time in 1992 the game would be at Texas Stadium, this time for the Divisional round of the playoffs. It was also the first playoff game at Texas Stadium since way back in 1983.

The Eagles jumped out to an early 3-0 lead and from there it was no contest as the Cowboys scored the next 34 points. The Cowboys beat the Eagles easily 34-10. The Cowboys defense controlled Randall Cunningham and the Eagles offense by limiting them to only 178 yards and collected five sacks. Emmitt Smith wore down the Eagles defense with 114 yards rushing. He also scored on a 23 yard touchdown run that increased the Cowboys lead to 24-3 in the third quarter. Troy Aikman threw for 200 yards and a touchdown to Michael Irvin and tight end Derek Tennell, who the Cowboys signed to the team only days before the game. Next up was the NFC Championship game.

The Cowboys had earned the right to play for the NFC Championship against the San Francisco 49ers. The 49ers were considered the best team in the NFL and earned home field advantage in the playoffs with a 14-2 record in 1992. The young, inexperienced Cowboys were not given much of a chance against the high-powered 49ers offense of Steve Young, Jerry Rice, John Taylor and Ricky Watters.  But these were the new Dallas Cowboys, led by Jimmy Johnson. This was the NFC Championship game with the two best teams in the NFC doing battle for the opportunity to move onto Super Bowl XXVII.

The NFC Championship game would be played in San Francisco at Candlestick Park. Outside of the excitement the game brought, it also brought back bad memories from the last time the Cowboys played the NFC Championship game in Candlestick Park. This was the same stadium that ruined the Cowboys Super Bowl dreams as well as their fans 11 seasons earlier in 1981. The entire week leading up to the game was filled with game highlights from 1981, which of course included Dwight dark making "The Catch" from Joe Montana. Both of those teams were long gone except for Joe Montana who was now on the bench watching Steve Young play.

Outside of stories from the 1981 NFC Championship, the other story was the field conditions at Candlestick Park. It had been raining hard in San Francisco all week and the field was in terrible shape. The 49ers decided to have the grass replaced in the middle of the field from goal line to goal line in hopes that the weather would improve by game day.

As a fan I had been to this point before back in 1980. '81 and '82, which of course were all loses in the championship game. The Cowboys had finally returned and a trip to the Super Bowl was only 60 minutes away. The game was a 4:00p.m. start in New York and it seemed like the day just dragged on forever. I was watching the AFC Championship game between the Bills and Dolphins, but I can honestly say that I don't remember much about the game. I was too busy watching the clock and wishing that it was game time already.

The excitement of kickoff didn't last very long as Jerry Rice caught a pass from Steve Young and raced 64 yards to the end zone for a touchdown with Issiac Holt chasing him. But then I saw that wonderful yellow flag on the grass. The 49ers were called for holding on the play and the touchdown was taken away. The reason Holt covering Rice was because two plays before Cowboys cornerback Kevin Smith hurt his shoulder and left the game. That brought in Holt and the 49ers tried to take advantage of it. On top of the holding that was called on the 49ers the other good news for the Cowboys was that Kevin Smith returned to the game.

The Cowboys and 49ers exchanged scores in the first half. The Cowboys went ahead 3-0 on a Lin Elliott field goal after Daryl Johnston recovered a fumble on a punt return. Then the 49ers answered with a Steve Young touchdown run that put them ahead 7-3. The Cowboys defense forced a Ricky Watters fumble and Emmitt Smith turned that into a short touchdown run and the Cowboys went back ahead 10-7. The 49ers tied the game with a field goal towards the end of the first half. And then right before halftime Lin Elliott missed a field goal that would have given the Cowboys the lead again, but he missed and at halftime the score stayed tied at 10-10. 

In the second half the Cowboys offense started to control the clock to keep Young and the 49ers offense off the field. Cowboy's offensive coordinator Nor Turner was calling a great game as he was mixing the run and the pass to keep the 49ers off balance. Darryl Johnston scored on a short touchdown run and the Cowboys took a 17-13 lead into the fourth quarter.

Early in the fourth quarter the Cowboys increased their lead to 24-13 when Emmitt Smith scored on a 16 yard touchdown pass from Troy Aikman. On the 49ers next possession Cowboys linebacker Ken Norton Jr. intercepted Steve Young. The Cowboys offense responded by driving to the 49ers seven yard line where they faced a 4th and 1. Instead of attempting a field goal that would have made the score 27-13, Jimmy Johnson decided to go for the first down. Emmitt Smith took the handoff from Aikman and was stopped short of the first down. This seemed to give the 49ers a spark as they drove down the field on the Cowboys defense and capped it off with a Young to Rice touchdown to close to within 24-20 with 4:22 left in the game.

With the score 24-20 and under five minutes left in the game, I remember John Madden saying how things were going to tighten up on the Cowboys sideline. Would Jimmy Johnson try to run down the clock by getting some first downs or would he continue to attack the 49ers defense? It would take one play to answer that question.

The Cowboys offense sat at their own 20 yard line to start their next possession. On the first play Aikman dropped back and fired the ball to Alvin Harper who caught the ball at the 35 yard line as the 49ers defender dove at the ball trying to knock it down from Harper. Harper broke free and by the time the 49ers defense tackled him he had gained 71 yards and was tackled at the 49ers nine yard line. Jimmy Johnson and Norv Turner decided to attack and it paid off as they now faced a first and goal and a chance to seal the game. Three plays later from the six yard line Aikman connected with Kelvin Martin for the touchdown. The extra point was blocked, but the Cowboys now led 30-20 with a little over three minutes to play. The Cowboys James Washington intercepted Young on the 49ers next possession that put an end to the game. The

The Cowboys were going back to the Super Bowl for the first time since 1977, the year that I had become a fan. For many Cowboys fan it also put to rest the loss to the 49ers from back in 1981 because now it was the Cowboys on top and the fans had the Alvin Harper highlight to watch over and over again.

The stats for the NFC Championship game were close for both teams in almost every way except for one. The Cowboys offense never turned the ball over in the game and the defense forced four turnovers from the 49ers. Troy Aikman finished the game completing 24 out of 34 passes for 322 yards and two touchdowns. Emmitt Smith scored twice and rushed for 114 yards.

The same team that I had first watched back in 1977 win Super Bowl XII was now going back to the Super Bowl for the first time since then. The Cowboys were NFC Champions! To be a fan for so long and to watch the Cowboys lose championship games, finish seasons 3-13 and 1-15 and watch as Tom Landry was let go and Jimmy Johnson was hired. Now to be playing in the Super Bowl was an incredible feeling that really can’t be explained in words.

Even with all the excitement of beating the 49ers and all the talk of the Super Bowl, the fact remained that the game was still two weeks away and of course the media talked about everything they could think of. It got so bad at one point during the two weeks that the media spent time talking about why Jimmy Johnson's hair never moved.

Beyond all the silly stores like Jimmy Johnson's hair, the match-up was what mattered most. This was the Buffalo Bills third straight trip to the Super Bowl and they were looking to finally win one. They had the veteran leadership and the big game experience. The Cowboys were young and inexperienced. Did one team have an advantage over the other? Jimmy Johnson thought so!

To be continued...