Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: MONDAY, January 6, 1992 TAG: 9201060123
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: B1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: PONTIAC, MICH. LENGTH: Medium
BELIEVE IT: LIONS ROUT COWBOYS
Nearly 80,000 fans left the Pontiac Silverdome with the same words on their lips: "I saw it, but I don't believe it."Believe it.
Erik Kramer, the quarterback who came out of nowhere, took the Detroit Lions, the team that came out of nowhere, to the NFC championship in a game even he conceded "was unimaginable for me."
Kramer, who replaced injured Rodney Peete at midseason, passed for 341 yards and three touchdowns Sunday as the Lions, who hadn't won a playoff game in 34 years, beat the Dallas Cowboys 38-6. It was Detroit's seventh straight victory and ended a six-game Dallas winning streak.
"Today was just something special," Kramer said. "From the first series on, I was in that zone everyone hopes and dreams he can be in."
He was helped by a Dallas defense that was stacked to stop Barry Sanders, who was limited to 22 yards in 11 carries until he broke loose for a spectacular 47-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter for the final Detroit score.
Kramer also was egged on by the Cowboys, who taunted him, particularly early in the game.
"I took it as a challenge. They kind of called me out," Kramer said. "They didn't have too much respect for me. They said `This is the guy who's got to beat us.' "
So he did, leading the Lions to their ninth victory without a loss in the Silverdome. The Lions, the only NFL team to go unbeaten at home, won the NFC Central title with a 12-4 record. It was Detroit's first winning season since 1983.
This victory sends the Lions to a far less friendly place for next Sunday's NFC title game - RFK Stadium in Washington. That is where they lost their season opener 45-0 to the Redskins, but they played without Sanders and with Kramer on the bench.
On this Sunday, the quarterback who first played in the NFL as a replacement player for Atlanta in the 1987 strike and joined the Lions from the Canadian Football League last year, was as good as any Montana, Marino or Elway.
Kramer threw a 31-yard touchdown to Willie Green on Detroit's first possession and then, with the Lions leading 17-6, found Green from 9 yards out. Sixty-four seconds later, after Victor Jones' recovery of quarterback Troy Aikman's fumble on a snap, Kramer threw 7 yards to former Virginia star Herman Moore for another touchdown.
"He had one of the finest games reading [defenses] I've ever seen," said Dallas safety Ray Horton, a nine-year pro who was beaten by Green on the first touchdown. "We'd change our defense. He'd wait until the last minute to snap the ball and he knew what we were in."
Aikman, injured six weeks ago, replaced Steve Beuerlein late in the first half after Beuerlein threw an interception that was returned 41 yards for a touchdown by Melvin Jenkins. Beuerlein completed seven of 13 passes for 91 yards; Aikman was 11-of-16 for 114, but lost two fumbles and was sacked twice.
Jenkins was only part of a defense that, despite missing nose tackle Jerry Ball and several other key players, forced four turnovers and registered three sacks in limiting the Cowboys to 28-yard field goals by Ken Willis.
In fact, it was a career day for almost every Lion but Sanders, who rushed for 1,548 yards, only 20 fewer than NFL leader Emmitt Smith of Dallas, in the regular season. It wasn't much of a game for Smith, either. He gained only 80 yards in 15 carries.
"They gave us the pass and we took it," said coach Wayne Fontes, who went to Sanders at halftime after the NFL's second-leading rusher had only four carries for 8 yards.
"I told him we were going to stick with what we were doing with Erik and he said `fine.' That's the class act he is."
Because the Cowboys crowded the line to jam Sanders, it opened things for Kramer, who completed 29 of 38 passes.
"We got a little exposed on defense today," said Dallas coach Jimmy Johnson, whose pass defense had allowed only three quarterbacks to pass for more than 245 yards. "They got us isolated one-on-one, and that type of passing game has hurt us all year."
The two receivers most open were Green and Moore.
Green, who spent his rookie season of 1989 on injured reserve, had the best day of his career, catching eight passes for 115 yards. Moore, the Lions' first-round draft pick this season, had six catches for 87 yards and his first NFL touchdown after having only 11 receptions in the regular season.
"Everyone asked all season where Moore was," Fontes said. "You saw him today. He's going to be a great receiver." \