>> cowboys will have the first crack at the ball. eddie murray will kick it off to alexander wright. he can burn it.
Who Won The Football Game Today, [ crowd cheers ] this now is what it is all about. they kick away from wright.
it's kelvin martin, who fumbled it first and then finally got it back and gets back to about the 24. steve beuerlein will open at quarterback. as john said before, every time he has started, they have won. in front of him, tuinei, gogan,
stepnoski, gesek, newton, and jay novacek at tight end. and that's sort of an unsung group, that offensive line. emmitt smith and daryl johnston in the backfield. alvin harper and michael irvin will open as the wide receivers. beuerlein not impressive
statistically, but with the wins and losses, most impressive. it is loud here. beuerlein's gonna throw. and going deep. alvin harper the intended receiver, and beuerlein just led him a little too much. the detroit defense -- spindler,
lawrence pete in place of brown in the middle. dan owens the other defensive end. jamison, spielman, jones, and tracy hayworth, the linebacking corps. and in the secondary -- crockett and jenkins the corners, blades
and white the two safety men. and they will put some helmets on you. johnston. this is emmitt smith. they stuff him after a gain of 2. owen. >> they were gonna stop.
but it's the first thing the cowboys come out. they're gonna loosen them up. >> tommie agee replaces emmitt smith in their passing lineup. they go with four wideouts. if you include novacek. beuerlein back to throw.
intended for alexander wright. incomplete. jenkins the defender, and the cowboys will have to punt. mike saxon and a dangerous man that they fear, fear, and keep talking about -- mel gray, back deep for detroit. and they're gonna kick it away
from him. if it's only for 35 yards and goes out of bounds, that's okay with dallas. they just don't want to let him beat them. i don't think that's quite what he wanted, but it turned out to be effective.
out of bounds at about the 31. detroit will take over after a 44-yard punt. erik kramer will open at quarterback for detroit. up front of him, lomas brown, eric andolsek, glover, dallafior, and scott conover. barry sanders will be the lone
set back most of the time. farr, matthews, moore, and green. their version of the run-and-shoot. "silver streak" they call it. sanders alone behind kramer. outside quickly to herman moore, and moore will get
a detroit first down -- a gain of 11. let's have a look now at the dallas defense. tolbert, casillas, russell maryland, and jim jeffcoat, the front four. norton and del rio will be, for the most part, the two
linebackers. they'll go with five defensive backs -- holt, brown, williams, horton, and james washington. first and 10, detroit, at their own 43. kramer with time. for farr.
farr breaks a tackle -- another detroit first down. washington finally herded him out of bounds. >> that's what we were talking about, pat, that they're gonna put the pressure on erik kramer, especially early. they're going to take
barry sanders away. now, you can do that. they have five defensive backs in there. but when you do that, you can see how tight they are inside. you are going to give them some passing because they have four wide receivers.
now, they got excellent pass protection, and erik kramer -- i'll tell you -- for a guy who's in his first year in the nfl is cool as you can be in a playoff game. >> first down, detroit, at the dallas 44. and kramer again will test them.
he does. successfully -- a gain of 12. willie green. >> and you know what this is doing? this is not only moving the ball down the field and giving confidence to this detroit team. but it's going to loosen up that
dallas defense because jimmy johnson told us last night, "barry sanders is not going to beat us. if they're gonna beat us, erik kramer is gonna do it." now, erik kramer is starting out by completing these passes. he is loosening things up.
i wonder if that one was in bounds, though. >> they're gonna take a look at it and see, john. >> yeah, when you look, it doesn't look -- when you saw that on that replay, it didn't look like he had both feet in bounds.
>> well, you look. >> green catches the ball. again, you have to see both the feet. the key is the feet. >> now you can see. >> there he has the right foot. >> no. >> unless he dragged that left
foot, that left foot is out of >> if he dragged it and got it down, it was... sort of lonely, wasn't it? >> after review, the play stands... >> i think they're saying that it's a good catch, and he did drag it.
they didn't have enough evidence to overturn it. the right foot was down, and i guess they figured on the field that he dragged that left foot. >> clark is wide right this time. mike farr is the motion man. flag on the play already.
pass is incomplete. intended for sanders. he had it and dropped it. gordon mccarter is the referee. >> yeah, the detroit lions, of course, they're starting without two of their starting... >> ...number 86, offense. penalty declined -- second down.
>> two of their starting wide receivers today. brett perriman pulled a muscle in practice on friday. and then robert clark had pulled a muscle before. so, neither one of them are starting today. >> perriman didn't have on his
pads in the pregame warm-up. they were gonna test him and see when they went back to the locker room. and he did come out, which shocked both of us, i think. >> i know. well, he didn't practice in the pregame warm-up.
he just came out there, and he ran on the sidelines. they didn't start him, and now he's going in there to try it. i think there's a heck of a lot of that pride factor, you know? you got all those guys -- michael irvin played for miami. brett perriman played for
jimmy johnson at miami. >> ...25 seconds. please set to 25. >> perriman -- pride, playoffs. a lot of those things will get you to play, won't they? >> well, and being at home and this crowd. we were there on friday at
practice when he pulled that muscle, and it's amazing what adrenaline can do. >> really. second and 10. detroit at the dallas 31. no flag. kramer. touchdown!
willie green from kramer. from 31 yards out. ray horton got spun around. so did green, but green made the catch. and this place is loud and loud and louder. >> it's amazing what emotion and watch kramer.
he's gonna try and come to the right. he rolls to the right. he's looking right. he looks right again. there's nothing back. he comes back to willie green on the left side. that was his third receiver.
>> eddie murray for the extra point. 7-0, lions lead. in a hurry, they got it done. they said they were gonna go after him, and they did. 7-0. 11:29 left in the first quarter. five plays it took them.
the nfc divisional playoff game, the lions and the cowboys. and detroit scored first time they had the ball. they lead, 7-0. eddie murray, line-drive kickoff. handled by alexander wright. after a juggle, he gets back to
the 20, and that's all. again, noga down to make the stop. the lions' scoring drive -- willie green the touchdown catch from kramer -- 5 plays, 68 yards, 2:09. no running plays. >> well, i think that that was
sending a message to the dallas cowboy defense and say, "okay, you can come out there, and you can take away barry sanders, but if you do that, you're gonna give us some other things that we're gonna take." the other thing i think is
interesting, that was the first drive -- when the cowboys got the ball the first time, that was the first time that beuerlein didn't score on the opening drive. >> novacek was the move man. they say, "we can't let him beat us," but he got 8 yards.
>> well, you know, it's tough to stop these cowboys, because in emmitt smith, you have the leading rusher in the nfl, and then you have michael irvin, who's a leading pass receiver. so, some plays, you're gonna have to give them something and this guy is just a dashing
runner. emmitt smith can take it into a hole and boom, run right in there behind nate newton, or he can take it in there and cut it back to any other hole along the line of scrimmage. >> they need 2 for a first down. and that's exactly what you were
talking about. that play was supposed to go left, and he brought it back to the right. >> we were talking to nate newton last week, and he was saying the toughest thing is -- there's big nate newton, 61, there.
he said, "they call a play, and you think it's supposed to come to your hole, and he goes way over on the other side." and then sometime, they think it's going to the other side, and you want to take a little rest, and it comes right back to your hole.
so, he says, when emmitt smith is in there, he said, as a big, old, 335-pound offensive tackle, you have to play every down. >> plus, you don't know where he's going. >> yeah. sometimes a tackle -- when a guy goes away, you can take a play
off. >> and he might be back. beuerlein backpedals. outside to emmitt smith. the detroit pursuit by spielman knocks him down after a gain of maybe 2. >> emmitt smith was gonna give spielman a little bump, and
spielman was giving him a bump. i'll tell you. spielman is the type of guy -- we talked to him on friday. he was ready to play the game then. he was probably ready to play it a week ago friday. you talk about intensity.
i don't know the definition of the word, but i think if you needed a definition, it's this guy right here. >> he gave us a couple of teddy roosevelt quotes that lasted about 15 minutes. >> yeah, i was trying to learn that quote.
he said, "theodore roosevelt said it." >> left side, smith, a gain of 3. pritchett made the stop. >> you can sure tell the difference in playoff football. you just know you can just feel it in this building and in these
players that this is a different level from what they were playing a couple weeks ago. >> about 80,000 on hand. most of them came from close by. third down, about 4. agee behind beuerlein. beuerlein didn't make the first down.
they'll have to punt it. >> beuerlein didn't score on his first drive as quarterback, and he didn't score on the second drive as quarterback. tell you. this is one fired-up detroit lion football team. >> and one fired-up stadium to
go with it. >> and the two are helping each other. the two are feeding off each >> saxon back to punt. mel gray. is he ever dangerous. >> you said they aren't gonna kick it to mel gray, even if
they have to kick it out of this is one place that jimmy johnson really respected or feared this team. >> that's gonna go right to to the 31. 42-yard punt, 13-yard return. stopped by tony hill. detroit leads, 7-0.
