Super Bowl features survivors
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■ SUPER BOWL fiom OaBas and
Pittsburgh have gone through tough
times this season to get to Sunday
TKMf»K. Art* (At*! — For tit# Pittsburgh Steel
erv It w« 3 and 4 For ihe CtdfawCawtwyi. it *»«
fourth-amt I
The Super Bowl participant* didn't hav* an easy
rule to Sunday * gsme For mxariv half the schedule,
the Steeler* struggled |u*t about when Pittsburgh
began turning it on. the Cowboy* dipped into * funk
How they dealt with tho*< t ritual pimture*
explain* why they got this hit
The Steeler* loot All-Pro cornerbm k Rod Wood
son and quarterback Noil O Donnell in the season
opMMf, Their pri*» rookie runner of the previous
season. Bam Morris, was overweight and wound
up on the bench
By the seventh week of the session. Pittsburgh had
four losses, including a 20 Ih defeat at expansion
|a< ksonville The players were confused. their con
fident e ebbing and their ranking as an NFL pow
er rapidly disappearing
TTuee month* ago. when we were 3 and-4. a lot
of people did not give us a chance. " O'Donnell said
Wednesday "And wo ve lost one game in the past
three months We all tame together "
On and of! the field, the players give alt the«red
it to coach Bill CoWhar,
“When we were 3-and-4. we d gotten out of our
style of playing." said Morris, who returned to form
by getting in better shajw W» were trying to I*
more of a finesse team
*'We had a team meeting and Bill said. "This is
like a new half We all took our play up to anoth
er level and we are here
(lowlier didn't come down hard on hi* team Real
i*ing the Steeler* had the talent to win the AFT
championship, tie told them io evaluate what had
happened and then rededicate and refocus for the
remaining nine weeks
"We were embarrassed on national television
at home by Cincinnati on a Thursday night."
Cow her said. "We had a chance to get away for the
weekend We got a chance to sit back am) maybe
do a self-check on ourselves,
The loaches opened up the offense. beg*in using j
KwiMI Slew art everywhere, and moved (anwl) '
1 j»ke from strong wiMt to «omerbetk The Steelers
won e*ght otrnight. easily taking the AR’ Central ;
They respond***! ‘ ( 4.«hrf vud You i an makr> '
all of the changes in the world m a coach, but if the *
player* don't accept and believe in U, it isn't rimn I
to get tl done !
there tew little doubt the Cowboys would pt to I
January There was widespread skepticism they I
would jjet very far Into January I
Dallas went through a horrible December after
Impressive v «lories over Oakland and Kansas City
The Redskins beat them for the second time The
nest week, at Philadelphia, came the mnt mliimtut
fourth and I play, with SwiUwr twice going for it
at the Dallas id in the waning moment* Ana twice
falling short, although the iwo mtnute warning
erased one failure
Switzer was lambasted Cowboys player* rallied
to his defence but questioned their own motiva
tion and focus
"When you go for fourth and I and don't pa it and
get blasted and people are talking about how your
season is over and you ate on the downhill side, you
have a tendency to say. We know we're not this
bad."' Kmmitt South said "So we peaked up the wag
cm and moved on to where we want to he
More than anything, the Cowboy* were offend
ed by the way SwtUer was treated by the media
Headlines such a* Horn The Coach'' didn't sit well
with them
Although they barely heat a weak (.cants twain in
(dune 15. the Cowboys received a Christmas gift
from San Francis* o. which lost its finale to Atlanta
That gave Dallas a shot at home-field advantage
In the NFC playoffs The Cowboy* grabbed It and
haven't looked hack
"1 think if we didn't have the charac ter within
our football team." Troy Alkman said, "this team
would not be here right now This football learn
overcame a great deal It overcame the normal things
that every football team ha* to overcome to be suc -
cessful. like injuries,
“Hut the thing lhat make* the* team special for
me i* that this learn overcame a lot of internal strife
that I don't think was necessary."
