Super Bowl XXVII : THE DALLAS COWBOYS : ANALYSIS : Cowboys Younger and Faster, but Can They Handle the Heat?

If the better team wins this game, it will be a Dallas Cowboys’ Super Bowl Sunday.

To evaluate the Cowboys this week, at the end of a seven-month season, is to notice that they’re a touch better than the Buffalo Bills in most positions.

The Super Bowl, however, doesn’t always go to the better team.

This is Dallas’ first Super Bowl in this era. And game day can be uncomfortable for young athletes playing for the championship of the NFL--for the first time--before 100,000 spectators plus another 100 million on television watching every move they make.

To reach for a punt or a pass, or to attempt a long field goal or a pass, or even to sit patiently in one’s stance while waiting for the snap count, can be nervous time for anyone who is conscious that he is being closely watched by nearly half the inhabitants of the 50 states.

For the Bills, that pressure is old hat. They have been through it.

The Cowboys think they have been through it, too, but the pressure of other big games is in no way comparable to Super Bowl pressure.

The better team this time has no idea what it’s like.

For the Cowboys, the question of the game is whether, in the nerve-racking circumstances, they can play their game.

COWBOYS AT A GLANCE

This is one of the most unusual teams in NFL history, one of the youngest, one of the fastest, and one of the few to come out of nowhere in three years to dominate the stronger conference.

The results of Sunday’s game could change the perception, but it is already being said--pending that last result--that an NFL team has never had the Cowboys’ kind of coaching.

In any case, the man at the top, Jimmy Johnson, is being served by two assistants who, in the playoffs, showed pro football how to frighten and overpower the NFC’s finest.

Ten days ago, in the city of The Catch, Dallas offensive coordinator Norv Turner made The Call that beat San Francisco. The momentum was shifting to the 49ers in the fourth quarter when Turner called for the first-down pass that put Dallas in the Super Bowl.

At the same time, defensive coordinator Dave Wannstedt charted the disruption of a veteran 49er team that had three All-Pros in its offensive line, another at quarterback, and an all-time All-Pro catching the ball.

The Bills also won in San Francisco this season. The Bills are solid this year, too. But the Cowboys seem more resourceful, and they’re faster. Their only real problem is the threat of first-time jitters.

COWBOYS ON OFFENSE

The most underrated player in the game, in the league perhaps, is Dallas running back Emmitt Smith. Though he won the league’s rushing title again this season and made All-Pro, Smith hasn’t yet received the kind of attention that comes to Barry Sanders or Thurman Thomas.

THe MVP votes that went to San Francisco’s Steve Young this season should have gone to Smith, who makes everything go in the Dallas offense. The passing game is based on the Smith running threat. And he is the running game.

Because quarterback Troy Aikman has to be prodded to throw the ball to anyone except a back or a tight end, the Cowboys have built Smith into a receiver starting from scratch. For years he didn’t see the need.

The Dallas edge in its pass offense is Aikman’s accuracy at the middle distances. On a crossing pattern, no quarterback leads the receiver with a better touch.

And invariably, he lets the ball go with decisive quickness, before anyone but a blitzer can get him.

Aikman chooses wide receiver Michael Irvin whenever the defense closes in on Smith and tight end Jay Novacek.

That has been the Dallas offense. And it’s a formidable one. The Bills, even with the breaks, might not be able to handle it.

COWBOYS ON DEFENSE

As recently as last August, the Cowboys still lacked a Super Bowl defensive team.

NFL coaches at that time were more afraid of San Francisco, Washington and even Philadelphia than Dallas.

Then at the last minute, the Cowboys imported the two players they needed the most to round out a title contender: Charles Haley, a steady pass rusher, and strong safety Thomas Everett, who plays with the vitality of a free safety, which he used to be.

Haley and Everett were throwaways from San Francisco and Pittsburgh when Johnson got them, and although their loss wasn’t immediately apparent in either city, neither team got to the Super Bowl.

A rookie, Robert Jones, has started at middle linebacker all season for the Cowboys, who, without a Pro Bowl player, were statistically best in the NFL. In their last game, they might also prove to be artistically best.

COWBOY SPECIALISTS

Kelvin Martin, once a prominent Dallas wide receiver, has made himself into one of the NFL’s top kick returners. Punter Mike Saxon is also a veteran. Kicker Lin Elliott is a free agent rookie.

Projected Cowboys Lineup

DEFENSE LE--Tony Tolbert (92) LT--Tony Casillas (75) RT--Russell Maryland (67) RE--Charles Haley (94) LLB--Vinson Smith (57) MLB--Robert Jones (55) RLB--Ken Norton (51) LCB--Kevin Smith (26) RCB--Larry Brown (24) SS--Thomas Everett (31) FS--James Washington (37)

OFFENSE WR--Alvin Harper (80) LT--Mark Tuinei (71) LG--Nate Newton (61) C--Mark Stepnoski (53) RG--John Gesek (63) RT--Erik Williams (79) TE--Jay Novacek (84) WR--Michael Irvin (88) QB--Troy Aikman (8) FB--Daryl Johnston (48) RB--Emmitt Smith (22)

SPECIALIST P--Mike Saxon (4) K--Lin Elliott (2) H--Steve Beuerlein (7) PR--Kelvin Martin (83) KR--Kelvin Martin (83)