Dallas Cowboys @ Arizona Cardinals ( 1995 Week 17 ) 1st Half
see more from the Dallas Cowboys :
us.sports-classics.stream/dallas-cowboys.html
us.sports-classics.stream/dallas-cowboys.html
Category
🥇
SportsTranscript
00:00:00The tree is adorned with ornaments bright.
00:00:02If your holiday gifts have been quite enough,
00:00:04a lone star Chris Kringle still has more stuff.
00:00:07Unwrap that box labeled number 22.
00:00:09Emmett Smith with the football is another gift for you.
00:00:12He scored 24 touchdowns in the Super Bowl drive.
00:00:15It's an NFL record if he gets 25.
00:00:17Tonight, you'll be getting a true football feast.
00:00:19The Cowboys are champs of the NFC East.
00:00:22Troy Aikman with his star so bright will lead the Cowboys offense tonight.
00:00:26Doesn't that 8 look like a snowman?
00:00:28Will a big game tonight be a Super Bowl omen?
00:00:31Yesterday, the Cowboys got some gifts of their own.
00:00:33The Eagles and Niners had opportunities blown.
00:00:37When Troy throws the ball, it often comes down
00:00:40in the hands of Michael Irvin for a Dallas touchdown.
00:00:43106 catches should make you a believer.
00:00:46Another Pro Bowl awaits this great receiver.
00:00:49Tonight, they will play for your eyes to see
00:00:51for home field advantage in the old NFC.
00:00:54These Christmas goodies should give you a reason
00:00:56to watch this final game of the regular season.
00:00:59Arizona Cardinals are the Cowboys' next test
00:01:02as St. Nick begins a well-deserved rest.
00:01:05Santa's job's done. His year's complete.
00:01:07Now he can watch these teams compete.
00:01:13Sun Devil Stadium in Tempe, Arizona,
00:01:15on a beautiful night for football.
00:01:17Temperature in the mid-50s.
00:01:19Little or no wind. Just an absolutely beautiful night
00:01:22here in Tempe, just outside of Phoenix.
00:01:24Hello again, everyone. Frank Gifford with Al Michaels
00:01:26and Dan Deardorff. Happy you're with us
00:01:28as we close out our 2016 season of Monday Night Football
00:01:31here on ABC. And I know I speak for Al and Dan
00:01:34and all the rest of us on the Monday Night Football crew.
00:01:36We wish you a very Merry Christmas
00:01:38and the happiest of holidays.
00:01:40Not a happy holiday, of course, for the Cardinals.
00:01:42The Cardinals come into tonight at 4-11.
00:01:44This is their final game of the season.
00:01:46They are playing for pride tonight and a chance
00:01:48to derail the Cowboys in their hopes
00:01:50to have the home field advantage throughout the playoffs.
00:01:52And that, of course, is a scenario that developed yesterday.
00:01:54And the 49ers lost to Atlanta 28-27.
00:01:57And Al, the Dallas Cowboys were flying
00:02:00about 35,000 feet on the way to Phoenix
00:02:02when they heard that score and they knew that this game
00:02:04no longer was meaningless. The veterans were not going
00:02:06to sit down. This was a different football team.
00:02:08They win tonight. They have the home field advantage
00:02:10as long as they're in the playoffs.
00:02:12Great present. Now all they have to do is take advantage of it.
00:02:14One thing about the Cowboys, they're America's team.
00:02:16They're also the best soap opera in football
00:02:19year after year this year. No exception.
00:02:21From opening night when Jerry Jones
00:02:23got the rest of the league crazy with a Nike deal
00:02:25to Deion Sanders' $35 million contract
00:02:28to the fourth down disaster in Philadelphia
00:02:30a couple of weeks ago, this team has always
00:02:32been in the headlines. When we saw them
00:02:34Labor Day night, week one, they were sensational.
00:02:37Killed the Giants, 35-0.
00:02:39We saw them on a Monday night in November,
00:02:41the first Monday of November against Philadelphia.
00:02:43They destroyed the Eagles and were anointed
00:02:45by just about everyone as the Super Bowl champions.
00:02:48But they've struggled since then,
00:02:50still with a win tonight, they will wrap up
00:02:52the regular season with the best record
00:02:54in the NFC and the road to the Super Bowl
00:02:56will go through Dallas. But I think it's not only
00:02:58important for Dallas to win tonight,
00:03:00but to win somewhat convincingly
00:03:02to get their confidence level back
00:03:04where it was about a month ago.
00:03:06And tonight they take on the Arizona Cardinals
00:03:08with a mark of 4-11 in the stadium.
00:03:10Dan, that looks vaguely familiar,
00:03:12but when's the last time we were here?
00:03:14It's been a while, Al. September of 1988
00:03:16I think was the last time the three of us
00:03:18made a visit here to Tempe, Arizona.
00:03:20That was the Cardinals' first year
00:03:22here in the Valley of the Sun
00:03:24and there's not been a great deal of success
00:03:26since they have been here.
00:03:28This team, this franchise has not had a winning season
00:03:30since 1984
00:03:32when they went 9-7.
00:03:34And Buddy Ryan is right now
00:03:36an embattled coach.
00:03:38He proclaimed there's a winner in town
00:03:40when he got here two years ago
00:03:42and it has not happened yet.
00:03:44They came close last year at 8-8.
00:03:46The Cardinals have forecast
00:03:48had this club making a serious run
00:03:50for the playoffs here in 95.
00:03:52Injuries have just slaughtered this ballclub
00:03:54but he hasn't been able to hold it together
00:03:56and what they do here tonight
00:03:58may have some bearing as to whether or not
00:04:00he's able to hold on to his job.
00:04:02And of course, a formidable opponent
00:04:04is on hand. That's the Dallas Cowboys
00:04:06and their coach, Barry Switzer,
00:04:08is down on the field right now with Arlen Swann.
00:04:10Thank you very much, Dan.
00:04:12Barry, when you were flying into Phoenix
00:04:14how has it changed the attitude and your approach to this game?
00:04:16Well, first of all, I'm not going to be asking questions
00:04:18after tonight about how much
00:04:20do we play Emmitt and Troy,
00:04:22how much do they play. We didn't think about the rest of them.
00:04:24They're going to play 60 minutes. They're going to extend themselves.
00:04:26Anything can happen in football.
00:04:28You play this season. This is a long season.
00:04:30Ask Philadelphia. Ask San Francisco.
00:04:32It's hard to win on the road. Our team knows
00:04:34that's going to be a tough game tonight. We know what separates it.
00:04:36We know you have some injuries.
00:04:38Jay Novacek is down here. Eric Bjornson is going to play
00:04:40for you. His first start at tight end.
00:04:42What's going to be a factor in this game?
00:04:44Tremendous potential. We brought him here to be a Novacek for us.
00:04:46We didn't know that he was going to have to be tonight.
00:04:48Hopefully he'll play like Jay.
00:04:50We missed several of them,
00:04:52but we've got guys who have got to step up
00:04:54and they've got to play.
00:04:56Barry, thank you very much.
00:04:58It's like this team got a shot of vitamin B12
00:05:00and an ammonia capsule.
00:05:02They want this one really bad.
00:05:04And Lynn, no matter what happens,
00:05:06they have next week off,
00:05:08and then they will go home if they win tonight
00:05:10and meet either Atlanta,
00:05:12Detroit, or Philadelphia
00:05:14in the second round of the playoffs.
00:05:16That's Kevin Williams dropping back deep.
00:05:18Greg Davis kicks off
00:05:20for the Cardinals in the final game
00:05:22of the regular season is underway.
00:05:24Kevin Williams from inside
00:05:26the 10 brings it
00:05:28back out to the 33-yard
00:05:30line. Andre Waters
00:05:32tackles him there, and let's take a look
00:05:34at the Dallas Cowboys.
00:05:36Despite a gimpy knee, despite a calf
00:05:38that's bothered him a good part of the season,
00:05:40Troy Aikman's had a fine year.
00:05:42He's thrown only six interceptions
00:05:44in 400 passes.
00:05:46The great Emmitt Smith with
00:05:48Moose Johnston in the backfield. Irvin and
00:05:50Williams, the wideouts, and the aforementioned
00:05:52Bjornsson, the rookie tight end.
00:05:54Newton, Kennard, Allen, and
00:05:56Williams, the offensive front.
00:06:00Jane Novacek, arthroscopic knee
00:06:02surgery, but up walking yesterday,
00:06:04a day after the surgery,
00:06:06and we'll expect him back in two weeks.
00:06:08From the 34,
00:06:10Aikman to the air with good protection,
00:06:12but the pass a little low for Moose
00:06:14Johnston, and incomplete.
00:06:16Garth Jax was covering on the play.
00:06:18Now the Cardinal defense playing
00:06:20better of late. Banks and
00:06:22Eric Swann emerging as a star.
00:06:24Wilson and Clyde Simmons, the
00:06:26ex-Eagle. Irving, Eric
00:06:28Hill, a vastly underrated
00:06:30backer who doesn't get nearly the publicity he deserves,
00:06:32and Jax on the outside.
00:06:34Williams goes to the pro bowl. Lance Brown is a rookie.
00:06:36Seth Joyner, the one-time
00:06:38linebacker, now a strong safety, and
00:06:40Brent Alexander, the free safety.
00:06:44Second down and ten.
00:06:46And a flank
00:06:48Moose Johnston to the left
00:06:50leads Smith alone in the backfield, and the
00:06:52pass through the hands of
00:06:54Kevin Williams, and incomplete.
00:06:56Kevin Williams, who had a huge reception
00:06:58last week against the Giants
00:07:00on the third and ten to keep the game-winning
00:07:02drive alive. Probably his
00:07:04best game of the season. He has not been
00:07:06what they expected he would be
00:07:08over the year, but he really
00:07:10had a fine game against the Giants. Kept that drive
00:07:12alive. He had five receptions in all
00:07:14last week, and they came on third
00:07:16downs when they were so important.
