This isn't Celtics-Lakers. But make no mistake. These two teams have history. From 1970 through 1978, one or both of these teams played for the NFC championship. Think about that. Not even the Celtics-Sixers in the 1980s can live up to that standard. A lot of people talk about the 1975 Staubach-to-Pearson "Hail Mary" play as the definitive play in the rivalry. Maybe it was. But Dallas had to go through Minnesota in Tony Dorsett's rookie year to win the Super Bowl, Dorsett busted off his 99-yard run against the Queens on MNF, and it was the Hershel-Walker-to-Minnesota trade that gave the 'Boys all those draft picks that they converted into playmakers on both sides of the ball, setting them up for three more championship in the 90s.
Sunday's game reminds me of the 1992 NFC championship game. The Niners had finished the regular season 14-2, and entered the playoffs with home-field advantage. They had already won three Super Bowls with Joe Montana at the helm. The 'Boys were young and hadn't won anything, hadn't proved anything, yet.
That all changed in that game. The Cowboys proved to be the superior team. They proved they had the mettle. The proved that the great offensive team and the great defensive team we had seen all year could put it together in a big game. With the Pokes headed into Minny for the game on Sunday, this game seems to be raising some of the same questions about whether the Cowboys flashes of greatness are for real.
I've got the Pokes by five. But that's why they play the game. The Vikes are favored by 3 and could easily win by 10 or more. In the meantime, here's a great recap of the 1992 game:
The 49ers scored with 4:22 remaining in the 4th, drawing within 4. Both Young and Rice stated at this point, they fully believed they would win. The Cowboys would be stopped; the mighty West Coast Offense would win the game.
It was then that Alvin Harper caught his slant. Aikman comes on the screen and says he saw the coverage as he broke the huddle for that play. He knew Irvin would have gotten across the CB's face against the coverage, but he was nervous about Harper doing so. On the replay, presnap, you can see Aikman actually hand motion to Harper to get across the CB's face. Aikman said he decided to trust Harper, but remained concerned. Thank goodness Harper made the play. Harper had more talent than Irvin. But Irvin is going to the Hall of Fame, and Harper had an average career.
Again and again, on crucial downs, Aikman threw the slant to Irvin. I saw three of them, and I didn't watch the whole game. Irvin was wearing Eric Davis like a fur coat at a drug trial, but he caught all three slants. Any other WR would've been covered. With Aikman's accuracy and Irvin's size, the plays were successful.
Irvin also caught a skinny post for 20 yards, going down inside the 5 yard line. This pattern is straight for about 12 yards, then slants at a shallow 25 Degree angle. Again, the coverage was excellent, and Aikman gunned the ball exactly into a small opening. Irvin made an aggressive striding move for the ball, catching it in the classic index fingers and thumbs triangle, 12 inches in front of his chest. As he began to tuck it he was violently double hit and whipsawed between Mervin Hanks and Davis: Bam/Bam. Irvin never even got a foot on the ground after the catch. Irvin, as best I recall, was insta-spun 270 degrees-- his butt drill-bitted itself into the turf, exploring for oil under Candlestick.
He tipped over at the end of his spin. From a prone position, Irvin flipped the ball to the ref and popped back to the huddle, a Weeblo that wobbled but didn't stay down. Watching, I realized I never doubted that Irvin would catch the pass. He was so big and tough. He knew he would take whatever Hanks and Davis had and still make the catch. It was almost routine for him. For anyone today, the catch would be praised to high heaven. I doubt Randy Moss, for instance, would've made this typical Irvin catch. What am I saying? Moss wouldn't even have run the pattern.
Twice, on crucial 3rd and longs, Aikman dropped 5 steps, hesitated, and dumped to Emmitt Smith-- once for 15 yards and a first down, once for about 12 yards and a touchdown. It's shocking that the 49ers would ignore Smith, who began both plays as a blocker. Smith was at the height of his greatness in this game: running, blocking, receiving, protecting the ball. He was such a pleasure to watch. He could do one thing about as good as anyone: he could make a defender miss within a very small space. He did it twice while I watched. Once, Emmitt had about 12 inches of space on either side. A normal runner would've been dead. Somehow, Emmitt "Ole'd" the defender and went through that little space.
Leon Lett was a monster in this game. Thomas Everett was all grit and guile. Without a salary cap, this team would have won who knows how many Super Bowls. Even when the 49ers beat them in that great Championship Game in 1994, the Cowboys had already suffered significant Salary Cap losses: Ken Norton was playing for the 49ers, defensive Linemen were gone, Kevin Gogan was gone. This 1992 Cowboys team was impossibly deep and impossibly young. That's why they would've run off an incredible streak of Super Bowls. My opinion, anyway. Shared by a lot of others.
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