Colts do number on Cowboys in 34-24 win
11/01/99
By David Moore / The Dallas Morning News
INDIANAPOLIS - An Indianapolis team hungry to prove it belongs faced a Cowboys team that is desperately trying to cling to its championship legacy.
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Summary
Blackistone: Indy has Cowboys looking behind
Cowlishaw: Colts pass test against Sanders
David Moore's Cowboys report card
Indianapolis' defense leaves Aikman groggy
Third-down plays spell doom for Cowboys
Big gains on first down key to Colts' success
James gives Colts 'Edge' over Cowboys
Cowboys-Colts game notebook
Jean-Jacques Taylor's Monday morning QB
Not in the stats
What others are saying about the game
As Sunday's game wore on - and Dallas wore down - it was clear that time and talent were on the Colts' side.
The Cowboys embarked on the toughest part of their schedule with a disheartening 34-24 loss at the RCA Dome. On an afternoon when the Colts' triumvirate of Peyton Manning, Edgerrin James and Marvin Harrison rose to the challenge, the Cowboys' stars, especially Deion Sanders, looked all too mortal.
Afterward, the Cowboys were left to ponder how a defense that was so effective in the first half was so overwhelmed in the second. Dallas must live with the fact it has fallen behind Washington and the New York Giants in the NFC East and that it hasn't beaten a non-division opponent on the road in 26 months.
Next up: non-division opponent Minnesota in the Metrodome.
"It's bothersome," safety Darren Woodson said of the 0-8 streak that extends to August 1997. "I don't see why we shouldn't be able to win some of these games."
The Cowboys didn't win Sunday because their marquee players couldn't match the Colts' young guns.
Manning threw for 312 yards and a touchdown while handling minimal pressure from the Dallas defensive front.
Troy Aikman threw for just 159 yards, was sacked five times and was knocked out of the game briefly on a helmet-to-helmet hit from blitzing cornerback Jeff Burris.
James accumulated 205 total yards (113 rushing, 92 receiving) and was the main reason the Cowboys' defense was back on its heels in the second half.
Emmitt Smith managed just 25 of his 93 yards after halftime and was stuffed for a 1-yard loss on a key third-and-1 play to open the third quarter when coach Chan Gailey insisted on running behind the right side of a Cowboys offensive line that has struggled.
And Harrison? He finished with 85 yards on six catches and beat Sanders for a 40-yard touchdown to give the Colts a lead they would not relinquish.
"We can play some football," James proclaimed.
The Cowboys' defense - at least early - played some football.
Irwin Thompson / DMN
Colts WR Marvin Harrison hauls in a 40-yard pass from Peyton Manning as Dallas' Deion Sanders can only watch.
Dallas was at its aggressive, hard-hitting best in the first half. The Cowboys took a 17-6 lead into the locker room because of the play of their special teams - a 76-yard return by Sanders and a blocked punt staked the Cowboys to the game's first 10 points - and their defense. Middle linebacker Randall Godfrey led a swarming, often furious effort that tattooed James every time he touched the ball and made life difficult for Harrison.
That didn't happen in the second half when the Colts ran up 269 yards in offense and outscored the Cowboys, 28-7.
"The defense didn't keep our team in the game," Woodson said.
"We did not play well," Cowboys defensive tackle Chad Hennings said. "That's a shot at the players, coaches, everybody across the board. We didn't make the adjustments."
Indianapolis continued to use its running game to chip away at the Dallas defense. It also utilized some different formations to neutralize the Cowboys' speed.
James is at his best when he finds a crease and can cut back against the defensive grain. This is what the Colts did well in the second half. His presence, meanwhile, made the play-action passes Manning likes to use to freeze the defense all the more effective.
The results: Indianapolis scored on six straight possessions to turn a 14-point deficit into a 34-24 lead with 4:36 remaining. The Colts turned the game upside down early in the third quarter by scoring 15 points in a span of 34 seconds.
"We were able to answer," said Aikman, who immediately led the Cowboys on an eight-play, 75-yard touchdown drive to recapture a 24-21 lead. "But it was all downhill from there."
Actually, it was more uphill for the offense. Dallas showed it can keep the pressure on when it stays ahead, as it did last week against Washington. But with the loss of Michael Irvin, the Cowboys don't seemed equipped to engage in a true shootout.
The Cowboys were unable to challenge Indianapolis deep because it kept a safety anchored in the middle of the field. Seven different receivers caught a pass for Dallas, but none gained more than 37 yards.
The Colts had four receivers - James, Harrison, Terrence Wilkins (59) and Jerome Pathon (38) - surpass that total.
"You have to take what they give you," said Ernie Mills, who led the way for Dallas with four catches for 37 yards.
The Colts gave Dallas more than it could handle this afternoon. On a day where most of the country turned back their clocks, the Cowboys couldn't.
"We're sitting here 4-3," Gailey said. "It's not where we want to be, but it's where we are." |