00:07:18He figures in heavily tonight in their play
00:07:20action plan. Certainly the matchup they were looking
00:07:22for, Frank, getting Williams locked up on Seth
00:07:24Joyner, a linebacker trying to play
00:07:26in the secondary. That favors
00:07:28Dallas if only Williams holds onto the ball.
00:07:30Third and ten, the Cardinals
00:07:32with a seven-man front.
00:07:34And the pass is caught by
00:07:36Williams in Arizona territory.
00:07:38And a first down to the 36-yard
00:07:40line. Kevin Williams becoming
00:07:42missed the third and ten.
00:07:44Tackled by Brent Alexander. That's a
00:07:4630-yard gain. Blitz by the Cardinals
00:07:48and picked up quickly by Troy
00:07:50Aikman, Michael Irving, getting
00:07:52double coverage on a blitz. That means
00:07:54that Kevin Williams is going to run free
00:07:56in the secondary, and that's exactly what happened.
00:07:58There's a little deal up front for the Cardinals.
00:08:00Here is Kevin Williams
00:08:02in the gap, hit the hole, and
00:08:04a good read by Troy Aikman and a great
00:08:06delivery.
00:08:08Last week, Aikman with five
00:08:10completions on third down and ten or
00:08:12more. And now Emmitt Smith
00:08:14goes nowhere on his first carry
00:08:16of the night. Emmitt has already won the
00:08:18rushing title. Clyde Simmons,
00:08:20a familiar foe, stops him.
00:08:22How about a chance for Emmitt
00:08:24Smith tonight to break
00:08:26an NFL record for touchdowns
00:08:28scored in a season? Right now
00:08:30he's tied with the mark that
00:08:32John Riggins set a number of years ago,
00:08:34and tonight, Emmitt Smith has a chance
00:08:36with just one rushing touchdown
00:08:38to make that record his
00:08:40and his alone. And needs nine yards
00:08:42for his best season ever.
00:08:44Second and ten.
00:08:46With Johnston in motion,
00:08:48providing the blocking for
00:08:50Emmitt Smith, who's inside the 30
00:08:52and takes it to the 25-yard line
00:08:54in the first down as Alexander
00:08:56makes the tackle.
00:08:5812-yard game.
00:09:00Buddy Ryan walking the sidelines. He calls
00:09:02the defenses for the Cardinals. That's his
00:09:04He is the ace at that. They
00:09:06go with the famed 46 defense.
00:09:08The Cowboys have had success
00:09:10with it. They have won ten
00:09:12times in consecutive games against
00:09:14these Cardinals, and that
00:09:16has got to really get
00:09:18to Buddy Ryan. He is a great competitor.
00:09:20Ryan when he was at Philadelphia
00:09:22at 1.17 straight
00:09:24over the Landry and Johnston
00:09:26Cowboys.
00:09:28Makes it on first down,
00:09:30hits Williams, nice spin move,
00:09:32and Kevin Williams with a touchdown!
00:09:34He ran around Lance
00:09:36Brown like Brown was a rookie,
00:09:38and he is. And again, double coverage
00:09:40over on the other side against Michael Irvin,
00:09:42and Buddy Ryan
00:09:44taking the chance, taking Irvin out
00:09:46of the play if he can, but that leaves
00:09:48Kevin Williams all alone, locked up
00:09:50with Lance Brown and
00:09:52Williams with a little head fake
00:09:54like he was going to take a deep brook to the
00:09:56sidelines, and an easy
00:09:58six for the Dallas Cowboys. What a fine
00:10:00looking drive. Well,
00:10:02it's tough to get juked any worse
00:10:04than this as a corner.
00:10:06A little bit of a slip, but
00:10:08the move to the outside by Williams, and then
00:10:10what makes it so effective is that he
00:10:12fights his own momentum to go back to the
00:10:14middle of the field.
00:10:16So that's,
00:10:18we'll credit some of that to poor tackling
00:10:20in the secondary, but give Kevin Williams
00:10:22his due. It was a fine move back
00:10:24to the middle of the field after the catch.
00:10:26Williams' first touchdown of the season,
00:10:282-22 into the game, 7-0
00:10:30Cowboys.
00:10:36Closely, the reaction of Troy Aikman
00:10:38when he sees that this pass to Kevin Williams
00:10:40is a touchdown. Not a
00:10:42smile, not even a flicker
00:10:44of happiness. Troy Aikman's been quoted
00:10:46as saying that, you know, a lot of the
00:10:48joy has gone from this game. There's so
00:10:50much pressure on the Dallas Cowboys
00:10:52to win that a lot
00:10:54of the spontaneity, the fun has been
00:10:56removed from this game, and Frank, looking at him right
00:10:58there, I believe him.
00:11:00When has an 11-4 team ever taken as
00:11:02much abuse from their home fans
00:11:04as this team has? Really?
00:11:06Here's Chris Bonio's kick.
00:11:08La'Shawn Johnson from
00:11:10the 12 and gets ripped
00:11:12at the 22-yard line.
00:11:14The tackle made by Dominique Ross.
00:11:16Just activated.
00:11:18A rookie running back from Valdosta State.
00:11:20And, well, whatever emotion
00:11:22is lacking in the
00:11:24reaction of
00:11:26Aikman is more than made up for
00:11:28by Joe Avanzano, the special teams coach.
00:11:30A look at Dave Craig.
00:11:32So many years at Seattle, then to Kansas City,
00:11:34and then Detroit, and now in his first season
00:11:36at Arizona. Garrison Hurst and
00:11:38Larry Senders in the backfield. Warren Sanders,
00:11:40wideouts, McBride, the tight end, and the guys
00:11:42up front, Tharpe, Love, Cunningham,
00:11:44Redman, and Selby. Garrison
00:11:46Hurst has already rushed for over
00:11:481,000 yards this season.
00:11:50Third year out of Georgia. Dave Craig
00:11:52retreats, swings one out. That's the
00:11:5490th catch of the season
00:11:56made by Larry Senders,
00:11:58and he's tackled at the 25 by
00:12:00Darren Woodson, who played his college ball here
00:12:02at Arizona State.
00:12:04Now, Dallas defensively banged up
00:12:06up front because
00:12:08Charles Haley had back surgery.
00:12:10He's gone. Russell Maryland inactive.
00:12:12Tolbert, Hennings. Lett moves back to the
00:12:14middle, and Carver, who played his college ball here.
00:12:16Edwards, miles for the injured Robert
00:12:18Jones and Darren Smith of the backers.
00:12:20The corners are Sanders and Brown.
00:12:22The safeties are Marion and Woodson.
00:12:26Second and eight
00:12:28from the 25-yard line.
00:12:30Hurst picks up about
00:12:32four up to the 29-yard line,
00:12:34and it will be
00:12:36the third down and three.
00:12:38Monday Night Football being brought to you
00:12:40by Bud Light, official sponsor of the
00:12:421996 U.S. Olympic team.
00:12:44Make it a Bud Light. Pennzoil, the motor oil that
00:12:46works like liquid ball bearings,
00:12:48and the all-new Ford Taurus, a look
00:12:50you've never seen from a name you know well.
00:12:56Buddy Ryan, head coach
00:12:58at Philly for five years, now at the end of his
00:13:00second year,
00:13:02and a four-year contract
00:13:04with the Cardinals. Two to go.
00:13:06Third down and three.
00:13:08Out of the gun.
00:13:10Craig surveys, picked off
00:13:12by Brock Marion,
00:13:14and all the way into the
00:13:16end zone for a touchdown.
00:13:24One day, Craig
00:13:26should never have released.
00:13:28He has had great days,
00:13:30a streaky quarterback, and he has
00:13:32had bad days. This one is not starting
00:13:34off good. 20th
00:13:36interception of the season, thrown by
00:13:38Dave Craig.
00:13:40Little roll,
00:13:42looking for added protection, threw it right
00:13:44into the hands of Marion.
00:13:5031-yard return.
00:13:52That's the sixth interception
00:13:54of the season for Marion, and for Brock,
00:13:56his first NFL touchdown.
00:13:58The first of his career.
00:14:00Now Chris Bonio,
00:14:02out of the hold of John
00:14:04Jett, normally Novacek holds,
00:14:06but tonight it's Jett.
00:14:08And we've not
00:14:10played four minutes,
00:14:12and it's been a very merry Christmas thus far
00:14:14for Dallas. 14-0.
00:14:22Dave Craig spent a dozen years in Seattle,
00:14:24then went to Kansas City for two years.
00:14:26Detroit last year played very well
00:14:28in place of the injured Scott Mitchell,
00:14:30came here, and
00:14:32throws an interception that
00:14:34you wouldn't see a rookie throw for the most part.
00:14:40Bonio
00:14:42to LeSean Johnson,
00:14:44and he's
00:14:46tackling the 29. A lot of speculation about
00:14:48Barry Switzer. I asked
00:14:50Jerry Jones before the game if Switzer
00:14:52is back next year unconditionally
00:14:54as the Cowboys coach.
00:14:56Yes he does, and
00:14:58Barry is actually
00:15:00has engaged not only our
00:15:02staff, but our players.
00:15:04Don't pay any attention to
00:15:06any talk you hear when we've
00:15:08lost two in a row, or basically it looks
00:15:10like we've got all the talent in the world, but
00:15:12may not get home field advantage.
00:15:14Those are the kinds of things I think you expect.
00:15:16He's a tough guy. He wouldn't have
00:15:18the job if he wasn't tough. He was put in a tough
00:15:20position when he came in to coach behind
00:15:22Jimmy Johnson. I'm tickled with the job
00:15:24he's doing, and we're looking forward
00:15:26to hopefully some success in his playoff.
00:15:28Dave Craig has to
00:15:30eat the ball and takes a
00:15:32yard loss. A lot of people speculated
00:15:34when, as you look at Jerry Jones,
00:15:36Jerry said he'd accept nothing less than
00:15:38a trip to the Super Bowl. He said
00:15:40right there, Barry Switzer, regardless,
00:15:42comes back next year as the coach.
