COMMENTARY : This Super Bowl Comes Down to Johnson Against Kelly

The Dallas Cowboys demonstrated again Sunday that under Jimmy Johnson, they are one of the best-coached football teams of the last half-century.

Before and after their quarterback, Troy Aikman, was hurt at the start of the third quarter, they whipped the San Francisco 49ers on both offense and defense, 38-21, to move into a Super Bowl rematch with the Buffalo Bills next Sunday.

Earlier in the day, the Bills demonstrated again that they have one of the NFL’s few complete quarterbacks--Jim Kelly--who as usual called most of Buffalo’s plays as the Bills easily defeated the Kansas City Chiefs and Joe Montana, 30-13.

It might have been Montana’s last game. The concussion that took him out on the third play of the third quarter--when, on third and 14, he threw his last pass to tight end Keith Cash for a first down--was the second in recent weeks for the 37-year-old quarterback, and his fourth in recent years.

Back injuries are one thing. Head injuries are something else--as Aikman, no doubt, is worrying about today.

His rematch with Kelly in the Atlanta Super Bowl--if Aikman recovers as expected to make the game--won’t be wildly awaited by football fans. The Cowboys figure to win again handily. But the truth is that, all things considered, Dallas and Buffalo have been the best teams in their respective conferences for the last two seasons.

They deserve to meet again--even if nobody else wanted that.

The Cowboys, in fact, could be something more than the pro club of the ‘90s. Under Johnson, they are beginning to resemble the better teams of the Super Bowl era.

By more or less common consent, Vince Lombardi and Bill Walsh rank as the top coaches of the last half-century. And, it may be, Johnson makes three.

In any case, Johnson’s team walloped the 49ers with unexpected ease for three good reasons:

--Possibly the NFL’s best talent scout since Walsh, he had the better players.

--Possibly the NFL’s best motivator since Lombardi, he had them ready.

--He understands modern offense.

For example, most coaches with an off-tackle runner as effective as Emmitt Smith would start almost every series with Smith off-tackle.

Instead, when the 49er game was there to be won by either team, Johnson, as he usually does, started almost every series with a pass--usually a short pass gaining four to six yards.

This gave Smith his usual series of short-yardage second-down opportunities that, again, he made the most of.

In the decisive first half, Aikman’s first and fourth scoring drives were typical of Johnson’s offense:

--To take a quick 7-0 lead, as offensive coordinator Norv Turner sent down six first-down plays, Aikman threw five times. Each was a short pass. The other first-down call was a Smith run. Smith’s five-yard touchdown run, which ended the 80-yard drive, came on second and goal.

--On the 72-yard drive that gave the Cowboys a 28-7 halftime lead, Aikman was in first-down position five times, and passed the ball all five times. Most of Aikman’s throws were, as usual, dump passes or short-slant passes to receivers who often turned them into long gainers. And his touchdown throw was typical of the lot. On a 19-yard play, it was a four-yard dump pass to tight end Jay Novacek, who ran it the last 15 yards.

Smith played hurt. So did Dallas defensive star Charles Haley. On their big plays in the first half--looking unhurt--both raised visions of a Johnson psych job on the 49ers, who, after hearing some of the scare reports out of Dallas, didn’t expect either player to seem so healthy.

In any case, a year has made a tremendous difference. Twelve months ago in this same game, the 49ers, though losing, pretty much held the Cowboys in check. This time the Cowboys looked unbeatable.

That will be Kelly’s problem Sunday. The prospect that he can’t beat Dallas no matter what he does will lie on Kelly’s heart like a rock all week.

From his standpoint, the sadness of the situation arises from the fact that this is the Bills’ best team, the best they have taken to the Super Bowl, where they have lost three times in a row.

Against Kansas City, Kelly manipulated his various weapons impressively: Thurman Thomas’ power runs, his draw-play runs, and his play-action catches, plus Andre Reed’s classy operation as a wide receiver.

The Bills offer two more weapons on defense, Bruce Smith and Cornelius Bennett. And it was Smith, their All-Pro defensive end, who made probably the turning point play in the first quarter.

After Kelly had driven Buffalo into a 7-0 lead, Montana marched the Chiefs to the Buffalo six-yard line, where, on second down, they tried to sucker Smith. The Kansas City lineman facing him faked a pass-protection block, whereupon Montana waited for Smith to come barreling toward him. For in the meantime he had slipped the ball to Marcus Allen. But Smith wasn’t fooled. Unblocked, he slammed into Allen, throwing him for a two-yard loss.

After that, Montana wasn’t the same.

Comparing him against Kelly, few would say that Kelly is the better passer. During his brilliant career, Montana has won four Super Bowls. Still, it can be argued that Kelly is the better quarterback.

The difference:

--Throughout his career, Montana has been executing the plays that other men have called for him, first Walsh, and this season offensive coordinator Paul Hackett.

--Kelly has played well, and in addition, he has been executing the plays that he has called, in the tradition of Johnny Unitas, Joe Namath and other Hall of Fame passers.

Kelly is the only active pro passer who is his own signal-caller, and he deserves some quarterback points for that.

Nobody knows how well Montana would have done if he had had Unitas’ or Namath’s or Kelly’s responsibilities.

The mystery of the game is why Kansas City failed to change its run defense to slow down Thomas. The Chiefs’ irresponsibility in this respect is to be compared with the way Buffalo stopped the Raiders’ ground game in the second half a week ago.

When the Bills adjusted that time after halftime, moving an eighth player up front, the Raiders failed to notice, and went down to defeat.

That day, it might be remembered, the Raiders played so exceptionally before Buffalo adjusted that they would have had a 17-0 halftime lead but for two freak plays.

In fact, looking at the season in retrospect, the Raiders possibly fielded the AFC’s best players. The question they kept raising is whether they were the AFC’s smartest team.

Quite possibly the Bills are in the Super Bowl again because the Raiders have failed to authorize a play-calling quarterback since Jim Plunkett.

Thurman Thomas would agree with that thought.

Asked why the Bills beat the Raiders last week, Thomas said: “Jim Kelly called all the right plays.”

After the Bills beat the Chiefs, even Montana might agree.