they have the ball, first and 10 at their own 31. they haven't run a running play yet, but now they still haven't. pass complete from kramer to clark. first down, detroit, at about the 48, a gain of 16. >> this is part of the detroit
game plan, pat. you know what they're trying to do? is if you look, here's three wide receivers on this side. this is the back side. so, they want the defense to overreact to this side. then they're going to throw
individual patterns one-on-one back on that side. see, you get three guys. you overload the left side. then you look back on the right side, see? and there's no way that they can get any help out there. they're one-on-one.
issiac holt is playing real deep. >> especially after you fake to barry sanders. here's kramer again. pass complete again. different pattern, same scheme. >> it's the same idea, to get an overload to one side and then
throw back. in fact, i think the cowboys might be taking issiac holt out of the game. you see how far holt is off? holt is way too far off. he's giving way too much cushion. he has a bad leg.
he was injured a week ago. jimmy johnson didn't know if he could go. they hit him on two passes, and they just took ike holt out. >> and gant took his place. first down, detroit. kramer again will throw it. and out it comes to this side to
willie green, out of bounds. pass complete. clocked out of bounds by larry brown. but a gain of 5. >> the amazing is, detroit lions, you think they're gonna run the ball, run, run, run.
barry sanders has yet to run the ball. i think that everyone knows that when you play detroit, you want to take away barry sanders. well, you can't do the obvious. i think detroit has come up with a great game plan here. "if that's what they're gonna
do, then let's go and take what they're giving us. and then eventually they'll loosen up, and we can run barry sanders." >> kramer is 7 out of 8. and no running plays as yet. and still none. incomplete, this one.
7 out of 9 make it. intended for perriman. >> well, that was good coverage out there. the cowboys put ike holt back in. he's back in at left corner. kramer was still trying to work on him.
he looked out to that side, to the right side, and they had coverage there. and then he had to come back to his third receiver in the middle. there's dave levy. he's the offensive coordinator of this detroit team.
and i think in that right hand there, he has a pretty good plan or at least... >> so far. >> ...a good first quarter of a good plan. >> third down. finally, to sanders, who spins away from one tackle, from two,
and out of bounds, and they'll have to either try a field goal or punt it. a loss of 1. a lot of dancing but not much doing. >> well, the other thing they could do is go for it on fourth you're on the 35-yard line.
it's a 52-yard field goal. you really hate to punt it away there. but your decision is to punt and then let your defense play, and that's what detroit is gonna do. or go for it on fourth down. or try the 52-yard field goal. >> or perhaps a fake.
>> or fake from the punt, or you could go to field goal and fake from the field goal. >> sure. ray horton is back deep for dallas. that's unusual. arnold to punt it. aiming for the corner.
pretty good job. at about the 4 1/2, where dallas will take over. 30-yard punt but very effective. the numbers don't look that good, but the results aren't bad. >> we just saw the guy that's taking his place in there,
lawrence pete. not the player that jerry ball is, but he's about the same size as jerry ball. >> and stronger, according to jerry ball. not much. they started from the 4 1/2. he might have gotten 3 yards.
>> lawrence pete is strong, but watch stepnoski take him here. the problem that pete has, if we look at it on the clicker here, the problem that he has is coming off the block. you see how strong he is? he just keeps that strength, that leverage, leverage,
leverage. but at some point, you have to get off it to make the tackle. that's a pretty good play there. if a nose tackle can just keep everything in front of him and pile it up like that, that's good nose-tackle play. >> i would say that's a pretty
good play. beuerlein back to throw it. got a man. michael irvin out of bounds at about the 25. first down, dallas. ray crockett took him out. first and 10, dallas. beuerlein with time.
has michael irvin again. first down for the cowboys one more time. melvin jenkins. >> you know, the last time the cowboys were on the sideline, michael irvin was over there going crazy. and i know what he was saying.
"hey, throw the ball to me. i can get open." whatever it takes. they're playing a 2-deep zone he just gets by the corner, gets in front of the safety. he believes that on every play, if you throw him the ball, he'll catch it.
it doesn't make any difference if it's one guy covering him, two guys, or three guys. >> and that's what makes a great receiver. "i believe i can get open. i know i'm gonna get open." >> i've always wanted guys that wanted the ball.
>> this is emmitt smith to midfield. run out of bounds by bennie blades. a gain of 6 for emmitt. >> and i think the last two plays, we just saw the cowboy offense. you say, "how did the cowboys
get here?" i think those two guys -- michael irvin catching that pass and then coming right back with emmitt smith. in fact, you say, "how much are these guys -- what do these guys mean to this offense?" well, if you look, emmitt smith
is 38.9% of the offense. michael irvin is 38.8%. the rest of the guys are 22.3%. >> second and 4, about the 49 for dallas. and smith again. emmitt smith! a gain of 18. >> that is what a great running
back does. a great running back will never stop his feet. watch him. he'll take it in there, and watch how his feet just keep going. you see he could have went down. no on wrapped him up.
there was poor tackling in everyone thought, "i got him. you take him. he got him." but i'll tell you. if you're gonna make a long run, you have to have -- one of your wide receivers has to block. watch michael irvin right there.
he gets just enough of a block to spring emmitt smith. >> it's a great thing when your feet take your body with you. here's beuerlein. harper. stopped by jenkins. 20-yard gain. >> hey, you talk about the
drive, and everyone's talking about the broncos and their drive. we remember when they did it against cleveland, john elway. again, congratulations to the broncos. did it again yesterday. this isn't the same part of the
game, but this is a pretty good drive by the cowboys and steve beuerlein here. >> remember, they started at their own 4. 1:16 left in the first quarter. 7-0, detroit. >> that's what you call a long field.
>> smith again. to the 10. somehow it looks like nothing, but it winds up to be 3 yards. >> i always wonder what the other back does. you take emmitt smith there. he was the leading ground gainer in the national football league.
barry sanders on the other side, he was second. you wonder if barry sanders watches emmitt smith or if emmitt smith watches when you talk to them, they tell you that they don't. >> but you know they do. 7 plays, 84 yards.
they've kept the ball 4:05. 46 seconds left in the first quarter. norv turner, rest of the dallas defensive assistants. dan owens out. second down and 7. they're at the 10. the lions lead it, 7-0.
beuerlein to throw. saw what he wanted. saw novacek. overthrew it. he is upset. >> we were just wondering if barry sanders even watches. barry sanders is sitting back on the bench.
he's just waiting for his turn, but you know what they do? that's probably what they do right there. they will always sneak a peek up at the screen. that's a new thing in the nfl, 'cause you get instant replay in the stadiums.
and players don't have to watch the play. they'll sit on the bench, and then they'll always look up at that screen in the stadium. >> that sneak a peek. >> because they say, "no, i don't watch him. no, i'm my own guy.
i run like barry sanders. i run like emmitt smith." but they do watch each other. i know they do. >> that's kelvin martin, the man in motion. beuerlein. batted away incomplete. intended for irvin.
knocked down by ray crockett at the last moment. >> tell you. ray crockett plays well against this team. the last time they played, he intercepted a troy aikman pass and ran it, like, 96 yards back. that time, he's right there on
michael irvin to knock the ball out of there. and you know when steve beuerlein's the quarterback and he needs a play, his go-to guy, the guy he's gonna look at is michael irvin. >> 28-yard field-goal attempt coming up by willis.
novacek holding. 7-3 now. with 10 seconds left to play in the first quarter, the lions continue to lead, but their lead is cut down. barry sanders back deep on kickoff-return coverage for detroit.