00:15:46And I don't
00:15:48think that Jerry Jones has
00:15:50changed his tune
00:15:52one iota from the very beginning.
00:15:54I don't think he's wavered at all from the very beginning.
00:15:56He's made it perfectly
00:15:58clear. Barry
00:16:00is my man, and I am
00:16:02dancing with the guy who brought
00:16:04running 12 and 4 a year ago, and
00:16:0611 and 4, getting ready to go 12 and 4 tonight.
00:16:08Not bad. Second and 12.
00:16:10And Garrison Hurst
00:16:12over right guard, up to the 32-yard
00:16:14line. He's tackled there by Tolbert.
00:16:16He's got an 8.
00:16:18You start out throwing the football, you throw an interception
00:16:20that kills you against a team that gave up
00:16:22244 yards rushing
00:16:24last week to the Giants. Rodney Hampton,
00:16:26187 yards, and you put the ball
00:16:28up two of your first plays from scrimmage.
00:16:30You kind of wonder, did they
00:16:32watch last week's game? This is a
00:16:34Dallas team that is weak against the run because
00:16:36of the injuries you talked about, Al,
00:16:38and that's probably where
00:16:40the Cardinals should be concentrating.
00:16:42Four receivers
00:16:44set, third down and eight from the 32-yard
00:16:46line.
00:16:48Craig
00:16:50takes a shovel pass and then throws
00:16:52incomplete intended for
00:16:54Stevie Anderson with Bailey
00:16:56covering on the play, and
00:16:58the Cardinals will punt. Well, this is a ball club
00:17:00with only four wins that
00:17:02if Buddy Ryan comes back as coach next
00:17:04year, they have to make some personnel decisions
00:17:06and I'm not so sure
00:17:08if we were to put Buddy on camera right now that
00:17:10Dave Craig would get the glowing endorsement
00:17:12that Mary
00:17:14Switzer got from Jerry Jones.
00:17:16Well
00:17:18out in front of the receiver, you can't lay
00:17:20it all on Dave Craig, but you certainly do that
00:17:22interception. He has put his team
00:17:24in a hole, but next year is going to be his
00:17:2617th year in the league. How long can you
00:17:28go with a guy that age?
00:17:30It's a huge question
00:17:32here in Arizona. Jeff Beagle is the pro-ball
00:17:34punter, sends one down,
00:17:36fair caught by Kevin Williams, a 42-yard
00:17:38boot. The Cowboys have it again.
00:17:40The playoffs
00:17:42begin Saturday, and the first
00:17:44two games right here on ABC. A doubleheader
00:17:46coming your way. Miami against Buffalo.
00:17:48Great matchup in the AFC.
00:17:50Beginning early
00:17:52Saturday, and then following that, we will
00:17:54be in Philadelphia. The Lions,
00:17:56the Red Hot Lions, against
00:17:58the Philadelphia Eagles.
00:18:00Wild card Saturday right here
00:18:02on ABC.
00:18:0414-0
00:18:06Dallas. First and 10
00:18:08from the 27-yard line.
00:18:10Throwing incomplete.
00:18:12Michael Irvin, the intended receiver. Lance
00:18:14Brown covering, and
00:18:16Barry Switzer may have every wish
00:18:18come true tonight. If Dallas can blow
00:18:20Arizona out, he'll have
00:18:22a victory in hand, and he can then
00:18:24rest his regulars in the second half.
00:18:26Something he would have done had this game meant nothing.
00:18:28He
00:18:30talked about the fact that Emmitt Smith
00:18:32would not have seen a lot of work tonight.
00:18:34He would have brought him in, though, if they got
00:18:36the ball in a goal-line situation to give him a shot
00:18:38at getting that single-season
00:18:40touchdown record.
00:18:42But you're right. They're being afforded
00:18:44a pretty good opportunity here by the Cardinals.
00:18:46Emmitt Smith runs right into Garth
00:18:48Jax. Tackled for no game
00:18:50third down and 10.
00:18:52Boy, Garth Jax is a guy who'll bring it to you.
00:18:54You know, he's been around the league
00:18:56for 10 years, and
00:18:58a lot of special teams play, and when
00:19:00he was in Dallas, he was a fixture
00:19:02on their short-yardage situation.
00:19:04One of the things you can always count on is that he'll
00:19:06put a hat on the ball carrier if he
00:19:08can get to it. This is one of the
00:19:10hard-hitting guys in this league, and
00:19:12a real popular guy around the locker room.
00:19:14Kind of a player
00:19:16that the Buddy Ryan's of the world
00:19:18really like.
00:19:20Third down and 10.
00:19:22845 remaining in the
00:19:24opening quarter.
00:19:26And the Cardinals come across
00:19:28the line, and there's no whistle
00:19:30even though it appears that one of them
00:19:32was unabated. Keith McCann's
00:19:34coming across the line, but Dick Hantak and the
00:19:36crew not whistling the play dead.
00:19:38And he's
00:19:40dropped back of the 18-yard line, pending
00:19:42the penalty call.
00:19:44The flags came so
00:19:46early, you thought you
00:19:48would hear the whistle that usually
00:19:50accompanies that, and we didn't.
00:19:52Well, you got the tight end for the Cowboys
00:19:54leaving. He goes out of his stance
00:19:56early as well.
00:19:58Neutral zone violation on the defense.
00:20:00Five-yard penalty prior to the snap.
00:20:02Still third down.
00:20:04Yeah, they're going to say that, and
00:20:06what Dick Hantak is saying, is that the
00:20:08movement by the defense caused
00:20:10Eric Bjornsson, the tight end, to
00:20:12break out of his stance.
00:20:14That's a new rule that the league
00:20:16has put in, and it really is a big
00:20:18plus to the guys on offense.
00:20:20Eric being congratulated for
00:20:22not being in the doghouse.
00:20:24Look at the very top of your screen.
00:20:26The very top. There's
00:20:28Bjornsson as he reacts to the defense
00:20:30jumping and breaks from his stance.
00:20:32Well, he's in some big shoes tonight, filling in
00:20:34for the injured Jay Novacek.
00:20:36And they expect a lot of him. He was a
00:20:38wide receiver, Washington. He
00:20:40has bulked up a little bit. 6'4",
00:20:42235 pounds, and
00:20:44well, he is not a Jay Novacek yet.
00:20:46They brought him in to be one.
00:20:48And he's shown some spectacular
00:20:50possibilities. Third down
00:20:52and five. Dallas in the 23-yard line.
00:20:58A short drop, and then his
00:21:00Michael Irvin, and one
00:21:02pro bowler is run out by another.
00:21:04Aneis Williams with the stop up at the 39,
00:21:06but Irvin has a first down.
00:21:08Even though they
00:21:10double Michael Irvin, they
00:21:12are still able to get the ball to him.
00:21:14They had Williams on him.
00:21:16They had a deep man dropping from the secondary,
00:21:18and they continue to go
00:21:20with single coverage on Kevin Williams.
00:21:22Williams
00:21:24taking the outside position. He knows
00:21:26he's got help on the inside.
00:21:28They were able to get the completion.
00:21:32Williams in motion.
00:21:34Emmitt Smith
00:21:36through the middle, and Emmitt tackled up
00:21:38at the 42-yard line. You know, we've got
00:21:40pro bowl matchups all over the field here.
00:21:42We've got Irvin and Williams. We've got a
00:21:44wonderful matchup in the interior line
00:21:46between that man, Eric Swann,
00:21:48going against Larry Allen.
00:21:50Both of these guys, first time pro bowl
00:21:52selections this year. Both of them
00:21:54young and in their physical
00:21:56primes, and these are
00:21:58two of the young bulls locking horns here
00:22:00on the line of scrimmage. This is fun
00:22:02to watch.
00:22:08Second and eight at the 42.
00:22:14The conventional four-man
00:22:16rush, and that's good enough with Clyde
00:22:18Simmons sacking Aikman
00:22:20at the 36-yard line.
00:22:22Former Philadelphia Eagle
00:22:24for Buddy Ryan. The last few weeks, he has
00:22:26really exploded as his tenth
00:22:28sack of the season, and
00:22:30he has just been superb over the past
00:22:32few weeks.
00:22:34A strong pass rusher from the outside.
00:22:36Mark Thune
00:22:38jumps up towards the line of
00:22:40scrimmage and really is in no position
00:22:42to defend an upfield
00:22:44rush by Clyde Simmons.
00:22:46I don't know if that was some type of miscommunication.
00:22:48Thune taking a
00:22:50really bizarre technique to
00:22:52block him on a passing play.
00:22:54Simmons sacked Aikman
00:22:56four and a half times in one
00:22:58game in 1990 when Clyde was
00:23:00in Philly. Third and 14,
00:23:02and Troy under pressure, but gets it off
00:23:04to Michael Irvin who makes the catch
00:23:06in front of Aeneas Williams. That time
00:23:08Buddy Ryan sent everybody
00:23:10a typical move on Buddy
00:23:12Ryan. Third and long yardage, and
00:23:14the blitz was on from
00:23:16Terry Hogue. The safety, all the linebackers
00:23:18were coming. That automatically locks
00:23:20Michael Irvin up in single coverage
00:23:22and it was a good read by both Irvin and
00:23:24Aikman. Aikman knew
00:23:26he was going to get popped, and this is kind of Buddy
00:23:28it's Terry Hogue, the safety
00:23:30that gets to him, but this is what, you know
00:23:32you're going to have to take these pops
00:23:34with a Buddy Ryan defense.
00:23:36They bring everybody and you'll never have enough to
00:23:38pick them all up. 16-yard gain
00:23:40and now they go back to Emmitt Smith
00:23:42and the
00:23:44blocking breaks down as Emmitt gets to
00:23:46the 45-yard line and
00:23:48Emmitt is not breaking as
00:23:50many long runs as he did early in the
00:23:52season. No, and a lot of it is being
00:23:54laid at the doorstep of the offensive
00:23:56line. You know, they lost a lot
00:23:58when they lost Ray Donaldson, their very talented
00:24:00center, who was voted to
00:24:02the Pro Bowl and who broke his leg
00:24:04Thanksgiving. Derek
00:24:06Kennard has really filled in pretty well at center
00:24:08but this is an
00:24:10offensive line that two years ago
00:24:12dominated everybody.
