Cowboys Send An Early Message Dallas Hammers Giants 35-0 Behind Emmitt Smith’s Four Tds
The Dallas Cowboys were playing the New York Giants Monday night. But the statement they made was to the San Francisco 49ers:
We’re baaaaaaaaack.
With Emmitt Smith going 60 yards for a touchdown on Dallas’ third play from scrimmage and scoring three other times, the Cowboys blew away the Giants 35-0 in a game that wasn’t as close as the score indicated. The only negative for the Cowboys was an Achilles tendon injury to Kevin Smith, their left cornerback.
The prime-time game allowed the nation - and the 49ers - to see a Dallas team that looked every bit as good as the one that won two Super Bowls before losing in the NFC title game to San Francisco last year.
The Cowboys led 21-0 at the half and scored twice more after intermission before sending in the scrubs, winning a lot more impressively than did the 49ers, who beat New Orleans 24-22 Sunday.
Smith, who finished with 163 yards on 21 carries, also scored three times on 1 yard runs to reach 75 touchdowns for his career, three better than Tony Dorsett’s Dallas record. It’s only the second time he’s scored four times in a game - the other was Dec. 16, 1990 against the Cardinals.
But the defense and special teams were just as good against a Giants team not ready for prime time - because of a series of injuries, their full offense never played together during the exhibition season. Dave Brown was 20 of 34 for 155 yards, much of the yardage meaningless.
Five of the Giants’ first possessions began inside their own 20 and the sixth began only at their own 26. The Giants had hoped to challenge the Cowboys in the NFC East, but their defense got blown off the field.
It took three plays to score the first touchdown - a 15-yard pass from Troy Aikman to Jay Novacek, a dropped pass by Michael Irvin and then Smith’s burst up the middle.
Aikman, who finished 15 of 20 for 228 yards, threw for the second score, a 7-yarder to Irvin.
After that, about the only item of note was the retirement of Phil Simms’ number at halftime.
xxxx COWBOYS 35, GIANTS 0 Dallas 7 14 7 7 - 35 N.Y. Giants 0 0 0 0 - 0 First quarter Dal-E.Smith 60 run (Boniol kick), 3:04. Second quarter Dal-Irvin 7 pass from Aikman (Boniol kick), 3:02. Dal-E.Smith 1 run (Boniol kick), 8:08. Third quarter Dal-E.Smith 1 run (Boniol kick), 3:57. Fourth quarter Dal-E.Smith 1 run (Boniol kick), 2:27. A-77,454. Dal NYG First downs 26 16 Rushes-yards 35-230 20-65 Passing 229 146 Punt Returns 1-6 1-17 Kickoff Returns 0-0 6-91 Interceptions’Ret.’ 1-0 0-0 Comp-Att-Int 16-21-0 20-34-1 Sacked-Yards Lost 0-0 2-9 Punts 3-41 5-44 Fumbles-Lost 2-1 1-0 Penalties-Yards 6-48 9-49 Time of Possession 30:26 29:34 Individual statistics RUSHINGDallas, E.Smith 21-163, S.Williams 9-46, K.Williams 1-12, Lang 1-7, D.Johnston 1-4, Wilson 2-(minus 2). N.Y. Giants, Hampton 14-48, Elias 2-9, D.Brown 2-6, Walker 2-2. PASSINGDallas, Aikman 15-20-0-228, Wilson 1-1-0-1. N.Y. Giants, D.Brown 20-34-1-155. RECEIVINGDallas, Irvin 7-109, Novacek 5-91, K.Williams 1-21, Johnson 1-7, S.Williams 1-1, E.Smith 1-0. N.Y. Giants, Sherrard 4-32, Walker 4-28, Calloway 3-35, Pierce 3-18, Elias 2-21, Hampton 2-7, Cross 1-11, Lewis 1-3. MISSED FIELD GOALSNew York, Daluiso, 42.