NFL PLAYOFFS : Bit of Run, a Lot of Shoot by Lions : NFC: Kramer throws three touchdown passes in 38-6 victory as Cowboys key on Sanders.

For the last several years, the run-and-shoot offense has been on its way. In the Silverdome Sunday, it arrived.

Throwing the ball on almost every down--as the run-and-shoot dictates when the defense gangs up on a running back--the Detroit Lions beat the Dallas Cowboys, 38-6, to move to the NFC’s title game Sunday in Washington.

Coaches, college and pro, keep saying that systems don’t win football games. They say players win football games--but this was a system victory for the Lions. And they did it with an inexperienced quarterback.

He is Erik Kramer, who in former years had made a name for himself only in the strike games of 1987. Kramer, who last month led Detroit to its first division championship since 1983, completed 29 of 38 passes for 341 yards and three touchdowns.

It was the Dallas coaching staff that helped make Kramer’s performance possible. When the Cowboys chose to take running back Barry Sanders out of Detroit’s offense--committing most of their defensive resources to stopping running plays--Kramer’s passing overwhelmed them.

Had the Dallas coaches chosen to take Kramer out of the game, they probably would have lost because of Sanders. That’s the way the run-and-shoot works.

In fact, late in the fourth quarter, the Cowboys saw what would have happened to them if they had spent the day playing pass defense against Detroit. The Lions, trying at that late hour to run some time off the clock, handed Sanders the ball and got a 47-yard touchdown.

“I think he left eight or nine (Cowboys) on the ground,” Detroit Coach Wayne Fontes said.

The rest of the day, Sanders gained only 22 yards. The Dallas coaches made sure that--putting so many defenders in front of him that, except for his one big play, they stopped him.

Said Kramer: “There wasn’t a Cowboy in my face all day. Honestly, I never saw their (pass rushers).”

The Cowboys were so busy keying on Sanders that their linemen, Tony Casillas and Jim Jeffcoat among them, never got a call from the public address announcers.

The Lions spoke afterward of their fine game plan. And they said their offensive line played well. But it wasn’t game plans or blocking that won this one. It was Detroit’s offensive style.

The day before, on the first day of the NFL’s four-game weekend, the Houston Oilers’ run-and-shoot offense opened a 21-6 lead on Denver before the Broncos rallied to win. The difference in Detroit was that the Cowboys came to town without John Elway. The Lions were able to contain Cowboy running back Emmitt Smith, the league’s leading ground gainer this season, who rushed for 80 yards in 15 carries.

But the Cowboys’ conventional offense isn’t as potent as the run- and-shoot. When Dallas tried to pass with backup quarterback Steve Beuerlein in the first half and first-stringer Troy Aikman in the second, Lions were there to smother both of them.

“We bent a little but made the plays when we had to,” Lion linebacker Chris Spielman said.

In the Dallas locker room, several visitors criticized Coach Jimmy Johnson for keeping the Cowboys in the same defense from one quarter to the next.

Asked to explain it, he said: “Our strength is stopping the run.”

Said Kramer: “They changed their secondary some, but up front they didn’t change all day.”

Probably no other system in football is sound enough to have won a game like this with a quarterback like this--a quarterback who is virtually a rookie--after a running back with Sanders’ talent had been neutralized.

Kramer’s three touchdown passes all came on typical run-and-shoot plays:

--During the first quarter, for example, as the Cowboys keyed on Sanders, Kramer threw over them to a single-covered receiver, Willie Green, who was in the end zone when he caught the 31-yard pass.

--During the third quarter, with a first down on Dallas’ nine-yard line, Kramer called the same pass play three times in a row. The ball fell incomplete on downs one and two. It went into the end zone to Green on third down.

--A moment later, Kramer threw another three in a row from the Dallas seven-yard line, and again the first two fell incomplete. The third went into the end zone to wide receiver Herman Moore.

What does the run-and-shoot have?

Very simply, it has four wide receivers, no tight ends, one back and a widely spaced offensive line. The gaps in the line force the defensive line wide at the same time that the four receivers spread out the defensive backs.

Most important, the quarterback throws each time within a second or two while standing slightly to the left or right of center.

Some of the Cowboys were talking afterward about Detroit’s efficient blocking. Actually, the blockers didn’t help Kramer that much. He was throwing before the rush, if any, could have reached him.

That’s the run-and-shoot.

The Dallas defense opposed Kramer with four linemen and two linebackers in what the coaches call a six-man scrimmage box. Kramer’s response was automatic each time. Had the Cowboys moved one of the six out of the box to help on pass plays, he would have handed the ball to Sanders on draw plays.

Except on extremely rare occasions, Kramer passed when the Cowboys kept six defensive players in their box.

That’s the way the run-and-shoot is supposed to function.

At 6 feet 1, weighing 195 pounds, Kramer isn’t one of the league’s bigger quarterbacks, but if you can’t hit him, it doesn’t much matter.

Moving the Lions repeatedly, he directed an offense that produced 421 yards to Dallas’ 276--much like the last time, when Dallas was routed here, 34-10, in October.

“They kept us off balance again with short passes,” Dallas defensive tackle Russell Maryland said.

With two minutes remaining before halftime, the third-year Dallas coach, Johnson, appeared to panic, pulling Beuerlein and inserting Aikman for the remainder of the game.

Beuerlein played the last six weeks, taking over a 6-5 team that finished 12-5 after winning its last six--including last week’s playoff game at Chicago.

In the Silverdome, Beuerlein was playing better ball than many of his teammates until he left the lineup after Detroit cornerback Melvin Jenkins returned an interception to 41 yards for touchdown. The score was only 14-6.

Aikman’s first three plays were an 11-yard pass to tight end Jay Novacek, a sack, and an interception.

And it didn’t get much better in the second half, when Aikman was sacked twice more, and also lost the ball twice on fumbled exchanges from the center.

It was no more than could have been expected of a rusty quarterback who hadn’t played or practiced much lately, and who was coming off a knee injury that downed him six weeks ago.

The truth is that with either quarterback, the Cowboys seem good enough to beat beat most clubs--assuming that both are injury-free, and getting regular game experience.

This time, though, it was unfair to Aikman to throw him to the Lions.

Beuerlein, who led the Cowboys on their two field goal drives, completed seven of 13 for 91 yards, with one interception and no sacks.

Aikman, playing catchup, completed 11 of 16 for 114 yards, with one interception and three sacks.

Johnson, asked why he made the quarterback change, said: “I thought it would give us a spark.”

Said Emmitt Smith: “Did you see any spark? I didn’t, either, (but) I’m not going to second-guess my coach.”

Aikman was “a little surprised” to get the early call.

“It’s a frustrating defeat, but at the same time, we are proud of what we did this season,” he said. “It’s definitely something to build on.”