01/31/94

By Tim Cowlishaw / The Dallas Morning News

ATLANTA - The likeliest hero of all ran away from the Buffalo Bills and ran off with the MVP award. Just another night in the remarkable life of Emmitt Smith.

The unlikeliest hero of all forced a fumble, recovered a fumble and ran 46 yards for a touchdown, intercepted a pass, made 11 tackles and talked later of his status as a backup player. Such is the life of safety James Washington.

These two stood above the rest, and Thurman Thomas once more fell way down below as the Cowboys added their names to the roll call of the great in the National Football League. The Cowboys overcame a seven-point halftime deficit to bury the Buffalo Bills, 30-13, in Super Bowl XXVIII at the Georgia Dome.

Repeating as NFL champions is a far different test from winning it once. It was no breeze, but the Cowboys passed. Smith carried 30 times for 132 yards, Troy Aikman threw for 207, and another Vince Lombardi Trophy is on its way to Dallas. Only six teams have gone back-to-back. Only Pittsburgh and San Francisco also have won four Super Bowls.

"I'm not much of an historian," coach Jimmy Johnson said. "I just know we've won two Super Bowls in a row."

The Bills have lost four in a row, a remarkable achievement of another sort. They have committed 17 turnovers in the last three Super Bowls, including three Sunday night.

Thomas, a great back in the regular season who rushed for 186 yards just a week ago against Kansas City, carried 16 times for 37 yards and lost two fumbles. In the last three Super Bowls, he has carried 37 times for 69 yards (1.9 average).

"We should have found some way, somehow, to win one out of four," said Thomas. "To me, we are still the team to beat."

Are they ever. The Cowboys struggled for a half, committing a costly running-into-the-punter penalty and throwing one interception to fall behind, 13-6. After 30 minutes, the Bills had only one turnover and Jim Kelly had managed to complete 19 of 26 passes without being sacked.

"I told them at halftime, 'Hang in there, we'll be fine.' Our defense really wasn't getting off the ball," said Johnson. "We said, 'We've got to attack the line of scrimmage.' And on offense, we started going to the right side with (linemen) Erik Williams and Kevin Gogan and putting Nate (Newton) over there. That's a lot of weight."

Before the Cowboys offense could really get going, Washington changed the course of the game. On the third play after halftime, Leon Lett forced Thomas to fumble, and Washington scooped it up. He ran toward the left sideline, then cut back toward the middle to avoid Kelly and Don Beebe, then cut back to the corner to go 46 yards for a touchdown. Less than one minute into the second half, it was 13-13.

"It's a play we work on every day," said Washington, who was a full-time player Sunday only because Dallas played its nickel (five-back) defense in which safety Darren Woodson moves to linebacker.

"That return for a touchdown just picked up our momentum," said Smith. Then Smith picked up the rest of the load.

Dallas forced a punt and gained possession at its 36. Offensive coordinator Norv Turner began to call Smith's number . . . a lot.

"He told me at halftime to get him the ball," Turner said. "I do what Emmitt tells me."

Smith's 15-yard touchdown run made it 20-13. The Cowboys were on their way.

"That was all we needed," said Newton. "We could feel their coffin nailing shut."

The Cowboys got their next break on the first play of the fourth quarter when Washington intercepted Kelly's pass meant for Andre Reed and ran 12 yards to the Bills' 34. Aikman made a key third-and-eight throw to Alvin Harper for 16 yards to the six. On fourth-and-goal from just inches out, Smith took a toss to the left and wasn't hit until he had crossed the goal line.

That locked up the game along with an MVP trophy for Smith despite competition from Washington. "Being MVP of the league and this game, too . . . you can't ask for anything more," said Smith. "I thought James had it wrapped up. I wish it could be a co-(MVP)."

Said Washington, "I was hoping to go to Disney World, but since I live in Los Angeles, I'll go to Disneyland. I know that I'm a backup and all, but we really have three starters, and Jimmy has a lot of trust in me."

The Cowboys added the last of three Eddie Murray field goals to raise the final margin to 17. Of their six playoff victories the last two years, none have been by fewer than 10 points. Every other team that has won back-to-back titles (Green Bay, Miami, Pittsburgh twice and San Francisco) played at least one game in which the margin was no more than seven.

"It's too early to call us the Team of the Nineties," said Aikman. "But I guess this says last year was not a fluke. It puts us with some great teams. What exactly that means to all of us, I'm not sure.

"Last year's Super Bowl was one of disbelief, a bunch of young, bright-eyed guys caught up in it all. This is one of satisfaction because the expectations were so much higher."

The Cowboys can't go any higher now - at least not until next year.