Cowboys
30 - Bills 13
Box Score
  ATLANTA - The likeliest hero of all ran away from the Buffalo
Bills and ran off with the MVP award. Just another night in the remarkable life of Emmitt
Smith.
The unlikeliest hero of all forced a fumble, recovered a fumble
and ran 46 yards for a touchdown, intercepted a pass, made 11 tackles and talked later of
his status as a backup player. Such is the life of safety James Washington.
These two stood above the rest, and Thurman Thomas once more fell
way down below as the Cowboys added their names to the roll call of the great in the
National Football League. The Cowboys overcame a seven-point halftime deficit to bury the
Buffalo Bills, 30-13, in Super Bowl XXVIII at the Georgia Dome.
Repeating as NFL champions is a far different test from winning
it once. It was no breeze, but the Cowboys passed. Smith carried 30 times for 132 yards,
Troy Aikman threw for 207, and another Vince Lombardi Trophy is on its way to Dallas. Only
six teams have gone back-to-back. Only Pittsburgh and San Francisco also have won four
Super Bowls.
"I'm not much of an historian," coach Jimmy Johnson
said. "I just know we've won two Super Bowls in a row."
The Bills have lost four in a row, a remarkable achievement of
another sort. They have committed 17 turnovers in the last three Super Bowls, including
three Sunday night.
Thomas, a great back in the regular season who rushed for 186
yards just a week ago against Kansas City, carried 16 times for 37 yards and lost two
fumbles. In the last three Super Bowls, he has carried 37 times for 69 yards (1.9
average).
"We should have found some way, somehow, to win one out of
four," said Thomas. "To me, we are still the team to beat."
Are they ever. The Cowboys struggled for a half, committing a
costly running-into-the-punter penalty and throwing one interception to fall behind, 13-6.
After 30 minutes, the Bills had only one turnover and Jim Kelly had managed to complete 19
of 26 passes without being sacked.
"I told them at halftime, 'Hang in there, we'll be fine.'
Our defense really wasn't getting off the ball," said Johnson. "We said, 'We've
got to attack the line of scrimmage.' And on offense, we started going to the right side
with (linemen) Erik Williams and Kevin Gogan and putting Nate (Newton) over there. That's
a lot of weight."
Before the Cowboys offense could really get going, Washington
changed the course of the game. On the third play after halftime, Leon Lett forced Thomas
to fumble, and Washington scooped it up. He ran toward the left sideline, then cut back
toward the middle to avoid Kelly and Don Beebe, then cut back to the corner to go 46 yards
for a touchdown. Less than one minute into the second half, it was 13-13.
"It's a play we work on every day," said Washington,
who was a full-time player Sunday only because Dallas played its nickel (five-back)
defense in which safety Darren Woodson moves to linebacker.
"That return for a touchdown just picked up our
momentum," said Smith. Then Smith picked up the rest of the load.
Dallas forced a punt and gained possession at its 36. Offensive
coordinator Norv Turner began to call Smith's number . . . a lot.
"He told me at halftime to get him the ball," Turner
said. "I do what Emmitt tells me."
The Cowboys went 64 yards for a touchdown, with Smith carrying
seven times for 61 yards. Only a three-yard screen to Daryl Johnston interrupted the flow.
The Cowboys called a play four times in which Newton pulls to the right to give Dallas
three linemen in the 330-pound range bearing down on Buffalo. The Bills' Darryl Talley,
Bruce Smith and Phil Hansen all suffered minor injuries during the eight-play onslaught.
Smith's 15-yard touchdown run made it 20-13. The Cowboys were on
their way.
"That was all we needed," said Newton. "We could
feel their coffin nailing shut."
The Cowboys got their next break on the first play of the fourth
quarter when Washington intercepted Kelly's pass meant for Andre Reed and ran 12 yards to
the Bills' 34. Aikman made a key third-and-eight throw to Alvin Harper for 16 yards to the
six. On fourth-and-goal from just inches out, Smith took a toss to the left and wasn't hit
until he had crossed the goal line.
That locked up the game along with an MVP trophy for Smith
despite competition from Washington. "Being MVP of the league and this game, too . .
. you can't ask for anything more," said Smith. "I thought James had it wrapped
up. I wish it could be a co-(MVP)."
Said Washington, "I was hoping to go to Disney World, but
since I live in Los Angeles, I'll go to Disneyland. I know that I'm a backup and all, but
we really have three starters, and Jimmy has a lot of trust in me."
The Cowboys added the last of three Eddie Murray field goals to
raise the final margin to 17. Of their six playoff victories the last two years, none have
been by fewer than 10 points. Every other team that has won back-to-back titles (Green
Bay, Miami, Pittsburgh twice and San Francisco) played at least one game in which the
margin was no more than seven.
"It's too early to call us the Team of the Nineties,"
said Aikman. "But I guess this says last year was not a fluke. It puts us with some
great teams. What exactly that means to all of us, I'm not sure.
"Last year's Super Bowl was one of disbelief, a bunch of
young, bright-eyed guys caught up in it all. This is one of satisfaction because the
expectations were so much higher."
The Cowboys can't go any higher now - at least not until next
year.
Box Score Dallas 6 0 14 10 = 30
Buffalo 3 10 0 0 = 13
DAL- FG Murray 41, 2:19 1st
BUF- FG Christie 54, 4:41 1st
DAL- FG Murray 24, 11:05 1st
BUF- Thomas 4 run (Christie kick), 2:34 2nd
BUF- FG Christie 28, 15:00 2nd
DAL- Washington 46 def. fumble rec. (Murray kick),
0:55 3rd
DAL- E. Smith 15 run (Murray kick), 6:18 3rd
DAL- E. Smith 1 run (Murray kick), 5:10 4th
DAL- FG Murray 20, 12:10 4th
TEAM STATISTICS Dal. Buff.