00:24:14They are not dominating everybody now.
00:24:16They're still really good, but they're not
00:24:18nearly as dominating as they used to be.
00:24:20Second and seven.
00:24:22In the round, Williams
00:24:24and that's a first down as he gets
00:24:26tripped up at the 31-yard line
00:24:28by Lance Brown.
00:24:34That's a good call. The Cardinals
00:24:36are a tough pursuing defense
00:24:38and Kevin Williams
00:24:40with a good move
00:24:42to break this back to the inside. Watch this.
00:24:44Clyde Simmons on the outside.
00:24:46He saw it coming all the way. Kevin Williams took it
00:24:48to the inside. Picks up the yardage
00:24:50for the first down. Outstanding block
00:24:52by Derek Kennard, the center, who went back
00:24:54and actually got two Arizona Cardinals
00:24:56putting both of them on the ground.
00:24:58Ninth play of the drive.
00:25:00Five minutes left in the first quarter.
00:25:02Dallas leading 14 to nothing.
00:25:04Aikman
00:25:06guns one right between the
00:25:08eights of Michael Irvin and
00:25:10very close to a first down.
00:25:12And he has one at the 20-yard line.
00:25:14If you were
00:25:16a doctor writing a prescription for
00:25:18the Dallas Cowboys, I don't know that you could
00:25:20fill one out much better
00:25:22than what they're getting so far.
00:25:24Good quality play from their
00:25:26number one people. Pinpoint passing
00:25:28by Aikman. Good solid
00:25:30running game. It's all working
00:25:32pretty well for the Dallas Cowboys and
00:25:34I guess the doctor just wrote a new
00:25:36prescription. He said, let's play
00:25:38Deion Sanders at wide receiver.
00:25:40He flanks wide right. Aikman
00:25:42is five of eight for 90 yards.
00:25:44Seth Joyner lines up
00:25:46facing Sanders.
00:25:48That is... Emmitt Smith
00:25:50picks up a couple. That is the worst
00:25:52matchup I have ever seen.
00:25:54Speaking of prescriptions, that's
00:25:56exactly right. The doctor who wrote that
00:25:58matchup for the Cardinals
00:26:00was into the old
00:26:02drug case, I think. How do you put
00:26:04Seth Joyner, a linebacker
00:26:06who's filling in at safety,
00:26:08in man coverage, with the
00:26:10fastest man in the NFL?
00:26:12Seth Joyner's a good athlete.
00:26:14I had him in Superstars. I know you did too,
00:26:16but you put him against Deion Sanders.
00:26:18He obviously was going to have help on the
00:26:20inside, but this guy's got some speed. He didn't get
00:26:22blown by it. Deion says, give me that one again.
00:26:24Second down and eight.
00:26:26Aikman off the play fake. The deep drop
00:26:28and then has nobody open. Moose Johnston
00:26:30the closest receiver.
00:26:32Pressure put on by Keith McCance. It'll be
00:26:34third and eight. It's the second time they
00:26:36tried to get the ball to Daryl Johnston.
00:26:38You know, if
00:26:40you'd have said coming into this game, I'm going to
00:26:42buy a ticket because I want to see the
00:26:44Pro Bowl fullback in action,
00:26:46you'd have been right.
00:26:48It's just that that Pro Bowl fullback is Larry
00:26:50Centers of the Arizona
00:26:52Cardinals, who beat out
00:26:54Daryl Johnston in the balloting
00:26:56this year to go to Honolulu.
00:26:58Johnston had been there the previous two years.
00:27:00That guy this year, Larry Centers,
00:27:02wins his first
00:27:04Pro Bowl assignment.
00:27:06Third down and eight at the 18-yard line.
00:27:08The Cowboys are three of three
00:27:10on third down, one more,
00:27:12and a sack by Simmons
00:27:14and a loose ball
00:27:16and Dallas' ball. The Cowboys
00:27:18maintain possession.
00:27:20How do the Cardinals not get
00:27:22possession of that football?
00:27:24One of their guys on the ground had it.
00:27:26He landed on the ball and had it.
00:27:28It just came out. The canard went right
00:27:30there and he plopped right on top of it.
00:27:32That's why
00:27:34you win four games, when breaks
00:27:36like that continue to go against you.
00:27:38Dallas had been the only
00:27:40team not to have a fumble
00:27:42on a quarterback sack this
00:27:44season until now.
00:27:46That's Bankston.
00:27:48Bankston has the ball and just
00:27:50can't control it. 39-yard attempt
00:27:52by Boniol with a new-holder jet
00:27:54and this is the 23rd in a row
00:27:56for Boniol. He's missed
00:27:58only one all-season
00:28:00in week three. The new-holder jet
00:28:02who held in college in East Carolina
00:28:04right there.
00:28:06Spots it perfectly. 242 left
00:28:08in the period. 17-0
00:28:10Big D.
00:28:18We're back. Hello.
00:28:20Hello again, everyone.
00:28:2217-0
00:28:24with 242 to go
00:28:26in the opening quarter.
00:28:30Chris Boniol, the kickoff for
00:28:32Dallas.
00:28:34And it's taken to the
00:28:3610-yard line by LeSean Johnson
00:28:38with a spectacular college career
00:28:40at Northern Illinois
00:28:42and he runs it back up to the 38-yard
00:28:44line where Brock Marion makes the tackle.
00:28:46Cardinals try to climb
00:28:48back in it. Two and a half to go
00:28:50in the quarter. 17-0
00:28:52Cowboys.
00:28:54We'll have
00:28:56the Dannys and the Frankys
00:28:58and the Alfalfas.
00:29:00Who's your MVP
00:29:02and your coach of the year?
00:29:04Coach of the year is Marty Shotton.
00:29:06I don't...
00:29:08He's my pick.
00:29:10It'd be hard to go beyond him.
00:29:12I like Ray Rhodes. Ray Rhodes came in
00:29:14in a tough situation and he's taken a lot of people
00:29:16that I didn't think could play as well
00:29:18as they did and he's turned it into quite a football team.
00:29:20I'm going to go with Wayne Fontz
00:29:22the way he finished the season.
00:29:24Give me some sugar.
00:29:26He's in Detroit now. Wayne must stay.
00:29:2838-yard line.
00:29:30Garrison Hurst picks up
00:29:32about four. Who's your MVP, Dan?
00:29:34Well, if you're
00:29:36going to go, I'll just pick a guy
00:29:38that you might... who's
00:29:40single-handedly picked up a team, I think, and propelled
00:29:42them into the playoffs. It would be
00:29:44Scott Mitchell of the Detroit Lions
00:29:46who his play, I think,
00:29:48has put his team into the playoffs.
00:29:50I got to go
00:29:52Brett Favre of Green Bay. He's had a remarkable
00:29:54season. He is the Packer offense.
00:29:56You can make the same argument.
00:29:58Despite the fact he had a better first half and second half,
00:30:00I still like Emmitt Smith. I think, to me,
00:30:02he is so valuable
00:30:04to this team and I don't know where Dallas
00:30:06would be without him as Garrison Hurst
00:30:08takes it up to the 46.
00:30:10As usual, we're all
00:30:12in sync. We're just trying to be different.
00:30:14Cover the globe. It's 17
00:30:16to nothing. You bet.
00:30:18You can tell that we have fought long and hard
00:30:20about that. And honorable mention to Jerry
00:30:22Rice. The thing with Jerry is
00:30:24you just take him for granted.
00:30:26Isn't that the truth? Didn't he pop into my
00:30:28mind what a remarkable year he's had.
00:30:30Of course, he could win it every year.
00:30:32Lifetime Achievement Award.
00:30:34You know a guy that
00:30:36you talk about Jerry Rice
00:30:38and Herman Moore
00:30:40right after this play. Something needs to
00:30:42be mentioned here.
00:30:44Third down and three from the
00:30:4646-yard line.
00:30:48Craig.
00:30:50And that's
00:30:52picked off at the 34-yard line
00:30:54by Larry Brown
00:30:56who takes it to the Arizona 48-yard
00:30:58line. Boy, Craig found another open
00:31:00cowboy.
00:31:02Second pick of the night.
00:31:04Ryan
00:31:06muttering and mumbling.
00:31:08And the Poos are cascading down
00:31:10and Jim Hart's going to ask for his number
00:31:1217 back. Sixth interception
00:31:14for Larry Brown.
00:31:16But another ball.
00:31:18I don't know what Craig is looking at here.
00:31:22This is receiver let up on him.
00:31:24Brown
00:31:26was the only one open.
00:31:32Of course, you
00:31:34go back and consider
00:31:36Craig has been sacked 50 times this
00:31:38year. Maybe that makes you just
00:31:40a little antsy back there.
00:31:42Both picks
00:31:44tonight on third and three.
00:31:46Cowboys first down from the 48.
00:31:48Smith
00:31:50picks up four. Taken down at the
00:31:5244-yard line by Michael Bankston.
00:31:56The Goodyear Blimp Eagle
00:31:58has made its way over from
00:32:00Torrance, California about 350
00:32:02miles away and hovers high above
00:32:04Sun Devil Stadium which will be the side of
00:32:06the Super Bowl next month.
00:32:08Joel Chamberlain
00:32:10at the controls on this beautiful
00:32:12late December night.
00:32:14January 28th
00:32:16the date of Super Bowl
00:32:1830.
00:32:20And the Cardinals
00:32:22coverage is unorganized.
00:32:24Back in there offensively
00:32:26as the pass is swung
00:32:28out to Emmitt Smith
00:32:30and a nice tackle made there by
00:32:32Terry Irving standing right with him and stopping
00:32:34him for a loss.
00:32:36That was actually a lateral
00:32:38or very close to it from
00:32:40Troy Aikman back to Emmitt Smith.
00:32:42And that was
00:32:44Joyner again on Deion.