>> yeah, and it's the first time this year. this may be the first time he's been back as a kickoff returner. >> this is dozier at the 5. d.j. dozier knocked out at about the 17 by kenneth gant. first-quarter statistics... first downs even, but look at
the rushing yards. >> of course, the lions haven't even tried yet. the lions, i think they came out throwing, trying to loosen up that cowboy defense to get some running later. i think the big thing in there for both teams is no turnovers.
the other interesting thing in the first quarter is there has been no penalties. >> doesn't that seem as if it always happens in a playoff game? >> yeah, it always seems to, the farther you go. when you have the playoff, the
championship, and the super bowl, you always seem to have fewer penalties. >> kramer. sanders. larry brown made the stop after a gain of 5. >> watch. here's russell maryland,
number 67. he was a number-one draft pick in last year's draft. and you see andolsek. you see how strong he is. he had a little help from the center, glover, but eric andolsek is one of the strongest guards in the
national football league. if you look at his arms and chest, from the waist up, he is as thick as any guard in the league, i think. >> and to go with that thickness, he's also wide. here's sanders. close to a first down.
stopped by washington. a gain of 6, and it should be enough. >> here's the thing. you watch barry sanders, and here's a guy that has more moves than anyone that's playing the game right now. and, of course, the secret on
defense is don't let him make all those moves. he was tackled by one guy there. but that's not gonna happen a lot. the cowboys know that. you got to get a whole bunch of your guys around and on barry sanders when he carries
the ball. >> first down, detroit, at their own 31. they lead, 7-3. trips to the left. they should come this way. ken norton tripped him up, a gain of 7. >> that's exactly what they did,
pat. they put the trips to the left, and then he is going to work the right side. see, here's the trips over here. they got that out there. now, back on this side, they just got the one thing. so, what kramer wants to do is
come back here, bring his back in here. so, now you got one, two receivers there, and work that back side. you see the cowboys are rotating. they have more defenders over on the left.
so, he throws it back here on you're either gonna have sanders or that outside receiver on that side. >> 9 out of 11 for kramer. same setup. same play. ken norton again made the stop. it's like a replay almost.
>> you know, it's interesting here that they have thrown 4 balls in a row to sanders. you watch it here again. he's looking. he looked off to the left, and then he came back to in fact, we were talking to erik kramer the other day.
he said, "early in the game, we may throw the ball a lot more to barry sanders than we run it to him." and that's exactly what they've done. [ whistle blows ] >> the lions moved far too early.
>> false start, 76, offense, before the snap. 5 yards -- still first down. >> yeah, 76 is scott conover, and he's doing a pretty good job. he's a rookie. and being a rookie tackle in this league is tough.
but being a rookie tackle in this league when you're always on the weak side, when there's no tight end on your side to give you any help, is double tough. and i watch him on films and stuff, and this guy is a good player.
>> in this offense, you almost always have an open side, no matter which side. first and 15. kramer back to throw. from behind by jimmie jones. and down he goes. >> and you always say it. you say scott conover's a good
player, and he runs right by him. >> inevitable. >> watch him right here. we'll watch him on the clip. here's conover. now you watch him going against jimmie jones. jones right there is just going
up the field. you see when he gets his left hand there. the left hand pushes. then he can bring the right arm by. then when he gets the right arm in that position, there's no way that he can get back.
eric kramer holding onto that ball was amazing. >> remarkable. second and 19. that was...it probably will go as a sack, but that was a remarkable effort by kramer to keep that ball. >> jimmie jones, the way he hit
him, i think he helped him hold it. >> pass is caught by willie green but a flag on the play. way back deep is a penalty marker, and the cowboys have already started to celebrate. >> yeah, because that's back in
that area where they call offensive holding, illegal use of hands, and that's what it's gonna be against the lions. >> illegal use of hands, jam to the face, number 67, offense. 10 yards -- repeat second down. [ crowd boos ] >> that's the right guard,
ken dallafior. they always want to get those hands up and jam, but what you want to do is you want to jam both hands. you can see him. he's number 67, right in the middle of the screen. you want to jam both hands to
the shoulder. he's working on number 75, tony casillas. but you see what happens? as you go to jam up under, that hand keeps going, and you get the face mask. and that's exactly what happened to dallafior there.
>> second and 29. cowboys showing blitz. now they back out of it. tony hill, a gain of 2 for sanders, not much more. >> you see casillas there. he darn near spun right out of that play. he was in there, and he hit into
his guard. and then he started to spin. when i was coaching, i always hated the guys to spin, because most of the time they would hit and spin and spin away from the he did it, but luckily they got >> there's tony casillas. very, very happy now.
he was not happy in atlanta, as you probably know, but he is now and playing very well. kramer to throw it. willie green made the catch, but they're gonna have to punt. a gain of 10. larry brown made the stop, and this is where the cowboys can
hurt you. if they get you back here where you have to punt, they are excellent on special teams and particularly at blocking punts. >> well, it's interesting. jimmy johnson was saying there's always three areas -- offense, defense, and special teams.
this week he thinks he's gonna win offense, he's gonna win defense, and all he wants in special teams, he says, is a push, because detroit has good special teams. >> good kick. kelvin martin signals fair detroit's down in a hurry.
at the 15, the cowboys will take over. good punt by arnold -- 49 yards. 7-3, detroit. dallas ball, their own 15. they all say, "we can't let him beat us," but you better come to work early. >> tell you, one thing
emmitt smith does is after guy tackles him, he always kind of gives him a little pat, a little pat on the head, one of those type of things because i think he's one of the guys that every player that tackles him knows they have to get him, and then they have lot of respect for
and in players' minds, that happens. they go like heck until the whistle blows, and then once it's over, they have to clean out their minds. >> illegal substitution -- number 34 came into the huddle, communicated, and then went back
out of the game. >> penalty marker went down way after the play was over. agee came in the game and then left. he was penalized for communicating. >> that's right. that's a rule. they had 12 men in the huddle
>> penalty for illegal substitution. >> i'm glad they can't penalize us. >> [ laughs ] >> 5 yards -- still first down. >> you see what they do? you can't send a guy in all the way into the huddle and have him
say something and then run out. you can send him in. then he has to stay in there. and you can't just run him in and say, "hey, go in and tell these guys and then come out" 'cause that's the old thing bud grant used to do years ago. in fact, we did it, too.
you have, like, 14, 15 guys in the huddle and then break, and three of them would run to the sideline. you didn't know who was playing. >> first and 15. here is emmitt smith. there's nothing there. no gain.
that illegal communication will always get you in trouble. >> yeah, if you're gonna communicate, just communicate. or if you're gonna do it illegally, don't do it. just don't use any communication. that's why they got hand signals
and all that stuff for. >> 7:50 left to play in the first half. >> emmitt smith does all the running, anyway. agee's a running back. he's gonna go down. "what did you do for the cowboys?"
"i was their communicator -- illegally communicated." >> sure is. pass is complete. close to a first down to michael irvin. i think he got enough. william white made the stop. >> it's interesting.
when troy aikman was the quarterback, he would always look for jay novacek, the tight end. and one of the things about beuerlein -- doesn't make any difference. there's double coverage out there on michael irvin.
>> triple. >> steve beuerlein is gonna be out there, and he always looks for michael irvin. he doesn't care where he is. in fact, the first day he reported to the cowboys, he told steve beuerlein. he said, "look.
there's only one rule here. that's throw to me." well, he's back again. let's see where it goes. pass is picked off. he went the wrong direction. gonna be a touchdown, detroit. melvin jenkins from 41 yards away.
and this place is going crazy. >> and the one thing jimmy johnson said last night, "we have to protect the football. we cannot have turnovers." >> jenkins, 41 yards. the extra point by murray is good.
it's 14-3. >> and who says you don't need emotion in the nfl? the detroit lions got all the way to this game with emotion. that time he was going to he didn't force it to >> 14-3, lions. 6:42 left to play in the first
half at the silverdome in the lions lead dallas, 14-3. gant with a kickoff return for dallas and with some room. to about the 35, where dallas has to regroup. but a 26-yard return by gant. >> that had no chance of being completed.
>> beuerlein gives to and he's off again. emmitt smith slips down at about the detroit 46. jenkins finally made the stop to make sure he was down. >> we were talking to both emmitt smith and barry sanders about why a running back changes
hands. and you always want the ball on the outside as you're going to the sideline, but the other reason is you always free one hand up to be able to straight-arm or push off to play off defenders. >> smith, 10 carries, 63 yards
already. another carry. it's his eleventh. about a yard this time. stopped by owens. >> jimmy johnson had a lot more confidence last night than his team is playing with so far in this first half.
>> second and 8. here comes a lion blitz. pick it up pretty good. pass is caught by harper, flag on the play. late hit on beuerlein. pritchett got there late and knocked down the quarterback. still a gain of 17.
they'll add to it. >> that was a heck of a throw. by steve beuerlein hanging in there, pritchett was gonna hit he did hit him after. >> personal foul, roughing the passer, number 94 on the defense. half the distance from the
dead-ball spot -- first down. >> so, he'll get both. you see by standing in there -- now they just got pritchett on that one for throwing him down. but watch the catch at the other that was a heck of a throw by beuerlein, being able to stand but look at this catch by
alvin harper at the other end. you talk about a guy going up the ladder. he went up the ladder.] so, the cowboys got the play, and then they tacked on a penalty to it. so, that was a big, big offensive play for the cowboys.
