European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - January 25, 1994, Darmstadt, Hesse Page 30 the stars and stripes sports tuesday january 25,1994 4 Aikman n is expected to be ready sunday by Jaime Aron Irving Texas a by the end of the pfc championship game Troy Aik Man was in a Hospital trying to regain his senses from a head injury that Cut Short a remarkable performance. But the Dallas cowboys can take heart in knowing their Star quarterback is on the mend and expected to be ready for next week s super bowl. Aikman completed 14 of 18 passes for 177 Yards and two touchdowns by half time sunday carrying the cowboys to a 28-7 Lead that became a 38-21 Victory Over san Francisco and a second straight. Super bowl berth against Buffalo. Unbelievable offensive coordinator Norv Turner said. He was just phenom but on his second snap of the third Quarter Aikman was kneed in the helmet by 49ers defensive end Dennis Brown. He took one More snap then spent about 15 minutes trying to regain consciousness on the sidelines by inhaling smelling Salt Sand oxygen. It did t work and he headed to the locker room. With about four minute left in the game he Rode an ambulance to Baylor medical Center where he was to spend the night. Team physician do. Aikman suffered a mild concussion with to neurological damage. He sustained no dizziness headache or double vision but there was some memory loss Zamorano said. He still was t aware of what the Day was cowboys Trainer Kevin o Neill said. Let s see How the tests come out and Well go from cowboys coach Jimmy Johnson was hoping for the Best. I m concerned about Troy he said. Hopefully everything will be Fine and hell be ready to go in a Day or Leigh Steinberg Aikman s agent said Bills Hope by Barry Wilner Orchard Park . A this is about redemption. This is about re Venge. This is about getting it right. And this is about All America can take. The Buffalo Bills Are in the superbowl for an unprecedented fourth straight year. They vow they will win the darn thing this time make the nation take notice of their greatness and permanently Stop All those demeaning jokes. Hey we re Back quarterback Jim Kelly shouted. You can never count after the Bills almost routinely Dis posed of the Kansas City chiefs 30-13 in the acc championship game sunday it s hard to doubt them. Then of course you remember they Are the Bills losers of the last three super bowls by a combined 109-60. And their opponent the Dallas cowboys routed them 52-17 last january. No team Ever won four consecutive acc pfc or nil titles. The Bills have. Of course no team Ever lost three straight super bowls before Buffalo col lapsed last year. This team has handled it in a More mature fashion All pro defensive end Bruce Smith said. We re keeping a level head. We realize what we have accomplished but this is not the final goal. The final goal lies in Atlanta next sunday. We re going to Start preparing the Way champions leading the surge to yet another acc championship was Thurman Thomas who rushed for 186 Yards on a conference title game record 33 carries. Thomas scored three touchdowns and was partic the quarterback would be hospitalized overnight and have an Fri exam Mon Day. And hell be ready to play next Sun Day Steinberg said. In the two quarters he played Aikman was about As Sharp As he d been All sea son looking worthy of every Penny of his record $50 million contract. He began the first Possession by Lead ing Dallas 75 Yards in 11 plays. He completed All three pass attempts for 46 Yards and even ran twice for 16 Yards. The first scramble was for a first Down and the second set up the touchdown. Aikman was just As efficient in the Sec Ond Quarter sparking three scoring drives with precision passing on Bot Short and Long routes. Once Aikman left the cowboys were in the hands of Bernie Kosar a $1 Mil lion mid season insurance policy. Kosar no stranger to league championship games from his Days with Cleveland responded by completing 5 of 9 passes for83 Yards. His biggest highlight was a 42-Yard touchdown pass to Alvin Harper that put the cowboys ahead 35-14. But Kosar s biggest play came earlier on that drive with Dallas facing third-and-9 from its 19and the 49ers building momentum. San Francisco trailed Only 28-14 and Kosar s first four passing attempts had resulted in a sack two incompletion Anda one Yard completion. Kosar responded however with a Dart to Michael Irvin on the left Side that Wen for 12 Yards keeping the cowboys in control. Three snaps later Harper caught a Quick slant and bolted past the defense for the game breaking score. We blitzed on third Down and they made the play san Francisco coach George Seifert said. Had we made that apply i suspect it May have been a differ Dallas running Back Emmitt Smith avoids a tackle by the 49ersf Bill Romanowski 53 sunday. Smith rushed for 88 Yards and caught seven passes for85 Yards. Super trip stomping All Over it just like he was doing to a chiefs defense that dominated Houston the previous week. He was in his own Little zone today Smith said of Thomas who scored on a 12-Yard run and a pair of 3-yarders and became the fourth player with More than 1,000 career Yards Rushing in the playoffs. Any time someone is playing that Well you can pretty much say it s going to be the Bills never have lost a playoff game at Rich stadium. They moved to 8 0 at Orchard Park by holding Kansas Cit to 52 Yards Rushing getting four sacks and keeping the chiefs totally off bal Ance on offence and defense. I said All week we d have to Stop Thurman if we wanted to win and we just went out and proved i was right i guess chiefs safety Kevin Ross said. Thomas gained 131 Yards in the first half yet the chiefs could have been Down Only a touchdown instead of 20-6. Thom As got his first two ads and Steve Christie kicked 23 and 25-Yard Field goals for Buffalo. Nick Lowery had a pair of 31-yarders for Kansas City and Mon Tana finally began moving the chiefs in the last two minutes of the half. They went from their 20 to the Buffalo 5, where Montana passed to Kimble Anders. As Anders headed to the goal line the Ball deflected off his hands Tobillas safety Henry Jones. It May have been a Factor said chiefs coach Marty sch Ottenheimer now 0-3 in acc championship games two with Cleveland. But i Don t want to lean on that. Buffalo was really the q Kansas City quarterback Joe Montana is escorted from the held sunday by the chiefs coaching staff after a third Quarter hit sidelined him for the rest of the game. Ulary unstoppable in the first half when Buffalo built a 20-6 Lead. A lot of people were saying that at this Point in the season i was tired i was banged up Thomas said. I took it upon myself As a Challenge to go out and prove everybody the chiefs did just about everything wrong in the first half then lost Joe Mon Tana to a mild concussion on the third play of the second half. Montana was t having much of a Day anyway in his quest for a fifth trip to the super bowl he was 4-0 in the big game while Quad Ter Backmo the 49ers and his backup Dave Krieg actually had a bit More Suc Cess. I did t remember for most of the third Quarter what had happened let alone what was going on said Montana who had his helmet smacked twice on the play once by Jeff Wright then when it hit the turf. All i know is that As soon As i landed everything went White and i Hada real severe pain inside my re i s 1 it probably Felt like Thomas was