00:32:46It's a little crazed but there's always some kind
00:32:48of sort of brilliant madness
00:32:50to a Buddy Ryan defense.
00:32:52There was a lot of help to the inside. Troy Aikman
00:32:54wanted to go there. He couldn't do there.
00:32:56He was forced to throw that ball to Emmitt
00:32:58Smith. It looked sloppy but it worked.
00:33:00Cowboys leading 17-0.
00:33:02Monday Night Football back
00:33:04after this message and a word for
00:33:06EBC State.
00:33:10The defense
00:33:12rests and the offense starts the
00:33:14second quarter with a third
00:33:16down and 11 as the Cardinals
00:33:1829. That was up 17-0.
00:33:20Aikman
00:33:22running for a first down
00:33:24and slides to a halt at the
00:33:2637-yard line.
00:33:32Now Michael, Frank Gifford, Dan Deardorff,
00:33:34Lynn Schwan on this Christmas night
00:33:36at Sun Devil Stadium, Tempe, Arizona.
00:33:38First quarter numbers.
00:33:40Not very pretty on the Phoenix side.
00:33:42The one turnover,
00:33:44an instant touchdown
00:33:46and the second one
00:33:48already within
00:33:50close to field
00:33:52goal range. Not a strong number
00:33:54in the passing department for the Cardinals.
00:33:56A big zero.
00:34:0237-yard line.
00:34:04Emmitt Smith
00:34:06and he works
00:34:08inside the 35 game with a little more
00:34:10than three.
00:34:12Terry Irving makes the stop.
00:34:14Youngest players to score 100 touchdowns
00:34:16and that's where Emmitt goes tonight with
00:34:18one.
00:34:20Emmitt is 26 years,
00:34:22seven months old, so by
00:34:24two years he would be the youngest. Brown
00:34:26was the youngest. Jerry Rice,
00:34:28Walter Payton, Lenny Moore and Don Hudson
00:34:30all in their 30s when they went into
00:34:32triple figures.
00:34:38And of course that next touchdown
00:34:40will also set a National
00:34:42Football League record.
00:34:44It will be number 25.
00:34:46Second down and seven.
00:34:48Emmitt Smith picks up only a half a yard
00:34:50or so. Seth Joyner
00:34:52making the head. You know a while ago I was
00:34:54talking and derailed by Dave Craig's interception.
00:34:56We were talking about Rice and Irving.
00:34:58How about Isaac Bruce of the Rams?
00:35:001791 yards.
00:35:02119 receptions.
00:35:04That yardage figure,
00:35:06the second best in NFL history.
00:35:08That has to be the best year anybody
00:35:10ever had who didn't go to the Pro Bowl.
00:35:12Stop and think about it.
00:35:14You know with Carter and Moore
00:35:16and Irving and Rice,
00:35:18he has a year like that and he's
00:35:20watching our rendition of the Pro Bowl
00:35:22on ABC.
00:35:24Third down and seven.
00:35:26And the catch is not made.
00:35:28The catch is not made.
00:35:30Dropped by Corey Fleming
00:35:32about the only imperfect thing
00:35:34Dallas has done in the game thus far.
00:35:36Oh and Fleming knows
00:35:38that ball was right in his hands.
00:35:40He would have had a first down and
00:35:42as it turns out the Cowboys
00:35:44not within Boneo's
00:35:46field goal range so they
00:35:48bring out the punting unit.
00:35:50They have something that
00:35:52they've worked on
00:35:54and
00:35:56this is something
00:35:58they work on.
00:36:02John Jett
00:36:04will try to feather
00:36:06one.
00:36:08And
00:36:10it bounces at the five
00:36:12and is down at the four.
00:36:14So Jett
00:36:16does his job. Interception does not
00:36:18hurt the Cardinals but they are pinned deep
00:36:20with 1239 to the half.
00:36:22This is being brought to you by Dr. Pepper
00:36:24and your local Dr. Pepper bottler.
00:36:26Dr. Pepper is just what the doctor ordered.
00:36:28The 1996 Chrysler Cirrus
00:36:30and Bud Light
00:36:32official sponsor of the 1996 U.S.
00:36:34Olympic team. Make it a Bud
00:36:36Light.
00:36:38You know luck just
00:36:40follows good football teams around.
00:36:42That ball's headed for the end zone
00:36:44and inadvertently
00:36:46hits the forearm of Charlie Williams
00:36:48and the Cardinals start
00:36:50with horrendous field position.
00:36:52That ball didn't take the bounce Jett wanted
00:36:54but the result was exactly what he wanted.
00:36:56Cardinals at their own five-yard line
00:36:58and Garrison Hurd
00:37:00picks up a yard or two.
00:37:02He's tackled there by Godfrey Miles
00:37:04the middle linebacker.
00:37:06Cardinals, well for years
00:37:08it was Jim Hart and Neil Lomax
00:37:10but look at that. 88 Lomax
00:37:12made the most starts at QB. Then
00:37:14Hogevold, Rosenblum, Tufa,
00:37:16Chandler, Berlein,
00:37:18Schrader and now Craig.
00:37:20Eight different quarterbacks over the last
00:37:22eight years and next year
00:37:24you can count on it being nine.
00:37:26I think you're right about that. The one that really
00:37:28threw them was Rosenblum
00:37:30who they invested a number one draft choice in
00:37:32and then just retired. Walked away
00:37:34from the game as a complete surprise
00:37:36to the franchise.
00:37:38Second down and eight.
00:37:40And a catch made over the middle
00:37:42and up to the 25-yard line for a first down
00:37:44goes Larry Senters who is now
00:37:46one catch away from tying
00:37:48Roger Craig for
00:37:50most catches by a running back
00:37:52in the history of the National Football League in any one season.
00:37:54You know that graphic we just saw guys
00:37:56the magnitude of that has to set in.
00:37:58That is an extraordinary
00:38:00I don't want to call it
00:38:02an achievement. It's a disaster
00:38:04that you've had that many different people
00:38:06playing quarterback successively.
00:38:08It's got to be unparalleled
00:38:10in the NFL.
00:38:12Number nine.
00:38:14Number 91
00:38:16for Senters.
00:38:18First down of the 25-yard line.
00:38:22And Larry Senters
00:38:24has just caught his
00:38:2692nd pass of the season.
00:38:28Deion Sanders with the tackle
00:38:30and that ties the mark.
00:38:32Senters a pro bowler.
00:38:34A mark set by Roger Craig
00:38:36with San Francisco the year he went over
00:38:381,000 yards both in rushing
00:38:40and receiving most catches for a
00:38:42running back in the history of the NFL.
00:38:48And there they are. Craig and Senters
00:38:50right now and clearly Senters will
00:38:52be at the very top by himself
00:38:54before this game is done.
00:38:56Derrick LeVille this year
00:38:58caught 87 at San Francisco
00:39:00and they want to take that ball out of play.
00:39:04And not to diminish anything
00:39:06that Larry Senters has done but he's
00:39:08got 254 yards
00:39:10in rushing. I just want to emphasize
00:39:12what an extraordinary year
00:39:14Roger Craig had in
00:39:1685 when he put that thousand thousand
00:39:18year together.
00:39:20It's also a new cardinal team record as Senters
00:39:22carries for no gain.
00:39:24That broke the mark of 91
00:39:26held by J.T. Smith
00:39:28the wide receiver. Godfrey Miles makes the
00:39:30tackle here. So Larry Senters
00:39:32putting his name into the record book
00:39:34on his way to Honolulu
00:39:36for the Pro Bowl.
00:39:38As we mentioned earlier for the injured Robert Jones
00:39:40and Dan was talking
00:39:42about prescriptions for this Dallas football team
00:39:44stopping that on second
00:39:46and short.
00:39:48That's a pretty good prescription. They have been giving up
00:39:50a lot of yards from
00:39:52a lot of different teams on the ground
00:39:54and that time they stuck that pretty good
00:39:56moving Leon Ledback inside.
00:39:58That's helped a lot.
00:40:04Good look at it right there too.
00:40:06That's how you play the run
00:40:08by Leon Letts.
00:40:10Get underneath the pads of the guy
00:40:12trying to root you out and put his shoulder on the ball
00:40:14carrier. Senters didn't get it.
00:40:16Way down 17
00:40:18to nothing. What do you do?
00:40:20The running team is halfway
00:40:22out onto the field. Buddy Ryan
00:40:24is probably waiting to see how
00:40:26far it is. Larry Senters
00:40:28injured somehow. Take a look
00:40:30there's Letts 78.
00:40:32Look how he gets up, fights in
00:40:34puts the initial hit on the ball carrier.
00:40:36Strong play
00:40:38inside by Leon Letts.
00:40:40They had been using him out
00:40:42outside at the end because of the
00:40:44various injuries along that defensive line
00:40:46and he just was not that effective out there.
00:40:48We're trying to come up with an
00:40:50impact player on the edge.
00:40:52Tony Tolbert on the edge on the other side
00:40:54of defensive end has two bad knees.
00:40:56Charles Haley had the surgery
00:40:58on his disc. He may
00:41:00or may not be back in time to play
00:41:02the Super Bowl and they're just trying to get
00:41:04some impact on the outside
00:41:06and putting Leon out there wasn't the answer.
00:41:10Larry Senters
00:41:12angry as he walks off the field. Fourth down
00:41:14in the length of the football and Jeff Beagles
00:41:16the NFC's
00:41:18Pro Bowl punter to kick. Kevin Williams
00:41:20and Deion Sanders are both
00:41:22back teams.
00:41:24And it's a short floating kick
00:41:26and the fair catch is called for and made
00:41:28at the 29 yard line by Deion
00:41:30and that's where the Cowboys and Aikman take
00:41:32over with 957 remaining
00:41:34in the half. In Arizona
00:41:36where it's the Cowboys 17.
00:41:40First night in the Valley
00:41:42of the Sun and boy it was the Valley of the
00:41:44Sun today. Beautiful
00:41:46day. Temperature in the upper
00:41:4860s as you look at the Phoenix
00:41:50area. We're in Tempe which is just southeast
00:41:52of the city limits. Thank you King Kong
00:41:54Fundy for letting us use your head.
