Were Lions, Cowboys and Falcons Overachievers, or Are They for Real?

Sometimes the worst thing an NFL coach can be is ahead of his time.

Detroit Lions Coach Wayne Fontes knows this from firsthand experience. And there’s no doubt that Dallas Cowboys Coach Jimmy Johnson and Atlanta’s Jerry Glanville are very much aware of it.

All three coaches guided their teams to surprisingly strong finishes in 1991. As a result, the Lions, Cowboys and Falcons have raised expectations for this season.

Yet there is no guarantee they can step up to that next level. The NFL has a long history of backsliders.

“I’m a little scared,” Fontes admitted. “I’m afraid that we blew up this balloon last year, and that the air is starting to seep out of the holes. I wake up every morning and wonder what’s going to happen.”

And with good reason.

Fontes went with John McKay to the expansion Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 1976. In 1979, the Bucs shocked the NFL by going 10-6 to win the NFC Central title. And they beat the Philadelphia Eagles, 24-17, before bowing, 9-0, to the Rams in the NFC Championship game.

But in the 1980 camp, quarterback Doug Williams held out, as did several others, and the Bucs fell back to earth with a 5-10 record.

“That was a lot like this camp,” Fontes said. “We had a lot of guys late, and our quarterback out with a contract problem. That really affected us, and I can’t let that happen to this team.”

The Bucs won the division again in 1981. But they lost their first playoff game, 36-0 to the Cowboys, and haven’t been heard from since. Fontes left the Bucs in 1985 to become the Lions’ defensive coordinator.

“Our program is to the point now where we shouldn’t be taking a giant step back,” Fontes said. “It’s going to be a struggle. But I don’t think the Lions will step backwards.”

Yet you never know.

More recently, the Eagles have seemed on the verge of greatness. But it hasn’t come. The Eagles had been perennial also-rans until winning the NFC East with a 10-6 record in 1988. But they lost their first playoff game.

Since then, Philadelphia has finished 11-5, 10-6 and 10-6. But in both 1989 and 1990, the Eagles were eliminated after one playoff game. And last year they missed the playoffs altogether.

Now come the Lions, Cowboys and Falcons.

Of course all three teams have holdouts. But that’s become a fact of training camp for just about all NFL teams. Yet each of these three teams has other problems.

The Lions lost Mike Utley in a paralysing accident last November in a game against the Rams. Since then, guard Eric Andolsek was killed by a runaway truck and Fontes’ brother, Len, the defensive backs coach, died of a heart attack.

“We have an attitude that most teams don’t, and we haven’t lost that,” Fontes said. “This has been frustrating. But we aren’t going to let this balloon pop.”

The Falcons, getting comfortable behind quarterback Chris Miller, went from 5-11 in 1990 to 10-6 last season. Andre Rison, leading a talented corps of receivers, caught 81 passes and turned 12 of them into touchdowns.

But the Falcon’s defense, which was just getting the hang of Glanville’s smashmouth style of football, now faces a very uncertain future if cornerback Deion Sanders and safety Brian Jordan can’t be lured back from baseball careers.

Glanville knows he has a problem. Yet it’s out of his control. So, typically, he concentrates on what he does control.

“One thing I promised everybody, we’ll play as hard as we can on every play, and that’s a guarantee,” Glanville said. “We don’t predict, I don’t prognosticate, I don’t give win or loss numbers. I give written guarantees we’ll play as hard as we can play.”

Nobody came as far, nor as fast, as the Cowboys. Under Johnson and owner Jerry Jones, they went from 1-15 to 7-9 to 11-5 in just three seasons. Last year, the Cowboys beat the Redskins at RFK and punched out the Bears at Soldier Field in the NFC wild card game.

Of the three surprise teams from last year, the Cowboys appear to have the best shot at stepping up yet another notch.

There was obviously some talent in Dallas in 1991. Since then, the Cowboys have added 15 draft choices as the Herschel Walker trade paid its final dividends.

“People are picking us to have a better year and we expect that ourselves,” quarterback Troy Aikman said. “That’s the kind of pressure you like. Each draft in the four years I’ve been here, we’ve upgraded our talent and now we’re expected to be a Super Bowl contender. That’s fine with us.”

On any other team, Aikman might be the key. But the Cowboys now have so much depth they can win without him. Remember, they beat the Bears in the playoffs with Steve Beuerlein at quarterback.

Which only makes the coach more confident.

“I not only think we’ll be back in the playoffs this year, I expect it,” Johnson said. “And I expect us to have success once we get there.”