Smith provides power Dallas needs
■ STAR: Without the
superstar running back
the Cowboys have gone
0-4 m last six seasons
TEMPE, Art*. (Al>) — Lmw it
to Nate Newton. the Dallas (jw
boy*' 330-pound chatterbox. to
define hnunitt Smith's impar t on
the team
“Before Knumit came, I was
juft! • norm ill fat guy," the left
guard *aid “Now I'm a fat guy
who goo* to the Pro Bowl."
Emmitt Smith tan do that for
people.
Mo's not the biggest running
back In football Nor is he the
fastest He'd lose to have Barry
Sanders* moves and Barry
Sanders’ speeds
Yet it ft conceivable that if his
5-foot-9. 209-pound hotly stand#
up for another si* to eight years,
he could hold every NFL rushing
record
“lie’s not as big as |nn Brown
and he’s not as fast But if he con
tinues to play at thift level for a
few more years, he'll have done
everything that fiitt Brown did
and more,'* said Dick LeBeau,
Pittsburgh's defensive coordina
tor — the man in charge of find
ing a way to stop Smith in Sun
day's Super Bowl.
Consider this:
• Smith's 25 rushing touch
downs this year were the moat in
a single season, one more than
|ohn Riggins' old mark His SB
carver TD* in fust six seasons are
fifth behind Walter Payton.
Brown. Marcus Allen and Rig
gins Nest season, he should
catch Payton, who has 110
• Hi# 1.773 rushing yards broke
his own Itetias record, set in HW2
He's already nth on the all-time
rushing list with «.®36 yank, more
than halfway to Payton's Hi,726.
set over 13 seasons.
Coach gives players credit
for trip to whichever Bowl
TEMP*. Art* (A»>) - Barry
SwttMW still can t give up the
Ok Sihonu analogies
So when he wm asked what
Tray Alkman. Kmmitt Smith
and Michael Irvin had dona
tor hi* Dalle* Cowboys. be had
a quick, retort
"You think coach** win
foothali game*? They gut ut
her* to the Orange Bowl, er.
t moan the BK. Orange Bowl."
he said
aren't always informative, but
they're usually entertaining
SuiJb wat l lie um* on Wednes
day. another news con ferem e
day prior to Sunday * game
The find question came
trom Spencer Tillman, a tele
vision newsman in Houston
who played lor the San Fran
cisco 49er*. Houston Oilers
and, before that, in Oklahoma
for a coach named Barry
Swiixer
His question was about
ways lo t uinlial the Pittsburgh
ikfomti
Swiiiw. who often «mw«»
question* he doesn't like with
a ‘‘Did you ever play THE
(,AMK’ rm*pu»ut*d lo Tillman
with a Mr fur* of X* end O*
He ended by saying 'You
know whet I mean. Spencer,
HUIAUSE YOU PLAYED THE
GAME!"
Then um» the inevitable
rial ion. the one about h»%
iston to go tor a find down
on fourth and-1 from hi* own
29 in a tie game in Phtiadel
phia on Pet: 10. 1995 The
play tailed and the Gigles took
advantage and knked the win
ntng field goal
“Every kid knows, and
every coach knows that you
have to punt in that situation.
Switzer said "Hut there are
times you make the decision
Sometimes you win 'em
.Sometimes you low tins You
rail the die*.*'
• He's also 115 yard* away
from breaking Franco Harris'
record of 354 rushing yards in
Super Row! games
• Most important Since ltM»3,
the first of Dallas" Super Howl
seasons, the Cowboy* are 0 4 in
games he ha* missed. 31-5 in
games b*‘s played.
The !9d3 season ts the best
illustration of just what Smith
means to Dallas
He held out in training camp
and missed the First two games,
both of which the Cowboys lost
He >omed the team for the third
game Mid the Cowboys wen I 12-2
(he rest of the way and on to the
Super Bowl Dallas became the
first team in the Super Howl era to
lose its first two and win the title
But it was the last regular see
son game that most defines
Smith, a game against the New
York Giant* at the wind-swept
Meadow land* Because the Cow
boys had lost those two early
games without him. they had to
beat the Giants to win the NFC
Etat and avoid taking the wild
Tom to STAR. Page 16
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