00:41:56First
00:41:58down.
00:42:00Cowboys at their own
00:42:0229 yard line.
00:42:06Emmitt Smith
00:42:08first down 13 yard gain
00:42:10rolled down by Garth Jacks.
00:42:16Emmitt
00:42:18Smith. What a block
00:42:20by Daryl Johnson.
00:42:22You've got to get somebody
00:42:24to seal the perimeter. There's the moose
00:42:26on the corner. Look at that.
00:42:28He gets the double hit.
00:42:30No wonder Emmitt Smith has had
00:42:32such a productive career.
00:42:34He's a talented individual but he gets
00:42:36wonderful blocking by
00:42:38Daryl Johnson out in front of him.
00:42:42First and 10 at the 41 yard line.
00:42:44Smith the other
00:42:46way. It's Floyd's middle
00:42:48for a gain of about 5.
00:42:50Bernard Wilson makes the tackle with
00:42:52a little more than nine minutes to go
00:42:54in the half and again to set it for
00:42:56Dallas if they win tonight
00:42:58they have home field advantage
00:43:00throughout the playoffs and what that would mean is
00:43:02that if they were to play the 49ers in the
00:43:04NFC Championship game it would be in Irving
00:43:06Texas. It also would
00:43:08mean that they would not have to face
00:43:10Green Bay
00:43:12in that second round game.
00:43:14They would face either Atlanta
00:43:16if they beat Green Bay or the winner of the
00:43:18Detroit Philadelphia game.
00:43:22From the 47 yard line
00:43:24this play is dead before its inception.
00:43:26I think 10 guys knew
00:43:28the snap count and Derek
00:43:30Kennard didn't.
00:43:32They
00:43:34all were moving and the ball
00:43:36wasn't. He's got that sort of ashamed
00:43:38look doesn't he when he walks back there.
00:43:40He doesn't want to look at anyone.
00:43:42Ernie Zampezi the
00:43:44offensive coordinator looking off from high above.
00:43:48And I mean high above.
00:43:50The interesting thing here
00:43:52is that the center
00:43:54does not go into the
00:43:56record book of the play by play. A center
00:43:58can't be offside.
00:44:00He's
00:44:02by the control.
00:44:04By the letter of the law he's blameless.
00:44:06Somebody else
00:44:08made a false start.
00:44:10Second down
00:44:12nine from the 42 yard line.
00:44:16Aikman guns
00:44:18it to Kevin
00:44:20Williams and he's tackled at the 48
00:44:22yard line. He almost ran back
00:44:24and lost what would
00:44:26have been a first down and I think he still has enough.
00:44:28He's close.
00:44:30He had the first down and he tried to
00:44:32break it back to the inside
00:44:34for additional yardage and he's going to be right on the
00:44:36marker.
00:44:40I just called Paul McGuire. I think he has
00:44:42it.
00:44:44He's pretty good at that. He's very good at that.
00:44:46He's close with the ball. I like that.
00:44:48And he is on the
00:44:50coverage and he forced him to go back
00:44:52to the inside. I'd try to make a guess
00:44:54from here but I can't see the football from this point.
00:44:56Tell me about it.
00:44:58We are looking down onto the blimp.
00:45:00It is a first down.
00:45:04There is not a
00:45:06there is not. All the way back.
00:45:08That is a three
00:45:10story structure that's built on
00:45:12top of the upper deck here
00:45:14at Sun Devil Stadium and
00:45:16only he
00:45:18a keen eye can see what's
00:45:20going on down on the field from up here.
00:45:22What do you expect for a billion dollars in right fields?
00:45:24First down at the
00:45:2648 yard line.
00:45:32White open
00:45:34over the middle is Williams
00:45:36and Kevin Williams
00:45:38is in for a touchdown.
00:45:40He had not scored one all
00:45:42season and now has two tonight.
00:45:46Big night for Williams and they
00:45:48continue to double up on Michael
00:45:50Irvin and
00:45:52perhaps because of the confidence
00:45:54they gained in Williams last week
00:45:56against the Giants they are looking for
00:45:58him tonight and finding him
00:46:00big time.
00:46:02He can put some moves on him and he gets his
00:46:04hands on the football too. Good return man of course.
00:46:06And a nifty
00:46:08runner after he catches the football.
00:46:10A
00:46:12pure zone defense by
00:46:14the Cardinals. Williams right
00:46:16in the void. Again you see Alexander
00:46:18slipping. He's the
00:46:20first guy there. Should have been the primary guy
00:46:22to make the hit. He falls down
00:46:24and the hit doesn't come until the one yard line.
00:46:26Boniol knocks it
00:46:28through and with 7.31 to
00:46:30go in the first half
00:46:32the Dallas Cowboys doing exactly
00:46:34what they had wished for and hoped
00:46:36for this Christmas evening.
00:46:38Winning and winning convincingly.
00:46:44The look of the Cardinals tonight
00:46:46for most of the season.
00:46:48Seth Joyner and company
00:46:50getting routed to this point
00:46:52and a very happy Kevin Williams
00:46:54with no touchdowns in his first 15 games
00:46:56and a pair tonight coming off
00:46:58his best game of the season and
00:47:00best of his career last week. I believe it's his
00:47:02first 100 yard game.
00:47:04That 113 he has
00:47:06this one. Long way to go as well.
00:47:08Six yard line drop picked up by
00:47:10LeSean Johnson and a nice tackle
00:47:12by Charlie Williams. So an
00:47:14offense and defense and special
00:47:16teams with a flag down the Dallas
00:47:18Cowboys. Sparkling
00:47:20tonight.
00:47:22Joe
00:47:26on the kicking team number 87
00:47:2815 yards. You can't
00:47:30when you're a special teams coach you
00:47:32you break down those films and
00:47:34regardless of the score you
00:47:36have got to stay on your guys. You
00:47:38can't allow them to lose their edge
00:47:40and Joe is not
00:47:42he's he's beseeching them to
00:47:44stay in this thing
00:47:46Billy Davis for the
00:47:48penalty. You know we talked before
00:47:50about that right there it is. Good call
00:47:52about everybody expecting you know
00:47:54Barry Switzer to come
00:47:56back. But with all of the speculation
00:47:58it's funny I did
00:48:00the interview with Jerry Jones before the game and
00:48:02I mentioned to a couple of the assistant coaches
00:48:04including Joe on the field before the game that Jerry
00:48:06said he is back unconditionally
00:48:08and they reacted with glee. It's
00:48:10almost as if they were wondering
00:48:12themselves and this was the affirmation
00:48:14the 27 yard line
00:48:16they believe. Well yeah
00:48:18you know the funny thing is
00:48:20right. I didn't want to tell him
00:48:22it was Christmas night
00:48:24that we were just kidding around
00:48:26but it shows you how you know how
00:48:28tenuous everybody's position
00:48:30in a situation where you know
00:48:32Barry Switzer has been getting
00:48:34some heat. You don't know what he's going to do
00:48:36or what Jerry Jones is going to do. Yeah well
00:48:38he's been getting heat from the outside and then Jones
00:48:40says it and Jim Eddy is another guy in your picture
00:48:42there and Dave Campo they were they were ecstatic
00:48:44They're just up there now going man
00:48:46can you believe what Al told us down there
00:48:48before the game. Second
00:48:50attempt from the outside
00:48:52Garrison Hurst
00:48:54up past the 40 to the
00:48:5644 yard line
00:48:58All kidding aside Al
00:49:00your point is very well made. This is
00:49:02a tenuous
00:49:04business at best and especially
00:49:06being the head coach of the Dallas Cowboys
00:49:08No bigger pressure
00:49:10cooker and certainly in the NFL
00:49:12And the assistants very happy to know the affirmation
00:49:14comes in the form of Jerry
00:49:16Jones on Monday Night Football
00:49:18saying he is back regardless
00:49:20is an important thing
00:49:22to the assistants
00:49:24And you know there's been
00:49:26a lot of talk about the relationship
00:49:28between Barry Switzer and
00:49:30Troy Aikman and
00:49:32whether or not they are close, whether it's
00:49:34strained, whether it's a good
00:49:36working relationship
00:49:40And Dave Craig goes down
00:49:42he's sacked again, Darren Smith is there
00:49:46Something you don't see often from the Dallas
00:49:48Cowboys, a sack from their linebackers
00:49:50They don't blitz that
00:49:52much to begin with
00:49:54At that time
00:49:56that was a coverage sack too
00:49:58Dave Craig had no place to put that football
00:50:02He's getting the play
00:50:04called in
00:50:06by Dave Atkins
00:50:08and he looks at the
00:50:10corresponding information on his wrist
00:50:12and this is the result
00:50:14Craig after
00:50:16getting sacked with a 476
00:50:18time in his career
00:50:20Hands to Darris and Hurst
00:50:22for a minimal gain
00:50:28The funny thing about a guy like
00:50:30Dave Craig, he's had all of these sacks
00:50:32He is the NFL
00:50:34record holder in fumbles
00:50:36and yet when you look at the whole thing
00:50:38when you play it out, it's amazing to think
00:50:40this man has thrown more touchdown
00:50:42passes in his career than has
00:50:44John Elway. And not only that
00:50:46but he has a career rating
00:50:48that's higher than the
00:50:50vast majority of quarterbacks that have ever played
00:50:52this game. He
00:50:54his numbers, his cumulative numbers over the years
00:50:56are
00:50:58in some sense
00:51:00very, very large
00:51:02His ratio, touchdowns, interception, Dan, you like that?
00:51:04The figure is 247 to 185
00:51:06Third and 13 and Larry
00:51:08centers, the new record holder
00:51:10by himself now
00:51:12Most catches
00:51:14by a running back
00:51:16and then he lets Dion
00:51:18have a piece of his mind
00:51:20on his way to the record book
00:51:22Either that or he's trying to get an autograph
00:51:24Was he angry at Dion?