>> first down for dallas at the detroit 14. that's smith. and not much. spindler made the stop. jimmy johnson looks very, very calm and controlled at the moment. >> you know, one interesting
thing in this game, pat, and it's tough for quarterback -- i know it is -- is both of these teams have the some color helmet. and a quarterback, when he sees guys coming at him, he's looking downfield, and all he sees is blurs and jerseys and helmets.
and i don't know how often this happens in pro football, but not a lot, where you have both teams in silver helmets. and if you say, "who's that?" i'll guarantee you that's tough for the quarterback. >> has to be. irvin is the man in motion.
beuerlein fakes to smith. gets it out to... robert awalt. stopped by jamison. awalt down to about the 11. >> that was one of those plays that either awalt didn't run deep enough, or they didn't design it because it was a
bootleg play, and they were gonna throw it to the tight end. but if you're going to design a play, the guy's got to run deeper than that. you don't want a completion for a yard. >> there's what you were talking look at both teams.
look how similar the helmets are. you hate to give a quarterback a built-in excuse for throwing interceptions, but that is one. that is very, very tough. >> third and 6. and loud. beuerlein to throw it.
hit emmitt smith, who never saw it coming. hit him in the back. the lions' blitz fooled everybody. >> well, you see that. beuerlein is looking to the he has a read. and what his read is if it's
covered deep, he has to come off short. emmitt smith wasn't even looking. you see, this is who he's trying to throw to. he's trying to throw out here to you see irvin coming on a cross. he didn't think he had anything
irvin thought he had it there. irvin says, "i told you, anytime there's a pass, throw it to me. i'll get it." >> willis for the field goal with novacek holding. and it's 14-6. steve beuerlein in conversation
with norv turner, who runs the dallas offense up in the coaching booth. not saying congratulations. >> no, you can see that norv turner had the phone on, and he was looking down at a chart. so, what he was doing is, you
don't have a lot of time for emotion. >> mel gray, the kickoff return. complete to perriman. he got about 5. robert williams up to make the >> it's amazing to me that perriman is even out here. at that practice, perriman
pulled a hamstring muscle on friday. we saw him leave the building here friday on crutches. and he couldn't do anything. in fact, he didn't even take part in the pregame warm-up. >> didn't even have on pads. >> no, no -- no shoulder pads.
he was wearing a baseball cap and just ran up and down the and i was sure that he wouldn't be able to play. but like he said, "hey, there's a game. this is it. there's no tomorrow" and all those things.
and he's out there playing. this is amazing. >> we're in the finals. we'll get the 2:00 warning now, before the end of the first half. the lions have the ball, leading 14-6, 5:11 left in the first half here at the silverdome.
second and 5. erik kramer the quarterback. perriman the move man. screen pass to sanders. flag on the play. >> that was an interesting screen pass. they took barry sanders, and he went into the left side of the
line to hide and then came along the penalty's gonna be against the detroit lions, but it was interesting because usually they left and they screen left, or they line up right and screen he lined up left and then sneaked to the right for the screen.
>> pass interference, number 84. >> herman moore. >> 10-yard penalty -- repeat second down. >> he pushed off issiac holt. >> watch the way this screen develops, though. you see barry sanders start to you see, he starts in here.
here he is. now he's trying to hide. then he sneaks back. you see him sneak, sneak, sneak, sneak back to the right. then the screen develops out there, and it's a pretty good here's the screen out in front of him.
the only thing is, herman moore pushed on the play. so, it had to come back. >> kramer back to throw it again. gets it out quickly to mike farr. stopped by holt. a gain of 5.
it'll bring up a third down. >> one of the best offensive tackles in football is that guy right there, number 75, lomas brown. watch him pick up a stunt. you see the guy comes to the outside. that's maryland.
he just takes him. he just fell into that. he was ready to block the end. maryland came into him. i don't think he knew where he came from, but he said, "look. if he's gonna come out here, i'm gonna block him." so, lomas brown is one of the
best pass protectors, i feel, in >> third and 10. farr is the motion man. and it's complete to moore. that should be enough for a first. knocked out of bounds by holt. >> they're still working out here on ike holt.
herman moore was the number-one draft choice for the detroit lions, and they tried him as a slot, as an inside guy. and he really didn't do very well there, so he became a backup. then they moved him outside. and they said he's a lot more
comfortable there. but if he takes too many of those right hands that holt delivered or tried to deliver to the head, i'll guarantee you he's not gonna be comfortable. >> there's troy aikman loosening. he says he's healthy.
>> and he says he's disappointed, and he says he's frustrated. and i just have a feeling we're gonna see him today. >> kramer to sanders. down in the arms of jeffcoat. but a 5-yard pickup. >> the lions are going with
no-huddle here. >> 14-6, the lions leading the cowboys with 1:10 remaining in the first half. kramer again outside. this time to willie green. brown hustled him out of bounds, but that looks like it's there all day if they want it.
>> especially when the corners are off like this. you see brown is playing 10 yards off. and anytime that they have a corner playing off -- brown on that side or holt on the other side -- i think that they can hit those out patterns or
patterns in front of them all day. or they've done that the whole first half, anyway. i think the cowboys are going to have to make an adjustment on that at halftime. but then, again, you make too many adjustments, then you give
barry sanders running room. >> green has 5 catches for 71 yards. first and 10, detroit. they lead, 14-6, already. here's kramer back to throw with now he pulled it down. sanders was the intended receiver, i think.
>> yeah, it was sanders. that was good pass coverage. sanders wasn't the original receiver, the primary receiver. you watch kramer. he's looking downfield, looking, in fact, he had to bring it back, hold it. now he's kind of falling down
and away when he threw it to so, sanders was, like, the third or fourth choice after the second pump. >> you don't get many more pumps than two, do you? >> no, no. this detroit line is doing a good job of pass protection,
and kramer's doing a great job of staying cool. >> cowboys showing blitz. pass caught by farr. first down, lions. time-out, lions. good job by kramer. >> as i was saying, the lions are doing a really good job of
pass protection, and they are. they don't have any tight ends. they don't have any backs to help them. they just got five guys that have to do the job, and they are doing it. >> steve beuerlein looking on. troy aikman loosening.
>> he told us last night he was ready. i think we're gonna find out some time today if he's ready or not. >> kramer gets it outside to sanders gets it out of bounds. close to a first down, maybe a foot short.
kramer now is 18 out of 21. >> and the amazing thing about kramer -- when he came to camp this year, he wasn't even the backup quarterback. we know rodney peete was the starting quarterback. andre ware, their number-one draft choice, was the backup.
he was the third quarterback, just trying to hang on. look at this. pass attempts -- he's had 22. 1 sack, only hurried 3 times, hasn't been knocked down. that is excellent pass protection. >> second down, 43 seconds left
in the first half. and kramer goes deep. willie green had it and lost it. brown was the cover man. that had "touchdown" written on >> that looks like a good throw. he just has to turn around. brown did get his hand in there. larry brown got that left hand
it just got in green's hand, and then brown got his left hand in and punched it out. watch this. green goes up. brown goes up and just knocks that left hand. knocks that ball out of there. >> 37 seconds left now.
third down and about a half-yard. say 1. sanders hit by ken norton, who came on a blitz, and didn't get the first down. he had it timed perfectly. >> he did have it timed perfectly, and that's a run
blitz. and that's what they did so well last week against the chicago bears. if you look at it, here's norton. the ball isn't snapped yet, but he is gonna come in, boom, and hit this hole right here.
and he'll be in there at the snap of the ball. this is hitting a gap at the snap, and he hits the gap at the snap perfectly. >> and now what do you do? it's fourth and about a yard. field goal? you got to, don't you?
>> i would think so. i would think in this situation that you have to go for the field goal. that play killed detroit. it was a big, big defensive play for the cowboys, and i don't think that they could afford to not go for the field goal here
because they've already gotten two touchdowns, and the cowboys have gotten two field goals. so, by getting another field goal, that will just be the same as eliminating one of the cowboys' field goals. >> barry sanders, by the way, who the cowboys said, "we can't
let him beat us," they haven't done that, but they're losing, 14-6. sanders has 8 yards, 4 carries. 36-yard field-goal attempt here. >> and the guy that we said had to do it and has done it in this first half is erik kramer and his receivers.
>> high snap. but the field goal is good. >> this is what a kicker does. you see him let the air out? he even takes the lip like he's blowing a trumpet to let the air out. whoo! that was his first postseason
field goal that he's made since that one that everyone remembers that he missed out in san francisco against the 49ers. remember that one? they were playing the 49ers, and monte clark was on the sideline in what looked like prayer, and eddie murray had a chance to
win it. it went wide right. >> beuerlein's helmet is off. cowboys have 27 seconds after this kickoff. beuerlein's helmet is off. aikman's is on. kelvin martin. whoa.
to about the 42. crockett made the stop. 15-yard return and aikman. >> they probably decided that they were going to play aikman in the second half. so, if you're gonna play him in the second half, i think this is a pretty good move.
i don't know if taking beuerlein out is the move or not, but if you decided you're gonna play him the second half, let him get a little feel now. maybe he can get some life in this team before halftime. but let him get in the game a little.
