European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - January 28, 1993, Darmstadt, Hesse                                Page 28 the stars and stripes sports thursday january 28,1993game rides on Kurry up attacked tows note Don Shula has coached the Miami dolphins since 1970 and has brought them to five super bowls winning twice. The dolphins won the acc East this season the 14th time they either captured the title outright or lied for it. He was assisted in preparation of this Arti Cle by Gerald Eskenazi of the new York times. By Don Shula for the new York times they have demonstrated poise. They have shown their toughness. They arc Yong and peaking and have Defeated experienced playoff teams to get to super bowl xxvii. But the Dallas cowboys have never faced the no huddle of Fensel especially As practice by the Buffalo Bills. And the Bills As they demonstrated against us in the american football conference championship Are healthy again. Buffalo s is a relentless offence that puts pressure on a de. Sense. How Well the Bills execute that offence and How Well the cowboys arc Able to defend against it could determine the outcome. Of course motivation counts. That is Why i showed my super bowl ring from the undefeated 1972 dolphins to my players before our playoff game earlier this month against the. San Diego chargers a game that we won 310. This sunday both the cowboys and the Bills should have sufficient motivation the Bills with an elite list of players but with two straight super bowl losses the cowboys with their great tradition but Only a recent resurgence in the National conference. At Bottom though these Are teams of Quality. You Don t get this far by merely looking for revenge or trying to equal past greatness. As a coach when i am confronted by a team like Buffalo with its collection of All stars 1 want to know Are they healthy the Bills Are healthy. Jim Kelly had a big game against us in the conference championship returning from a knee injury and he has had enough time to heal further. Bruce Smith had a rib injury and he is of. So is Thurman Thomas who has recovered from a thigh Bruise. At least they were healthy against us with each producing a game of big plays the healthy aggressive and talented Bills team also happens to be coached by a Man analysis greatly respect Marv Levy. Meanwhile Jimmy Johnson has the cowboys peaking at the right time. They have demonstrated poise and toughness a look How they Defeated Philadelphia and the 4?ers in the playoffs a and they have made big plays when . Thus this super bowl has the built in drama of pitting a team that has been there with its proven Talent but without a vie Tofy against a team on the Rise playing with Confidence. Here is How i regard the teams specific qualities a offence for the cowboys to do Welt running Back Emmitt Smith has to be a real Factor and he always is. When we be had Success against Buffalo we were Able to run the Ball. Running Well takes away to some degree the pass Rushing Power of Bruce Smith. Emmitt Smith averaged More than 23 carries a game. Think about that game in and game outfit a a workload that keeps defences honest. Now if that running attack is working then the cowboys passing attack will be even More volatile. This is when they make the big plays. Troy Aikman is a very accurate passer who has big receivers who can take the Ball away from smaller defenders. Because of the Dallas receivers size and to hts cowboys outstanding running game the team always threatens to hit a big pass. The Bills cornerback a Nate Odomes and James Williams each stand 5-10 inches tall. But Michael Irvin who caught 78 passes this season is 6-2, and Alvin Harper is 6-3. Both the Dallas players Are 200-Pounders. A a ,. So now you be got Aikman who completed almost two thirds of his passes in the regular season and who rarely throws interceptions Able to hand off to an outstanding run Ner or to dump the Ball off to him a or to go Long to receivers who can out muscle the defensive backs. The cowboys use tight end Jay Novacek primarily As a receiver. He caught 68 passes in the season including six for touchdowns. The cowboys have been Able to Spring him because their offensive line has developed solidly. Save the / Buffalo Dallas 11-5 we 13-3 350 first Downs 324 152.3 Rushing avg 132.6 216.1 passing avg 217.8 44 touchdowns. 48 18 Rushing 20 23 passing 23 24/30 Fig Fra 24/35 381 Points scored 409 283. Points allowed 243 278 Opp. First Downs 241 1395 Opp. Rushing Nat 1244 87.2 avg. Par Gama 77.8 3.3 Yards Par Rush 3.6 3209 Opp passing net 2689 200.6 avg. Par Gama 168.1 44 sacked 44 23 intercepted by 17 a regular season. Apih do cd Grything Thurman Thomas a bears constant attention. The Buffalo offence though can get you battled. I know the Bills and i know How Good they can be. This is a Veteran team that has been to two super bowls. With Kelly Back at quarterback a instead of Frank Reich a utilizing the no huddle offence the Buffalo offence runs a bit quicker creating that much More difficulty for the defense. For four straight seasons Thurman Thomas has led the league in yardage from scrimmage. He averages almost 5 Yards a carry and be averages almost 11 Yards a reception. He bears constant attention. Even when he was Hurt in the playoffs Kenneth Davis filled in very Well. He produced a 100-Yard game against the steel cars. The Bills first two playoff victories symbolized How deep they arc Reich led them at quarterback and Davis took on the running Load after Thomas was injured. The Bills offensive line is packed with Talent. The tackles will Wolford and Howard Ballard arc going to the pro bowl. The Center Kent Hull has been there before. So has guard Jim Ritcher. Because of their blocking the Bills execute Good trap plays and that was a Factor in How Well they used the screen against us. Kelly has Andre Reed and James. Lofton to throw to receivers with the Knack of making big plays. They Are More expend enc cd than almost anyone they will come up against on the Dallas  defense starting with that remarkable second half comeback against Houston in the wild card game the Bills have permitted Only two touchdowns in 10 quarters. They held Pittsburgh to one Field goal the entire game. In the championship game in which we committed penalties and turnovers they gave us Only a a late touchdown. They would t let us a and we  a make the big plays. The Bills have two superstars on defense Bruce Smith and Cornelius Bennett and you must scheme against them. They re going to put a lot of pressure on Aikman. Dallas must run to keep them honest. When we played them Well that a what we did a and committed fewer turnovers. But again i stress How will the cowboys handle buffaloes no huddle it is such a drastic change for Dallas defense. Its pretty hard to simulate in practice. In fact its practically impossible to do it Well in practice. Players Are used to milling around after a play getting a Chance to adjust. With the no huddle before a defender can reflect on the play just completed or contemplate the next one a bang they re coming at you again Dallas defense has two Rook Bills Are Only thing keeping by John Eisenberg the Baltimore Sun you be been hearing a lot of Buffalo jokes this week but not from me. That the Bills Are Back in the super bowl after two straight losses representing that collection of pinball wizards known As the american football conference will doubtless become fodder for a Jay Leno monologue and other traditional comic Points. But we should be thankful for the Bills not complaining about them. Instead of emptying out the joke Book we should be raising a Toast. If the Bills weren to around to give the acc at least a shred of respectability not to mention a Chance the Dallas cowboys would be playing the Miami dolphins in the super bowl. Now if you saw the dolphins wallowing in the acc title game you know that cowboys dolphins would have pushed you to a Nick at Niter by halftime. Cowboys by what four touchdowns at least the Bills give us a reason to debate the outcome. Buffalo jokes we  be telling any. Lets go the a a it a a wonderful life route and see what life would have been like without them. Two years ago the Bills beat the los Angeles raiders in the acc title game commentary by 48 Points. Forty eight now if the Bills Hadnot existed those monumentally mediocre raiders would have played the new York giants in the super bowl.  that have been fun the giants did beat the Bills that Day in Tampa but Only after Scott Norwood a last second Field goal went wide right. That was a first rate game the Best