Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: SUNDAY, January 30, 1994 TAG: 9401300101
SECTION: SPORTS PAGE: C1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: ATLANTA LENGTH: Long
Cornelius Bennett bristled at the thought that the Buffalo Bills have no chance to avoid a fourth straight Super Bowl loss today against the juggernaut called the Dallas Cowboys.
"You think we came here to lose?" the Bills' veteran linebacker snapped. "You think we came to the previous three Super Bowls to lose? No. So don't ask me that damn question. That's stupid."
Stupid nor not, when the Bills and Cowboys qualified last week to meet in the 28th renewal of the modern version of the NFL championship, the reaction was a collective groan from those who watched Dallas demolish Buffalo 52-17 a year ago.
As game day approached, however, there was an increasing recognition that Buffalo's presence for four straight years is a major achievement in itself.
No one else has done that, not even the NFL's "dynasties" - the San Francisco Super Bowl coverage. C3-7 49ers of the '80s; the Pittsburgh Steelers and Miami Dolphins of the '70s; the Green Bay Packers of the '60s; or the Dallas squads that created "America's Team" under Tom Landry.
These, of course, are the Cowboys of Jimmy Johnson, the designated "Team of the '90s." Yet despite their success - a 30-7 record the past two seasons - they would have to win two more NFC titles to do what Buffalo already has done.
"Man, I went nine years without getting here," says Bill Bates, one of the few Cowboys who bridges the Landry and Johnson eras.
"I know how hard it is to make it," he said. "And then when you do, how hard it is to get back. We had so much trouble this year that I can't imagine going through that for four seasons."
Trouble, of course, is relative.
In the eyes of most people, the Cowboys clearly are the NFL's strongest team.
But they lost their first two games, including a 13-10 loss to the Bills at home, largely because running back Emmitt Smith, the league's MVP, was holding out.
They lost another game to the Falcons in Atlanta on one of those off days that can be expected. Then they lost to the Dolphins 16-14 in a Thanksgiving ice storm that will be remembered as the game in which Leon Lett mistakenly touched a blocked field-goal attempt and gave the Dolphins a second chance to kick the winning field goal.
Those four losses forced them to beat the New York Giants in the windswept Meadowlands on the final day of the regular season for the NFC East crown. They barely did it, winning 16-13 in overtime as Smith turned in a heroic performance, rushing for 168 yards with a shoulder he separated just before halftime.
If they had lost, the Cowboys would have had to play a wild-card game the next week - Smith said he wouldn't have been able to play - and then go on the road for two more playoff games. Instead, they got a week off and cruised by Green Bay 27-17 and San Francisco 38-21 to make it back.
The Bills, who depended the past three years on their no-huddle offense, followed a different path this year. They won the AFC East at 12-4 and returned with 26 players in their fourth Super Bowl.
While the offense sputtered, Bruce Smith, Nate Odomes, Darryl Talley and Henry Jones led a defense that was an offense in itself. The Bills' defense led the league by creating 47 turnovers and scoring four defensive touchdowns.
Jim Kelly had perhaps his two best games of the season in the playoffs, going 44-of-64 for 447 yards in winning 29-23 over the Los Angeles Raiders and 30-13 over the Kansas City Chiefs. Thurman Thomas had his best game of the season against the Chiefs, rushing for 183 yards. That set up a classic running back matchup with Smith in the Super Bowl.
But the wins by the Bills and the Cowboys deprived the world of a dramatic matchup: Chiefs quarterback Joe Montana against the 49ers, who discarded him after he led them to four Super Bowl victories.
Thus, this is the Super Bowl that nobody wanted, and for good reason.
The Bills played one of the best Super Bowls ever the first time they got here, losing 20-19 to the Giants when Scott Norwood's 47-yard field-goal attempt in the final seconds went wide right. The losses got worse - 37-24 to the Washington Redskins in a game that wasn't that close, then the 52-17 fiasco a year ago, the ninth consecutive time an NFC team has won the title.
"I wish they had won one of those first two," says Dallas fullback Daryl Johnston, who grew up a Bills fan in western New York. "I don't want us to be the team that loses to them."
In a way, Johnston typifies Dallas' strength: an abundance of role players to supplement the stars.
The offense is centered on quarterback Troy Aikman handing off to Smith and throwing to Michael Irvin and Alvin Harper, both 6 feet 3. They will be matched against Odomes and Mickey Washington, two 5-9 cornerbacks.
The Dallas defense is built on speed: linebackers Ken Norton, Darrin Smith and Dixon Edwards run 4.5 40-yard dashes or better.
The defensive line rotates seven players, with Charles Haley, who is nursing a chronically sore back, as the focal point.
Along with Haley come Russell Maryland, Tony Casillas, Jimmie Jones and Lett rotating inside, and Tony Tolbert and Jim Jeffcoat on the outside.
None is a superstar, except perhaps for Lett and only because of his two nationally televised gaffes: the mistake against Miami and the play late in last year's Super Bowl, when he was dancing toward the end zone for an apparent touchdown after a fumble recovery, only to be chased down by Don Beebe, who stripped him of the ball.
Beebe's play has become a symbol for these Bills - a never-say-die hustle when the game was out of hand. Several of them cited it this week as an example of their resilience.
And so the theme is set.
"I will play on a Super Bowl winner if I have to play until I'm 90," says Talley, who is seen by his teammates as their emotional leader. "If we lose, we'll look at each other and say, `We didn't do it this time. Let's go back 'til we do it right.' "
Keywords:
FOOTBALL
by CNB