>> well, he's in the game a little right now. 17-6. detroit leads dallas. 21 seconds left in the first half, and aikman back to throw wheels it outside to novacek. novacek trying to get out of bounds and did.
and got a first down, a gain of 11. >> that was the thing i think that the cowboy coaches were a little upset with beuerlein about is that he didn't hit novacek enough. and as we said, that's a thing that aikman does.
beuerlein, his guy was i think these cowboy coaches up there think that they want to hit novacek underneath. then, if you can do that, then it'll be easier to get to michael irvin deep and easier to run to emmitt smith. >> cowboys have all 3 of their
time-outs left. 14 seconds remain. aikman the quarterback. and back to throw. jeff hunter from the outside. right around tuinei. >> you'll see it. here he is, right here. and here's tuinei blocking him.
and just watch hunter. this is a just a speed rush. you just get up. he doesn't do anything. he just runs right around him, just like you said. aikman stands there, and he hits him right in the back. >> time-out, dallas, with
9 seconds to go. they have 2 left. >> jeff hunter really put a pass rush on tuinei that tuinei should have taken a short set and just not let him get up like that because, again, what they're trying to do, i think, is put aikman into this game
because they're gonna play him they made that decision. >> aikman takes a little bit deeper drop than beuerlein. >> yeah, and then the other thing is, aikman didn't step up. aikman takes that drop, and he just stands there.
and of course he's coming off the knee injury. he's not gonna have as much movement. so, he's gonna be more of a sitting target for that pass rush. but i think they want to get him in this half, and then they're
gonna bring him out and start him in the second half. >> second and 19. three wide receivers to the right for dallas. three-man rush by detroit. aikman's just gonna throw it up and hope. they got one of these last week.
it's intercepted. spielman comes down with the that's the end of the first half, with the score detroit 17, dallas 6. the home of the lions, as they lead dallas, 17-6. the winner will face the redskins next week here on cbs.
down at about the 25. stopped by gant, who has excelled on special teams for the cowboys this year. >> if we look at that first half, and, again, who would have thought that detroit defense would come out and play as well as they did?
but the other thing -- if you look at detroit here, that they only ran 4 times that first half and passed 23. i think that is the biggest surprise of the game. i knew that they were gonna come out, and they were gonna pass. but to only run 4 times when you
have barry sanders has to be a shock to everyone. >> well, of course, you knew they knew that dallas was gonna say, "we're not gonna let barry sanders beat us." and they came out stacked in that direction. here's kramer.
pass complete to perriman. a gain of 4, perhaps. same pattern. >> an interesting thing, though. but the cowboys used a different what they tried to do was go triple. if you look, they got triple over here.
now, what they were doing is they were coming back to this side with the individual thing. but this time they get a rotation back here to this side. just watch this back side -- the bottom of the screen. you see, they get the rotation here, the double there.
so, away from the triple, they're starting to double. >> let's see what they do this time -- same formation. now they put the man in motion, but perriman goes back. so, it's trips right. and kramer's gonna change it. they took too much time.
intended for willie green. a penalty marker went down before the play ever got under way. >> yeah, that's where they adjusted. that's where the lions were having so much success in the first half, going triple and
then going to that back side. then the cowboys made that adjustment. like i said, they decided to double away from triple, and then the lions are trying to pass into the double away from >> ...defensive end. 5-yard penalty -- repeat second
>> penalty is against dallas. so, it'll still be second down, about a yard. tony tolbert was called for the violation. >> and of course the cowboy defense, because of these four wide receivers, the silver stretch, they play the
whole game with four defensive linemen, two linebackers, and five defensive backs. here comes 7 special. look out for 7 special. >> extra defensive back in for bill bates back deep. wide open and incomplete. willie green had it.
he was so open, it scared him. >> i know, and it was open for everything. it was a wide-open pass. he was falling down. you don't know how much yardage he would have gotten. it would have given him a first i think that's one thing that
probably has to surprise the lions is, as wayne fontes was saying at halftime, "as long as they're gonna give us that, we'll just keep taking the pass." and he's doing it. >> perriman just limped off. he had a bad hamstring going in.
matthews took his place. third and short. what would you think? not enough. maryland and norton made the stop on barry sanders. >> did you see russell maryland, number 67? that was an athletic move.
he's gonna come in. watch him here. he's the guy in the left-handed stance. but watch him hit the gap, get the penetration. now watch the dive right here. that is a move right there for a big guy.
little guys make that move. >> talking to jimmy johnson last night and asking him about russell maryland. "relentless" is the word he used. >> that was a big, big defensive play for the cowboys. >> martin shakes away from the
first detroit defender, from two. martin to the 40. let's see who the quarterback might be. jamison made the stop. >> that first guy down was d.j. dozier, pat, and i think he pulled a hamstring.
i think he pulled his left hamstring. but watch him here. he's gonna be doubled. there's two guys on him. boom, he takes it outside, and he goes right by him. now he's coming down here like he's shot out of a cannon.
watch him put on the speed right here. he misses the tackle, and i think he pulled a hamstring. but he got down there, and he did most of it... >> he did. >> ...except he didn't make the tackle.
and you see what he's grabbing now. that means hamstring. >> aikman is the quarterback. emmitt smith, left side, now back to the right side, as only he can do. but not much there. 3 yards.
>> we were talking to aikman last night and beuerlein and jimmy johnson. i think we both just had a feeling that aikman was gonna play in today's game. i didn't know how or in what situation. but i think that this guy,
steve beuerlein, has done a great job for these cowboys. he says he understands his role. if they want to make a change, it's okay. but he won 6 straight for them, and 4 of those games were against playoff teams. >> aikman to throw it.
outside, daryl johnston to the 45. a gain of 3. ray crockett made the stop. erik kramer over on the >> yeah, he's over there, and he's talking to willie green. they're probably talking about that one that was so wide open,
that second-down pass. and when they didn't get that second down, then they had to run it on third down, and maryland made the great play. see, he's looking at these imaging things, they call them. and he's looking at the defenses that the cowboys are giving him.
they play triple, then he's looking at them doubling away from triple now. >> third and 5. aikman to throw it. intended novacek. alexander was the defender, and the cowboys will have to punt. >> and i think the lions
again -- great defense. they understand the difference. i think when beuerlein was in there, you better have a bunch of guys around michael irvin, because that's his go-to guy. when aikman comes in, this is his go-to guy, jay novacek. i didn't think they had to pay
too much attention to novacek when beuerlein's in there, but now that aikman's in there, i think he's gonna draw more attention. >> saxon back to punt to mel gray or in that direction. they're gonna try to kick it away from him if they can.
good kick by saxon. gray signaled fair catch. cowboys down it at about the 8. smagala makes the detroit task more difficult, as he downs it at the 8. first down, detroit, at their own 9. pass is caught, and this could
be gone. herman moore made the catch, almost broke it. got outside the 40, to about the 41, a gain of 33 yards. >> and you see he's out there on gant. that's where ike holt plays. ike holt is out.
gant's playing that position. now he had really pretty good coverage. he was there. the ball was underthrown. moore was able to look back and see it, and he was able to get but i'll tell you what the cowboys did.
they fake-blitzed. they had, like, all 10 guys up on the line of scrimmage. kramer went to an audible. the cowboys jumped out of it. and he still got the play. >> and gant playing in place of holt, who is on the sideline. 2 or 3.
>> you talk about a guy bringing his load. did you see gant on that one, number 29? he's a great special teams' in fact, jimmy johnson was saying he should be in the pro bowl. he played corner, and he was out
there covering, and when he saw barry sanders run, he comes in there flying. he was out there on that left corner, and he saw that, and watch what happened. and he brought it and put it right where it belonged. >> second and 7.
there's ike holt. >> he's telling, "that's the way to hit." >> here is kramer back to throw. and almost intercepted by it was there. i just don't think he saw it coming. >> what happened is, he's trying
to roll out here. larry brown had great coverage out there on the wide receiver on this side, and that's who he was trying to throw it to. see, he's trying to roll out he's trying to throw to the there was nothing open. so, then he comes back off to
barry sanders hadn't even turned around. but he was looking for willie green out there, and it was great coverage by >> third down and 7 at the 44. detroit leading, 17-6. moore wide right. trips to the left for the lions.
draw play to sanders. sanders taken down by ' tony tolbert short of the first he got 5 yards, but they'll have to punt. >> the dallas defense has made some very good adjustments at halftime, and, again, is
they're not just doing one thing. they're not playing each formation a different way. they're starting to play it a different way now. and things that were there for the lions in the first half are not there in this second half.