Total First Downs 20 22
Rushing 6 6
Passing 14 15
Penalty 0 1
Total Net Yardage 341 314
Total Offensive Plays 64 80
Avg. Gain per Offensive Play 5.3 3.9
Rushes 35 27
Yards Gained Rushing (Net) 137 87
Average Yards per Rush 3.9 3.2
Passes Attempted 27 50
Passes Completed 19 31
Had Intercepted 1 1
Tackled Attempting to Pass 2 3
Yards Lost Attempting to Pass 3 33
Yards Gained Passing (Net) 204 227
Punts 4 5
Average Distance 43.8 37.6
Punt Returns 1 1
Punt Return Yardage 5 5
Kickoff Returns 2 6
Kickoff Return Yardage 72 144
Interception Return Yardage 12 41
Fumbles 0 3
Own Fumbles Recovered 0 1
Opponent Fumbles Recovered 2 0
Penalties 6 1
Yards Penalized 50 10
Total Points Scored 30 13
Touchdowns 3 1
Rushing 2 1
Passing 0 0
Returns 1 0
Extra Points 3 1
Field Goals 3 2
Field Goals Attempted 3 2
Safeties 0 0
Third-Down Efficiency 5/13 5/17
Fourth-Down Efficiency 1/1 2/3
Time of Possession 34:29 25:31
INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS
Rushing
Dallas No. Yds. LG TD
E. Smith 30 132 15t 2
K. Williams 1 6 6 0
Aikman 1 3 3 0
Johnston 1 0 0 0
Kosar 1 -1 1 0
Coleman 1 -3 3 0
Buffalo No. Yds. LG TD
K. Davis 9 38 11 0
Thomas 16 37 6 1
Kelly 2 12 8 0
Passing
Dallas Att. Comp. Yds. TD Int.
Aikman 27 19 207 0 1
Buffalo Att. Comp. Yds. TD Int.
Kelly 50 31 260 0 1
Receiving
Dallas No. Yds. LG TD
Irvin 5 66 20 0
Novacek 5 26 9 0
E. Smith 4 26 10 0
Harper 3 75 35 0
Johnston 2 14 11 0
Buffalo No. Yds. LG TD
Brooks 7 63 15 0
Thomas 7 52 24 0
Reed 6 75 22 0
Beebe 6 60 18 0
K. Davis 3 -5 7 0
Metzelaars 1 8 8 0
McKeller 1 7 7 0
Interceptions
Dallas No. Yds. LG TD
Washington 1 12 12 0
Buffalo No. Yds. LG TD
Odomes 1 41 41 0
Punting
Dallas No. Avg. LG Blk.
Jett 4 43.8 47 0
Buffalo No. Avg. LG Blk.
Mohr 5 37.6 52 0
Punt Returns
Dallas No. FC Yds. LG TD
K. Williams 1 1 5 5 0
Buffalo No. FC Yds. LG TD
Copeland 1 1 5 5 0
Kickoff Returns
Dallas No. Yds. LG TD
K. Williams 1 50 50 0
Gant 1 22 22 0
Buffalo No. Yds. LG TD
Copeland 4 82 22 0
Beebe 2 62 34 0
Dallas Cowboys Buffalo Bills
Offense
Gesek, John C Hull, Kent C
Gogan, Kevin G Davis, John G
Newton, Nate G Parker, Glenn G
Tuinei, Mark T Ballard, Howard T
Williams, Erik T Fina, John T
Novacek, Jay TE Metzelaars, Pete TE
Harper, Alvin WR Beebe, Don WR
Irvin, Michael WR Brooks, Bill WR
Johnston, Daryl RB Reed, Andre WR
Smith, Emmitt RB Thomas, Thurman RB
Aikman, Troy QB Kelly, Jim QB
Defense
Casillas, Tony DT Wright, Jeff NT
Lett, Leon DT Hansen, Phil DE
Haley, Charles DE Smith, Bruce DE
Tolbert, Tony DE Patton, Marvcus OLB
Norton, Ken LB Talley, Darryl OLB
Smith, Darrin LB Bennett, Cornelius ILB
Woodson, Darren DB Maddox, Mark ILB
Brown, Larry CB Odomes, Nate CB
Smith, Kevin CB Washington, Mickey CB
Washington, James FS Kelso, Mark FS
Everett, Thomas SS Jones, Henry SS
Substitute
Bates, Bill Barnett, Oliver
Coleman, Lincoln Brown, Monty
Cornish, Frank Christie, Steve
Edwards, Dixon Copeland, Russell
Fishback, Joe Crafts, Jerry
Gainer, Derrick Darby, Matt
Galbraith, Scott Davis, Kenneth
Gant, Kenneth Devlin, Mike
Hellestrae, Dale Gardner, Carwell
Hennings, Chad Goganious, Keith
Jeffcoat, Jim Harvey, Richard
Jett, John Henderson, Jerome
Jones, Jimmie Lingner, Adam
Jones, Robert Lodish, Mike
Kosar, Bernie McKeller, Keith
Maryland, Russell Mohr, Chris
Murray, Eddie Pike, Mark
Myles, Godfrey Reich, Frank
Patterson, Elvis Ritcher, Jim
Thomas, Dave Schulz, Kurt
Vanderbeek, Matt Smith, Thomas
Williams, Kevin Tasker, Steve
Did Not Play
Lassic, Derrick Turner, Nate
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