00:51:26He had him put down like a mole
00:51:28and he tripped over him
00:51:30Well Dion rolls off in coverage and then all of a sudden
00:51:32looks up field and this is not
00:51:34what he wanted to see
00:51:36where he had to come in and make the tackle
00:51:38and of course Dion not wrapping up, just going more or less
00:51:40for the chop block
00:51:42Centers being congratulated
00:51:44by his teammates
00:51:46This is a
00:51:48really something
00:51:50that centers, if he'd have seen Dion coming
00:51:52could have really, I think, high stepped over the top of him
00:51:54Was he concerned
00:51:56about him going after his knees? I guess so
00:51:58Obviously that's what he was upset
00:52:00about and saw who it was and
00:52:02had second thoughts about it. I'm not going to mess with
00:52:04a $35 million man. He didn't go after his
00:52:06knees. Dion was on the ground way
00:52:08in front of centers
00:52:10First and 10 at the 43
00:52:12yard line, the deep drop, the screen
00:52:14to Garrison Hurst, a good blocking out
00:52:16in front but all of a sudden that breaks down
00:52:18and down he goes at the 36 yard line
00:52:20Dixon Edwards with the tackle
00:52:22It's a gain of 6
00:52:26Garrison Hurst finally
00:52:28coming all the way
00:52:30back from the knee surgery he had as a
00:52:32rookie and becoming what they thought he would be
00:52:34when they took him the first
00:52:36round in 93 out of Georgia
00:52:38and had a great career there
00:52:40Problem this year with fumbles. He fumbled
00:52:4212 times over the last few games
00:52:44that really hurt the Cardinals
00:52:46They've lost 6 of their last 7
00:52:48and Garrison's had a
00:52:50hard time holding on to the football
00:52:52That's the first catch tonight by a Cardinal not made
00:52:54by centers and it also tells you
00:52:56no wideout has caught
00:52:58a pass tonight
00:53:00Nor a tight end
00:53:04And that's incomplete intended
00:53:06for the wideout Rob Moore
00:53:08covered by Sanders
00:53:10Dave Cray got in trouble with the play clock
00:53:12He wanted to make a change
00:53:14looked up and he was down to 2 in the play clock
00:53:16and just poorly
00:53:18timed out between he and Rob Moore
00:53:20who by the way is having a terrific year here Rob Moore
00:53:22over 60 receptions
00:53:24came from the Jets last year
00:53:26in a trade
00:53:28Gotta wonder
00:53:30about Rob Moore
00:53:32I don't think he ought to buy a lottery ticket
00:53:34going from the Jets to the Cardinals
00:53:36Not exactly upward mobility
00:53:38Here's the football
00:53:40that Larry Centers caught
00:53:42to set the record most catches by a running back
00:53:4493
00:53:46It's 3rd down and 3
00:53:48and Craig from the gun
00:53:50with protection
00:53:52Centers makes his 94th catch
00:53:54What a great hurdle
00:53:56That's the best including
00:53:58anything we've ever seen by Ronaldo
00:54:00That was over Larry Brown
00:54:02but he had to be thinking a moment ago
00:54:04when he should have hurdled Deion Sanders
00:54:06Edwin Moses lives
00:54:08This is shades of Randall Cunningham
00:54:10if you want to bring it into the football realm
00:54:12Larry Brown
00:54:14Where'd he go?
00:54:16Larry Brown never left his feet
00:54:18We saw him get tripped up
00:54:20by Deion on the ground
00:54:22I don't think Larry Brown ever even leaves his feet
00:54:24He's thinking he's going to cut block me
00:54:26I'm going over him
00:54:28He did finally
00:54:30Larry Brown did go down
00:54:32by Centers
00:54:34First and goal
00:54:36now from the 7
00:54:38Hurst
00:54:40and he
00:54:42gets down to the 2.5
00:54:443 yard line
00:54:46comes in at the end of the play
00:54:48and let's take a look at this
00:54:50high centers of gravity one more time
00:54:52Defying gravity is more like it
00:54:54Keep in mind he's a pretty big man too
00:54:56He goes about 215, 217
00:54:58He is way up over Larry Brown
00:55:00What an incredible effort
00:55:04I'm sure the fact that Deion Sanders
00:55:06cut him down a few moments ago
00:55:08that put it into his mind
00:55:10Look at Larry Brown
00:55:12He doesn't know what to make of it
00:55:14I don't think they ever even touched
00:55:16I'm not sure he even grazed his shoulder pad
00:55:18with his shoe tip on the way by
00:55:22Here's where the Cardinals have had a problem
00:55:24getting the ball into the end zone
00:55:26down in that red zone
00:55:28No time scoring from down here
00:55:30Wouldn't you be tempted to let Larry Centers leap?
00:55:32The penalty was against the Cowboys
00:55:34so there's no play
00:55:36It's first and goal
00:55:38and the catch is not
00:55:40made by Centers
00:55:42He couldn't hang on to it
00:55:48Dave Craig
00:55:50put some smoke on that ball
00:55:52He's rolling out to the right and he's got Centers
00:55:54and Dave winds up
00:55:56That was a bullet to Centers
00:55:58He wasn't in a bad place
00:56:00He just had too much on it
00:56:02It was in the perfect place
00:56:04He never controlled it
00:56:08This is a pretty remarkable feat
00:56:10by Centers
00:56:12of catching it
00:56:14The officials were correct in not giving him the catch
00:56:16Second and goal
00:56:18Garrison Hirsch
00:56:20Amazingly this season
00:56:22over a thousand yards he has one
00:56:24touchdown, one
00:56:26The Cardinals don't have a whole lot of the team
00:56:30They have three as a team
00:56:32Emmitt Smith has
00:56:3424
00:56:36I think that tells you
00:56:38something about which team has a winning record
00:56:40I think 25
00:56:42total touchdowns and 5 of them have been scored
00:56:44by the defense
00:56:46Inside the 10 yard line only a 38%
00:56:48conversion
00:56:50percentage for the Cardinals
00:56:52Meanwhile
00:56:54let's take a look at Centers again
00:56:56Ooh
00:56:58That's just
00:57:00With the ball hitting the ground
00:57:02I think the official makes the right call
00:57:04I don't see how he could have called it any other way
00:57:06And we have come to the two minute
00:57:08warning
00:57:14Two minutes left in the first
00:57:16half at Sun Devil Stadium
00:57:18Tempe, Arizona
00:57:20The play of the drive coming up for the
00:57:22Cardinals
00:57:24And it's third down and goal as they try to
00:57:26somehow scramble back into
00:57:28the fray. They're down 24
00:57:30to nothing. And if you're Dave Campo
00:57:32the defensive coordinator of the Cowboys, these are the
00:57:34types of stands you'd like
00:57:36to make to really get your team feeling good
00:57:38about itself on the way into the playoff
00:57:40Third and goal
00:57:42Craig
00:57:44The end zone tip
00:57:46deflected and incomplete
00:57:48and luckily for Craig, not intercepted
00:57:50initially by
00:57:52Godfrey Miles
00:57:58So fourth down and they send in
00:58:00Davis in the field goal unit
00:58:02You'll probably hear more booing being
00:58:0424 to nothing, down 24 to nothing
00:58:06but I would say that about half of
00:58:08these people are Cowboy fans
00:58:10I'm talking to one of the Cardinal coaches
00:58:12he's looked around the stadium
00:58:14and said we may have to put the silent count in tonight
00:58:18Rob Moore actually saves the interception
00:58:20Davis 21 yard
00:58:22field goal effort is good
00:58:26Campo's defense stiffens
00:58:28and with 1.50 to go
00:58:30in the half, it's 24-3
00:58:32Dallas
00:58:36You can't go home again, Al
00:58:38Yeah, right. Well, that's
00:58:40where I used to skip a lot of classes
00:58:42somewhere down there. Called your first football
00:58:44game here? Absolutely. 1962
00:58:46from the Goodyear Blimp
00:58:48a shot of Tempe on the campus of Arizona
00:58:50State from the Goodyear Blimp. Eagle!
00:58:52In which one of those cubby holes down there
00:58:54did you buy the racing form?
00:58:56Turf Paradise
00:58:58with a 45 minute drive
00:59:00from the campus
00:59:04Great place for a long shot. Still is
00:59:06Here's the kick, taken down
00:59:08on the 5 yard line by Kevin Williams
00:59:12And he brings it back up to the
00:59:145 yard line
00:59:16Tackled by
00:59:18Marcus Dowdallon. Let's get a report
00:59:20from Lim Swann
00:59:22Al, you know, this is a great shot of
00:59:24Dan. I assume, Dan,
00:59:26that you'll always be a Cardinal deep in your
00:59:28heart. Is this really you?
00:59:30Yes, it really is
00:59:32Lonnie. It was...
00:59:34You know, they didn't change the uniforms, they changed the
00:59:36cities, but
00:59:38they did not change the uniform
00:59:40And that was about the last time we had a winning
00:59:42team
00:59:44when that card was taken
00:59:46They have
00:59:48winning seasons have been lean
00:59:50since the 70s
00:59:5284 was the last one
00:59:54How does he score the first Cardinal-Dallas game on Monday Night Football?