>> jim arnold in to punt. good punt by arnold. it gets a detroit bounce and into the end zone. they knock it back out, and they down it. niko noga knocked it backwards, but they're signaling touchback. so, they'll, i believe, bring it
back out to the 20. we'll see. 17-6, detroit. out at the 20, cowboys' ball. 17-6, detroit leads. 8:47 left, third quarter. and back to throw with a blitz coming, and down he goes. dan owens came clean.
>> yeah, we'll look at that punt, pat, and we'll see that niko noga stepped on the line. and that's why the ball came out to the 20. you see, right there, his foot is on the line. he's in the end zone. so, that's why the ball wasn't
spotted on the 4, why it was spotted on the 20. now the last play -- watch the pressure. aikman's looking to his right. he doesn't even see or feel owens. >> he's lucky he didn't fumble that one.
>> second and 21. here's aikman on a draw play to to about the 17. spielman on the stop, a gain of 7 by smith. >> jimmy johnson had a tough decision there. troy aikman is his quarterback. troy aikman is someday gonna be
the best quarterback in this game, but he missed the last six games. beuerlein did such a great job. so, you have the dilemma. do you put your starter back in, or do you stay with your guy that's hot? and i think in this game, he got
in, in a tweener. he didn't know whether to stay with the guy that was hot or put in his real starter, so he kind of did half and half. >> third and 13. agee in the backfield with aikman. to novacek.
first down, dallas, at about the 42. stopped by william white. >> we were talking to the detroit lions defense the other they were all talking about the guy they worried about was jay novacek. they'd talk about emmitt smith,
and they'd say, "yeah." and they'd talk about then they'd always say, "you know, that other guy that gives us a lot of problems is jay novacek." and he caught a whole bunch of passes against them the first >> ten passes he caught.
>> that'll make you remember >> [ laughing ] yeah. >> first down, dallas, at their own 42. 6:55 left in the third quarter. taken down by jamison -- no gain. maybe a yard. >> there's one area in playoffs
that the play really picks up, and i believe that's tackling. i think that the tackling in the nfl in playoff games is much, much better than it is during regular season. >> and this guy, jamison, is really one of the unsung heroes of this detroit lion defense.
>> i think jamison is one of the best-kept secrets in the nfl. he usually plays on the tight doesn't blitz a lot but is a very solid and very good football player. >> passing down. that's gonna be overthrown, incomplete, in the direction of
good coverage by the lion >> i think if there's ever been a knock of troy aikman, it's not that he doesn't have a strong arm. he has a very strong arm. he's a big guy. he's a strong guy. he's a tough guy.
but it's that he doesn't have touch deep. he can throw the ball deep. he can throw it a long way. >> like a rypien, you mean. >> right, yeah, yeah. now, mark rypien is just the opposite. he doesn't really have a real
strong gun like aikman does or like elway does, but he has a great touch with the deep ball. >> third and 9. 6:07 left, third quarter, aikman back to throw. has some time. no first down. alexander wright made the catch
and was knocked backwards after a gain of 7. and the cowboys will have to punt it again. >> there is an all-pro tackle there is an all-pro tackle by watch the pressure. he's gonna get some pressure right up the middle by
marc spindler. you see 92 there? he does that. but watch the tackle that bennie blades makes. if bennie blades doesn't make this tackle, it's gonna be a first down. you want to see what an all-pro
tackle is? right there. >> whoa. >> that is it. and that's why he's in the >> he's playing with a bad ankle. >> yeah, he didn't practice all week.
in fact, on friday he could hardly walk. >> didn't show then. gray. into the end zone, and gray signaled fair catch, let it go. it bounced through the end zone. so, the lions will take over at their own 20 after a 50-yard
punt by saxon. kramer back to throw it. willie green to the 35. ray horton made the stop. 15-yard gain, however. >> willie green got poked in the eye, and they weren't sure if he was gonna play. in fact, they said if they
played last week, he wouldn't have been able to play. they tried a shield on him, and they tried a plain shield, and that didn't work. and they tried the colored shield, and that didn't work. and they thought that every time they put a shield on him, he
couldn't catch anything. so, they said, "well, the heck with a shield." he's just gonna go raw eyes. >> they're working. first and 10, detroit, their own 35. dallas showing blitz. kramer to throw.
quickly outside to mike farr. another lion first down. jack del rio made the stop, but a gain of 14. >> i don't know that i could be more impressed with a i mean, this is a guy that is starting his first year. and he comes to this position.
watch him, how cool he is. this is what they call their sprint. it's just a sprint right. he just throws an out to he has been close to perfect today. >> he really has, with a lot of confidence.
>> and he's done it so calmly, so easily. it's like joe montana. i'm not comparing him to joe montana, but joe montana would do it effortlessly. >> that's a hard word to say, even. i was amazed when that one came
out of here. >> pass is caught. by moore again. norton made the stop, but look at this protection. >> number 75, lomas brown, i've always said is one of the best tackles in the league. andolsek, a big, strong guy,
powerful up above. they have been going at this defensive line of the cowboys all day and winning the battles. >> look at erik kramer's statistics -- 23 out of 29, 275 yards. career high in completions and in yards.
>> and he's really spread the ball around, too, to a lot of receivers. >> here he goes again. caught again, this time by farr at about the 27-yard line. >> he took a hit on this one. watch jim jeffcoat come from the bottom of the screen here.
he's going on a stunt. see 77? he starts to the outside, goes inside straight up the middle. and that was the hardest hit that erik kramer's taken so far. that's what you call a stunt. maryland worked to the outside, jeffcoat lined up outside and
went to the inside. >> kramer's hard to rush. he gets rid of the ball so quickly. he's 4 out of 4 on this drive. just over 2:00 left to play, third quarter. quickly this time to perriman. first down, lions, inside the
20. manny hendrix took perriman out of bounds. >> again, you see the linebackers up here? you see, pat, they got all these guys up here, and they're all moving around. you see how tight they are?
now they're trying to get to earlier, they were all up in there to stop barry sanders' run. now they're up there to stop sanders and put a rush on him. and they haven't been able to get to kramer. and of course barry sanders has
yet to really be a factor in this game as a runner. >> but he's still back there, and he still could be. >> and that's probably why the cowboys are doing what they're >> first down. kramer to throw it again. out of the end zone and away.
>> and that's gonna be a penalty. that's gonna be a roughing penalty there. kramer was just throwing that one away. >> roughing the passer against there's the receiver. >> if you're gonna throw it
away, throw it into the stands. he did that. there's no one open. you don't want an interception. there's jones right there. that's what he called him on, a late hit. and kramer just threw it in the stands.
they ought to give them, like, 4 points for that. >> he wasn't even open. >> yeah, i know. that was not as good as a touchdown, but better than a and the guy had the right sweatshirt on. you see? it said detroit.
>> first and goal at the 9. 1:29 left to play in the detroit leads it, 17-6. cowboys showing blitz again. now they back out. willie green the intended brown was the defender. speaking of people named brown, there's jerome.
>> of course, jerry ball's gonna be in the pro bowl this year. he's got that bad knee. probably won't be able to play, but he said there's nothing that has bothered him more than being on the team, helping them get there, and then not be able to play.
>> he's still full of spirit. >> yeah, and i think he's at every practice. he's out there on the field. he's working with the guys. he's become a big, big cheerleader. >> kramer, touchdown. from 9 yards out.
the coach of the year, and he's done another excellent job today, wayne fontes. >> this is an amazing job they've done here -- amazing! >> for the extra point. and it's 24-6. >> willie green's the outside kramer rolls left.
just throws that short up. he got behind larry brown. kramer hit him on a perfect pass. >> kramer is 26 out of 33, 2 touchdowns. 1:19 left, third quarter. and detroit with a commanding lead, 24-6.
mickey pruitt fields the kickoff for the cowboys. they'll start from there. >> let's watch what happened on the touchdown. here comes the motion here. here's larry brown. he starts back. and what green just does is -- i
think brown takes a look in here and boom, he just goes right behind him. he should just stay down here in the bottom and just stay with his man. you see him lose him with motion. now right there, he takes a bite
right there, and green gets 5 yards behind him. down in the goal line, you can't have any indecision. larry brown had a second of indecision, and it was 7 points. >> first and 10, cowboys. a stumble and fumble, and
detroit has the ball. after that last touchdown, this has become their theme this week, the thumbs-up. that's for their teammate. that's the third turnover. that's for utley. there's the fumble on the snap by aikman.
>> yeah, that's what happens when a quarterback doesn't play. he gets rusty, and then he doesn't get all the practice the other guy does. and just little things, like the quarterback exchange, become big problems. >> like right there.
