Long Drought Ends For Emmitt Fantasy League Players, Cowboys Finally Can Breathe A Sigh Of Relief

Fantasy league football owners who had invested a top draft choice on Dallas Cowboys running back Emmitt Smith were about to take out home equity loans to pay off their debts. One of the most touchdown-happy ballcarriers in NFL history needed a map and compass to find the end zone.

Finally, after not running to paydirt since last Thanksgiving, Smith leaped over the goal line and escaped his purgatory. After coming in for a landing, he took a knee in the end zone and bowed his head.

“There was pressure like you probably couldn’t understand to have everyone expect you to do something and then see the turncoats turn on you,” Smith said.

Never mind it came from inside the 1. Smith’s second-quarter touchdown in the Cowboys’ 26-22 victory over Jacksonville was his first regular-season rushing TD in 33 quarters. Nine games. One hundred 80 touches without a touchdown.

It also was Dallas’ first rushing touchdown of the season, and it allowed Smith to finally tie John Riggins for No. 5 on the career TD list with 116.

Going into this season, Smith had 108 rushing touchdowns in 108 NFL games. He led the NFL with 25 in 1995 and 22 in ‘94. So his scoring drought was bound to prompt a few questions from the “turncoats” as to whether he had lost a step or two after the pounding he’s absorbed through seven-plus NFL seasons.

Just as there were questions about whether Smith’s Cowboys, now 4-3, were coming toward the end of the road in their run as one of the NFL’s premier teams.

Some of those were put to rest against the upstart Jaguars, but it may be only a brief reprieve. In the next two weeks, the Cowboys have road games in Philadelphia and San Francisco.

Stoney, Spunky and Tuna

In Philadelphia, a guy named Stoney was making his first NFL start at quarterback. He would not finish. A guy who goes by Jake the Snake would take his place.

Over in Jersey, a coach they call Tuna was getting out the hook for his leading man, and replacing him with a lad he referred to as “Spunky.”

The NFL, or a bad remake of Little Rascals? Actually, these were some of the characters from the mini-dramas that unfolded in two of Sunday’s games.

With their playoff hopes unraveling against the first-place Patriots, Glenn Foley replaced $25 million starter Neil O’Donnell and rallied the New York Jets to a 24-19 victory.

Foley, who led the Jets to three secondhalf TDs, rescued them from what would have been several days of bye-week hell under coach Bill Parcells. He also established the Jets (5-3) as a playoff contender, and gave Parcells a decision to make:

O’Donnell or Foley? The Jets’ coach, who benched his ineffective starter at halftime with the Jets trailing, didn’t rule out the possibility of Foley starting Nov. 2 against the Ravens. Foley, the former Boston College star, whose most glorious day in the NFL was televised for all of New England to see, stands willing.

“If he wants me to play,” he said, “I won’t say no.”

Meanwhile in Philly, Stoney Case had flown in his parents from Odessa, Texas, so they could see him make his first professional start. Case was named the Cardinals’ starter after Kent Graham injured his ankle and knee against the Giants last weekend, and was rather brash about the appointment.

“Even though I got it by injury,” Case said, “I don’t plan on giving it up. This is my chance to shine …”

Alas, the lights dimmed quickly. Case was sacked seven times, then replaced by Jake Plummer, a former Arizona State star and a fan favorite in the desert. Jake the Snake led the Cardinals on a 98-yard drive for the go-ahead touchdown. They eventually lost, 13-10, in overtime.

Will Jake replace Stoney as the Cards’ starter? Tune in next week.

And then there were none

First, the Green Bay Packers were talking some serious preseason smack about defending their Super Bowl championship in style by going unbeaten. Down they went in Week 2.

Then, a giddy columnist in Denver got a little carried away, suggesting the Broncos were on their way to 16-0. Oops. Raiders 28, Broncos 25.

The last of the NFL’s unbeatens landed with a thud Sunday in Oakland, as Broncos coach Mike Shanahan lost to the Raiders for the first time in five tries against Al Davis, his former Raiders boss.

The defeat was particularly bitter for Shanahan, who was quoted in the Denver press last week of saying “Al Davis is a bad man.” Shanahan told NBC he regretted seeing that remark go public, saying he thought his conversation was off the record. He didn’t, however, deny saying it.

Shanahan remains irked that he was never paid for the 1-1/2 years remaining on his Raiders contract (reportedly $250,000) after Davis canned him in 1989.

Elway faced the Raiders for the 25th time in the regular season and fell to 10-15. Oakland is one of only two AFC teams Elway doesn’t have a .500 record or better against. The other is Miami (0-1).