00:59:5638-0
00:59:58The Big Red
01:00:00Here's Aikman throwing too deep for
01:00:02Michael Irvin
01:00:04That was the game where
01:00:06Don had quite a meltdown
01:00:08during the course of that
01:00:101970, I think it was
01:00:12Oh, and Eric Williams
01:00:14Not a good sign for the
01:00:16Cowboys here as it's time
01:00:18to get serious
01:00:20I think everybody knows about Eric
01:00:22and the automobile accident that he
01:00:24had last year, missed
01:00:26the balance of the season last year
01:00:28and came back earlier than expected
01:00:30Has it been
01:00:32quite the dominant performer he was
01:00:34before he got hurt and
01:00:36Ron Stone, the guy
01:00:38that would come in and back him up
01:00:40You gotta keep your fingers crossed
01:00:42that this is nothing serious for Big Eric Williams
01:00:44It was the knee that was damaged in that
01:00:46automobile accident that
01:00:48underwent a lot of repair during the
01:00:50off-season and he did return for the opening game
01:00:52this year against the Giants
01:00:58So Williams
01:01:00getting up, good sign
01:01:02An excellent sign
01:01:04for the Cowboys as he
01:01:06There he is on the right side, there's 79
01:01:08Looks like he gets kicked
01:01:10on the right ankle by one of his own teammates
01:01:12Somewhere there on the right
01:01:14lower leg, that's even a better sign
01:01:16That knee didn't buckle
01:01:18Right. So Dan, you were saying Don
01:01:20had a meltdown and I'm sitting here thinking
01:01:22Don Coryell or Don Meredith? Don Meredith
01:01:24Oh, no, no, the Cardinals
01:01:26beat the Cowboys 38-0 and Don, of course
01:01:28doing Monday Night Football at the time
01:01:30he'd give him the points
01:01:32He felt vexed
01:01:34He was really into it
01:01:36He loved his Cowboys
01:01:38You know what I'm talking about
01:01:40He suffered that night
01:01:42I want to hear you get out of this one
01:01:44He had the over as well
01:01:46That was the bad news
01:01:48Second down and 10 for the 26-yard line
01:01:54And the catch is made up at the 30
01:01:56by Eric Bjornsson, the tight end
01:01:58and the Cardinals take a
01:02:00timeout here because they anticipate
01:02:02getting the ball back and they try to
01:02:04conserve some of the clock
01:02:06A buck 32 left in the half
01:02:12The Dallas Cowboys wrapping up the regular season
01:02:14The playoffs begin this Saturday
01:02:16Both playoff games Saturday
01:02:18Miami against Buffalo
01:02:20and Philadelphia against Detroit
01:02:22right here on ABC
01:02:24Eric Bjornsson back in the game
01:02:26That's great news
01:02:28Third down, four
01:02:30from the 32-yard line
01:02:32and they give it to
01:02:34Kevin Williams on his second carry
01:02:36of the night
01:02:38and he comes close to picking up a first down
01:02:40This will be turning into a less
01:02:42feature Kevin Williams night
01:02:44A couple of reverses, a couple of touchdown passes
01:02:46and a first down
01:02:48And now Arizona provided
01:02:50a little break for the Cowboys
01:02:52by calling that defensive timeout
01:02:54on the last play
01:02:56as the Cowboys now have plenty of time to work their way
01:02:58into scoring range
01:03:00with a minute to go in the half
01:03:02Aikman with
01:03:04great protection, throws, catch made
01:03:06by the tight end Bjornsson
01:03:08and the rookie knowing
01:03:10to run out of bounds here to conserve the timeout
01:03:12and he's out of bounds and has the first down
01:03:14at the Arizona 48
01:03:16Cardinals choosing a
01:03:18unique defensive concept there Frank
01:03:20not even covering Bjornsson
01:03:22It's guaranteed
01:03:24to be a successful conversion
01:03:26for the offense, all you have to do is
01:03:28find him, you'll be able to spot him
01:03:30he's out there in the flat all by himself
01:03:32Bjornsson filling in for
01:03:34Jay Novacek, should the
01:03:36Cowboys
01:03:38move through the playoffs, they'll probably get Novacek
01:03:40back, he had orthoscopic surgery a couple
01:03:42of nights ago and he's already
01:03:44out and around and feeling pretty good about it
01:03:46At the 48
01:03:48yard line
01:03:50Aikman
01:03:52Emmitt Smith, Emmitt seeking that
01:03:54first down, he's close, but
01:03:56he's able to stop the
01:03:58clock and get some assistance on the
01:04:00sideline, going into
01:04:02the chain link fence
01:04:06Emmitt who's been bothered
01:04:08by a strained quadricep
01:04:10that's the thigh muscle on his right
01:04:12leg and every time he
01:04:14carries it now, especially when you see him
01:04:16have to come to an awkward stop like this
01:04:18when he goes out of bounds, you have to worry about it
01:04:20because that's when you're a little
01:04:22out of balance and boy there's some
01:04:24help from a friend when you need it, especially
01:04:26in this stadium where there's not a lot of
01:04:28room between the sideline
01:04:30and the fence
01:04:34second and inches, Smith
01:04:36first down to the
01:04:3833 yard line
01:04:40and now the Cowboys
01:04:42will take a
01:04:44timeout with 41 seconds
01:04:46remaining
01:04:48in the half and the Cowboys have
01:04:5010 remaining, leading
01:04:5224-3
01:04:54Troy Aikman
01:04:56179 yards
01:04:58in the first half
01:05:0041 seconds remaining, first and 10
01:05:02at the 33 yard line
01:05:08everybody yelling he was off
01:05:10but there's no flag as Williams makes the catch
01:05:12at the 23 yard line, a lot of jumping
01:05:14up front, but no penalty
01:05:16Cowboys conserving their
01:05:18final timeout, they move the chains
01:05:20first and 10 at the 22 yard line
01:05:22so Dallas already in field
01:05:24goal range and they're looking for more
01:05:26Smith
01:05:28wide open, flag down
01:05:30stopped at the 9 and the clock
01:05:32stops with 16 seconds remaining
01:05:34boy did Emmitt dig himself
01:05:36a furrow down around the
01:05:3810 yard line when he planned to cut back to
01:05:40his right, well that was flag came late
01:05:42it should be in the coverage
01:05:44against the Cardinals
01:05:48there's the
01:05:50there's the hole
01:05:52that Emmitt dug when he
01:05:54tried to plant and cut back across
01:05:56and it's remarkable he kept his feet
01:05:58illegal hand to the face
01:06:00defense number 41
01:06:02penalty is declined, first down
01:06:04Lance Brown, rookie out of
01:06:06Indiana, 14 yard gain
01:06:08and the Cowboys still have a timeout left
01:06:10so they can take a couple of shots at the end zone
01:06:12here's Emmitt Smith and we can count on
01:06:14the fact right there is that big chunk
01:06:16of sod he threw out of there
01:06:18and if the Cowboys get a couple whacks
01:06:20at it I can only assume that Barry Switzer
01:06:22is going to give the ball to Emmitt Smith
01:06:24both times, he would love to get Smith
01:06:26that record before half time
01:06:28that was a great look at the
01:06:30talents of one Emmitt Smith
01:06:32tripped right and they break that
01:06:34formation and
01:06:36Irvin goes to the left and
01:06:38there's a whistle before the play
01:06:40as Clyde Simmons, he actually intercepted
01:06:42that ball
01:06:46well
01:06:48the Cardinals were
01:06:50they had multiple people across the ball
01:06:52that was a good
01:06:54illustration of the 46
01:06:56chaos and disruption
01:07:04and that happens a lot
01:07:06an interesting thing there
01:07:08is the clock operator
01:07:10sensing what was happening never
01:07:12started the clock, there's still
01:07:1410 seconds showing and that's a half
01:07:16the distance penalty so they're at the 4 now
01:07:18so now Emmitt gets two really good
01:07:20whacks at it I would think
01:07:22they have only
01:07:24one time out left
01:07:26there it is
01:07:28interestingly most touchdowns in the season
01:07:30each of those guys scored
01:07:32all of their touchdowns
01:07:34on the ground, no receptions
01:07:36to score
01:07:39first and goal
01:07:41all things
01:07:43and the Cardinals get it
01:07:45Eric Swann comes up with a ball
01:07:47that hadn't been tackled
01:07:49and then takes off like Lin Swann
01:07:51I think that might have been the center once again
01:07:53he is willing
01:07:55this thing never got started
01:07:57I think that might have been Canard again
01:07:59at least Aikman was pulling away
01:08:01from the center
01:08:03and he's shaking his head
01:08:05if he's not at fault he was certainly
01:08:07lying on the ground like it was his fault
01:08:09trying to bury his face in the turf
01:08:13trying to burrow underneath that side
01:08:15and make it all go away
01:08:17Aikman anticipating the ball and pulled away from Canard
01:08:30well I think Barry Switzer
01:08:32one of the things he didn't like about that is he'd like to
01:08:34got Emmitt Smith out of this game
01:08:37after he got the record
01:08:39Canard snapped the ball on time
01:08:41it just never made it to Aikman's hands
01:08:45for some reason you could see it go off to the side
01:08:47he snapped it when Troy wanted it
01:08:49but he just didn't deliver it
01:08:55again the loss of Ray Donaldson
01:08:57in many ways
01:08:59makes this
01:09:01Cowboy offensive line
01:09:03not the line it was at midseason
01:09:06Canard of course started last year
01:09:08when he started to write guard for them
01:09:10now with 12 seconds left
01:09:12the Cardinals somehow are going to try to get into
01:09:14field goal range
01:09:16of all things the catch is made by
01:09:18Stevie Anderson
01:09:20and they look around and they
01:09:22questioningly ask for a timeout
01:09:24well maybe they'll give Davis a good whack at it
01:09:28alright Merry Christmas
01:09:30Fred Musburger what's up at the half
01:09:32Al thank you for having me
01:09:35starting on opening night when the Cowboys
01:09:37began our 26th year of
01:09:39Monday Night Football so impressively
01:09:41against the Giants
01:09:43and we saw them in midseason and they routed
01:09:45Philadelphia and clearly
01:09:47they were the best team in the league at that point
01:09:49San Francisco
01:09:51missing Steve Young among others but that
01:09:53following week is when the Niners went in there
01:09:55Jerry Rice caught the early touchdown
01:09:57pass and changed the whole season
01:09:59around
01:10:01so the Cardinals well
01:10:03with six seconds to go not only do they need
01:10:05a game they need a defensive penalty
01:10:07and all that does is
01:10:09add to Larry Sinner's record
01:10:11and the half will end as he takes him up to the 34 yard line
01:10:13end of the
01:10:15first half
01:10:17all Dallas they lead at 24 to
01:10:193 and will return after this message
01:10:21from the National Football they're going to work more
01:10:23ABC