>> the other thing is, we talked about what got the detroit lions here? so much of it was emotion. >> mm-hmm. >> and so much of it is brought by this stadium. and so much of it has been brought by this coaching staff.
so much of it has been brought by mike utley and what he means to them. the injured player was tracy hayworth. this is great news for this crowd of 80,000 people and this detroit lion football team and tracy hayworth, when he gets up
and starts to walk off the >> it'll be first down, detroit, at the dallas 27. the lions already lead it, 24-6. >> yeah, wayne fontes was right there, and he told him he was okay. and as a head coach, when you have a player injured, he comes
off and tells you he's okay, i'll guarantee you that makes you feel a lot better. >> what a relief. you can see a lot of smiles now on that bench. perriman was the move man. gets away from the blitz. has a man.
the pass is complete inside the 10. there's willie green. first and goal from there. brown and horton made the stop, but a pickup of 20. >> you see who made the big block, though? it was barry sanders.
he's not known to be a blocker. the cowboys know they have to make a play, so they're gonna come on a blitz. watch 51, norton. watch right there. boom! sanders knocks him down. and with barry sanders' block, that allowed erik kramer the
time to make that play. when you say a guy can't do something, watch him do it. when you get a guy like barry sanders, he's not a great blocker, but you need a play in a big game, he may not give it to you today running, but somewhere he's gonna give it to
you. and barry sanders just made that >> first and goal at the 7. 30 seconds remaining, third again intended for willie green. larry brown the defender. >> it was interesting. what a good game plan the lions have had.
they started early, working their right side, the dallas left side. they got ike holt out of there. now they're working the other this is dave levy right there, the guy with the headset. and i think he's done an outstanding job of knowing that
you have to start with a pass, then you're probably gonna go to the run. but if they don't take away the pass, then why even go to the run? takes a lot of guts to do that. >> moore is wide to the right this time.
trips are to the left. he goes right to moore. the game plan was so simple. >> yeah, i think it was. and i think it was to come out passing and loosen up this cowboy defense. then when you get them loosened, then go to work with
they came out passing, never did loosen up the cowboy defense, never did go to the running and as i said, i think that dave levy gets a lot of credit for that because that is something that is very difficult to stick with, especially when you have number 20 back there.
>> third and goal from the 7. you're right. 20 might get the ball right >> this is an audible. >> they were gonna run the option play. really, it's not an option. he just throws it back to >> yeah, but there aren't many
nfl quarterbacks who would audibilize to an option. >> in fact, i think that we may be seeing the only one. there's 28 starting quarterbacks in the league. >> time-out, detroit, number one. >> and there's one quarterback
that would audibilize. there are a lot of quarterbacks that would audibilize out of an option, but there aren't any that would audibilize into it. >> erik kramer has been, well -- those tell you the story, those statistics. >> well, you know, the thing
that's impressive here is how he spread it out. look. willie green has caught 2 touchdowns, 8 passes. mike farr has caught 5. barry sanders hasn't run, but he's caught 5 passes. herman moore has caught 4.
brett perriman, who we didn't even think would play, caught 3. robert clark, the other starter who we didn't think would play, caught 2. and then there was even a guy in the stands. remember him? he caught one for 35 yards, that
guy right there. he's still got it. so, that's spreading it out. >> he's got the ball put away. no one's gonna get that football and when you're losing in a playoff game, there's no way your ears can hurt. >> and there's only one place to
go. >> that's the tough thing about all these teams get in the playoffs, and every one of them is going to lose their last game except the team that wins the super bowl. touchdown. herman moore.
what a day this guy's had, erik kramer. >> you talk about being cool and confident? erik kramer is just growing and growing with confidence in this he has been amazing today. which is good. >> i'll tell you.
we said early that it was on his shoulders. it was. watch this throw. watch this jump. you put it up there where either your guy gets it or no one gets when you have gant that small, and you throw it that high,
it's either gonna be an incompletion, a completion to a guy on the field, or a completion to a guy in the >> the lions 31, cowboys 6. 14 seconds left, third quarter. >> who would have thought at the beginning of this season, who would have thought that this guy
would be the quarterback? who would have thought that he would have this kind of day in a playoff game? >> he just cut them apart -- 28 out of 37, 329 yards for >> and he's done it where he's made it look so easy. i mean, you would think, again,
detroit did have two weeks to prepare. you also have two weeks to overprepare, two weeks to get bored. none of those things happened to the detroit lions. >> all of those numbers compiled by erik kramer, and it's not
even the end of the third quarter yet. >> yeah, and they're starting to realize. they're going up, "congratulations." tommy hearns is down there clapping and dancing. billy sims is celebrating.
>> gant. to the 36. 27-yard return. 31-yard pass from kramer to detroit went on top, 7-0. dallas came back with a field goal by willis 28 yards away. and then jenkins, 41 yards with the interception.
willis another field goal, 14-6. murray came back with a 36-yard green from kramer again to make it 24-6, and then the last one to moore to make it 31-6. to about the detroit 45. that's the end of the third they'll be in washington at rfk. so will we.
>> well, so is he. he's from d.c. you got to be nice to the kid. >> well, i don't know. >> yeah! >> not in detroit. >> yeah, it's a kid. >> here's aikman. forced out of the pocket.
harper made the reception. ray crockett was the defender. a gain of 11. >> again, you were just talking, pat, about those passing yards. that has to be -- i think it's a combination of these passing yards with this number right above it -- only 16 yards
rushing and the score. and you say that if you hold the lions to only 16 yards rushing, what's the score gonna be after three quarters? >> well, you wouldn't think it would be what it is. >> you'd never guess that number.
>> they lead, 31-6, just beginning the final quarter. here's aikman. novacek at about the 20, maybe 21. 15-yard gain. >> and the thing that jimmy johnson was talking about is you can't have turnovers.
and you just look at the two games that they've played this season thus far, dallas has turned the ball over 7 times. detroit hasn't turned it over. of course, when you're looking for other answers, that's the one that's always gonna get you. >> first down, cowboys, at the
21 of detroit. they have a long way to go. fumble, and i think detroit got it back. yes, they did. another one of those, the fourth >> that's the thing, and that should be so automatic, but it's the lions have them beaten now.
this is just the end. they can't even get the snap. and that's just something again, because he hasn't been practicing. beuerlein has. and you do that, this will happen. >> detroit takes over.
>> i guess both teams having silver helmets hasn't hurt erik kramer, has it? >> not too much. pass complete to moore. >> the other thing, pat? this playoff, the divisional playoff, is the first time there's ever been a divisional
playoff game in a dome. there hasn't been a divisional playoff or a championship game in a dome. you know, another interesting thing about domed teams -- there's never been a domed team, a team that played in a dome all year, that's ever played in the
>> and how about the fact that if things continue as they are now, with detroit winning -- they have to go to washington. they have never won in washington in the history of the nfl. >> well, then, they got to get back in a dome because they have
never lost in a dome. about 5. jack del rio made the stop. >> this is the regular. if you look at them, just playing indoors, they're 10-0. they've scored 27 points a game, compared to 12. they were 2-4 outside.
13 points allowed. their whole team -- offense, defense, everyone. and then look at the big one. that's what jimmy johnson was when they play indoors, they're plus-17 in turnovers. when they play outdoors, they're minus-11.
and jimmy johnson was saying last night that's the biggest stat about the detroit lions. >> second and 5. sanders the lone set back. 11:50 left to play. this is sanders again. cuts away from one. not enough for a first down.
horton and norton made the stop. >> and i'll tell you. it's hard to run when you got horton and norton out there. but, again, they've really stayed with that passing game most of the time. but now i think they're just trying to get time off the clock
and get out of here. >> well, it's running right now. 11:20 left to play. >> there's ray crockett and his bandanna. in fact, he has a car. his license plate has "bandanna" on it. he has a crockett corner down
he said he always wore a he wore a bandanna in high school and college. when he first came to the lions, he wasn't sure. so, he didn't wear it. then he'd kind of slide it on once in a while. no one said anything.
so, then he went back to the >> this is sanders. spin back to the inside and down he goes. and they'll have to punt. a loss of a yard. bates up to make the stop. maybe dave levy decided to stop passing and start running, and
maybe you can see how smart he was that he didn't go to the running because the cowboys aren't gonna let him have any running, no matter what the score is. >> kelvin martin back deep. >> yeah, we had john robinson in the studio today, and of course
john robinson and dave levy were coaching buddies at the university of southern california. >> a good kick by arnold. into the end zone. and they'll bring it out to the 31-6, detroit over dallas. 10:10 left.
the silverdome in detroit. pat summerall with john madden. 31-6, the lions lead the cowboys. regardless of what happens today, that guy's done a heck of a job. here's aikman back to throw it. outside, novacek.
out of bounds. stop the clock with 10:03 left. since troy aikman came into the game as a quarterback, he's gone a heck of a lot more to that's very obvious. but he hasn't gone to this guy, in fact, i think since beuerlein went out, irvin's only caught
one pass. and knowing irvin, he's gonna be very, very frustrated. the number-one frustration, of course, is you're getting beat, 31-6. that's the number one of all the but the second one is that he's not getting the ball.
he's not even getting looked at. >> second and 6. sack on aikman. hayworth. >> it didn't look like anyone blocked tracy hayworth on that boy, aikman gets back there. watch aikman. he gets back there, and he's
gonna take that plant foot. hayworth comes on a stunt right up the middle. he didn't even see him. ooh! he's gonna start on the outside and then come up to the inside. see 99? he started on the outside.
it's that same stunt. it's the second time that they got there. you start on the outside. the tackle works to the outside. and then just boom, you just come right up to the inside. >> third and 12. aikman will try to throw again
if he has time. intended for irvin, incomplete. sheldon white the defender, and the cowboys will have to punt now they've just got their track shoes on. >> yeah, well, you know, the detroit lions have never had a big pass rush, but when you get
a team behind like this, 31-6, then everyone becomes a pass rusher. and you get aikman, a guy who's been a little hurt? they are really gonna go after and you watch michael irvin he thinks he's open. could have been open had the
ball been thrown a little sooner. >> saxon's punt fielded by gray. look out. into dallas territory to about the 48. stopped by bates. 8:58 left now, with detroit overwhelming dallas, 31-6.
the nfc divisional-playoff contest between the lions and the cowboys, and it's been all detroit, particularly here are some of the other numbers for the winning quarterbacks this weekend, john. >> well, if you would look, you would say, "well, mark rypien --
of course they played in that mud and rain up there." he was 14 out of 29, 170 yards. elway -- amazing. anytime he goes out there, he always has a chance to have a big day. jim kelly -- 23-for-35, 273, 3 touchdowns.
you kind of expect that. the one you don't expect... >> is the guy here. >> and the guy who's the quarterback for the lions right gives to sanders. tony tolbert made the stop -- no >> when you have a mark rypien, and you have a john elway, and
you have all those guys -- jim kelly going -- who would have thought that the guy that would be 29-for-38, 341 yards, and 3 touchdowns -- and this isn't over yet; there's still 8:00 to go -- would be erik kramer of the detroit lions?
what in the heck is this? >> "john madden is elvis"? >> elvis has got some problems. >> second down. when you get the score 31-6... >> yeah, but people had to make up signs like that. they ought to just go to their homes and read books.
>> sanders still on his feet, and sanders is gone. six cowboys missed him. 47-yard touchdown run by ray horton is hurt for the sanders had carried 11 times before that for 22 yards. and then that one, from 47 yards.
>> well, you know, it's just a matter of time before everyone on this team is gonna be heard from. you think you got him tackled. no! that's like keeping your feet going and making sanders move. some of those moves, there's
only one guy in this game that makes, and you just saw that guy. and, you know, after he does something like that, everyone around him gets excited. and this is about as much as you get out of him. barry sanders does not throw the
he doesn't dance. he doesn't do spikes. he does nothing. he said when he scores, his feeling is one of relief. >> he said, "i feel it. i just don't show it." >> said once in college, he raised his hand up, and he said
he didn't like it. so, he's never done anything since. >> detroit 38-6. what a remarkable run. >> you know, they all love him on this team. they all love him in this city. and all the players' wives feed
barry sanders is single. and he makes the rounds of all his teammates. and his teammates never know when he's gonna show up, but they know what time. it's gonna be around dinnertime. >> andre ware starting to loosen up for the lions.
they lead 38-6, and, again, thumbs-up for mike utley. >> of course, that's for mike utley, and we see the number 60 on all the lions' helmets. that is for mike utley. they wear t-shirts under their jerseys that have number 60 for
mike utley. you say that emotion doesn't help. you say that there's no emotion in professional football. you say you don't need emotion to win. this team begs to differ with that.
>> eddie murray to kick off. and this crowd here at the silverdome has not in any way been disappointed. they'll bring it out to the 35. first and 10, dallas, at the agee. right side for a gain of about 9, perhaps 10.
>> now agee gets to come into the game legally. remember, the last time he came into the game, he was an illegal... >> communicator. >> illegal communicator. if you look at the last two meetings, the score by quarters,
tell you, the lions, if they didn't get them in the first half, they sure as heck got them >> erik kramer -- what a day he's had. >> when we talked to him on friday, you could just feel the confidence, couldn't you? >> you really could.
>> and you wonder, "where are you getting it from?" they've had so many guys out. so many bad things have happened to this team. you wonder, "how can they do it?" and it's not only wayne fontes, who's coach of the year, but
it's this whole group of guys, his whole coaching staff. like you said, he's been coach of the year, and no one expected they would have this record, win the division, be in the championship game. >> daryl johnston got 3 yards and a dallas first down.
stopped by pritchett. >> but i'll tell you. he enjoys it. we all enjoy winning. there's nothing better than that feeling of winning. and there's nothing higher than winning a playoff game. and i heard jerry glanville say
it last night, and it's so true. there's nothing lower than losing a playoff game because of the finality of it. >> the end comes so quickly. >> the winner goes to the the winner -- all the accolades, get everything. the loser -- their season's over
for the year. >> that's agee to midfield. picked up 2. stopped by spielman. >> there's the defensive coordinator, woody widenhofer. i remember him for years when he was with the pittsburgh steelers.
and, again, he's done a heck of a job with this team. his best player, mike cofer, has been out for the year. jerry ball, the nose tackle, lost him. and he's kind of done it a little with mirrors here. they're talking about who's
gonna be the new head coach of the pittsburgh steelers. well, woody is one of the names that has been mentioned. >> and it keeps popping up. second and 8. to irvin. stopped by blades, former college teammates, former
high school rivals. >> they go all the way back to fort lauderdale. >> in fact, michael irvin was saying that when they went to miami together, you go back so far, they said that some of the toughest games that he ever played in were scrimmages, when
miami would scrimmage against themselves, and he would have to go against guys like >> he said spring practice was tougher than the regular season, when they had to play against each other. first down, aikman. to agee.
bell was the first man there -- no gain. lamar leachman. >> well, lamar is the defensive line coach. lamar has had success wherever he's been. he was the defensive line coach of the new york giants for
years, when they were very successful. and now he comes over here to he works with this group. the guy knows how to coach. he knows how to get players to excel. >> he's got all kind of slogans on the wall, all kind of
sayings. outside, agee. no gain -- a loss. there's a guy, chris spielman. you talk about football and the way it's played. it's an emotional game. he's the guy who really epitomizes that.
>> well, and he said it's his life. and he's gonna play it. and when he can't play it anymore, he's gonna coach it. "to ditka -- having a great time." >> a guy loses, he can't get out of it.
>> mike ditka -- anyone in this division, you go there, whether it's minnesota, green bay, or it's detroit, they all have a special place in their heart for mike ditka. >> they better. outside to harper. he's trying to get out of
the lions gang up on him. the clock continues to run. 3:25 left, a gain of 9. sheldon white. >> well, the redskins will go to work now. i know that joe gibbs and his staff -- he gave the staff the day off until this game was
over, 'cause they wouldn't know who to get ready for. and then, when this game is over, they're gonna go to work tonight, after the game. so, i'm sure if they're there watching, they probably already left their houses, and they're on their way to their practice
facility to start getting ready for the detroit lions. >> 38-6, they lead over dallas. fourth and 5, and the cowboys of course will go for it. aikman to throw. irvin, incomplete. ray crockett. >> i tell you, when you get
excited, and you get this emotion going, you play until the end. there's no "well, we're ahead, and we're not gonna..." watch these guys. they get everyone around. boom, everyone's tackling. they're gang-tackling.
they're going to the ball. there's only one way to play it, and that's play it as hard as you can and enjoy it. and that's what these lions are doing now. >> andre ware is now the quarterback, as you look at lomas brown, the captain of the
rodney peete. >> there's the starting quarterback there, rodney peete. had an injured achilles' tendon and surgery. of course, he'll be out for the season -- championship, super bowl, and all. but he was their starting
>> overton. the lions have it stuck away. they'll go to washington next we get the 2:00 warning. detroit leading dallas, 38-6. 2:00 left. 38-6, lions. ware to overton. overton gets a detroit first
down, a gain of 8. >> they're doing so much celebrating there, no one's gonna know what andre ware or the offense did when no one's even watching them. >> well, you know, they had friday, when we were here at practice -- jimmy johnson of
course very dejected. but it has been a great year for him, too. great turnaround for the >> there's jerry ball. he's limping, but he's gonna take one turn around here and get this crowd excited one last time on his way out.
1:15 left now. ware takes his time. bill bates. >> tell you, this is a great year for both these teams. the cowboys realize now that it's over for them. but they also realize that they're gonna be back, that they
have a young team. they have a lot of draft choices. the lions are starting their celebration over on this >> detroit wins it, 38-6. they go to play the redskins next week.
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